The Boat That Rocked

Philip Seymour Hoffman and Kenneth Branagh star in this movie coming out Aug. 28 about the UK offshore pirate radio operators. From the film's web site:

Celebrated filmmaker Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, Bridget Jones’s Diary, Love Actually) brings audiences his most personal comedy to date. Writing and directing the story of a band of rogue deejays who captivated British radio listeners in the ’60s, playing the music that defined a generation and standing up to a government that, incomprehensibly, preferred jazz, Curtis welcomes us aboard "The Boat That Rocked."

Leading the cast of the new film are Academy Award® winner Philip Seymour Hoffman as Radio Rock’s infamous deejay The Count; Bill Nighy as the station’s owner (and ship’s captain), Quentin; Rhys Ifans as mystic deejay royalty Gavin; Nick Frost as the amorous, sarcastic disc jockey Dave; and Kenneth Branagh as the man out to shut down Radio Rock, Minister Dormandy.

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FCC raids 'gang-sponsored' pirate radio station in Florida

I am surprised Boing Boing and other media outlets are taking the police at their word, when they have lied so many times in the past about stories like this. Where is the link to the station's web site? Where is proof of any kind?

From Mark Frauenfelder in Boing Boing:
On Saturday the Federal Communications Commission and the Orange County Sheriff's department raided a pirate radio station called "Street Heat" that ran ads for gangs and provided information on where to get drugs and prostitutes.

Police said 20-year-old Balthazard Senat's pirate radio station had illegally tapped into 91.3 FM. DJs behind the microphone had their own rules and regulations as they broadcasted from a bedroom at a home on 30th Street off South Orange Blossom Trail. The radio station's "Street Heat" broadcast could be heard anywhere in Orange County. Police said Senat had been cursing and using derogatory language on the air for about three months.

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Pirate radio project joins graffiti artists with cell phones

From Make Magazine:

The "Future Pirate Radio" project is a combination of a cell phone application that reads QR Codes and printable stencils for graffiti artists to put up the codes on local walls. When photographed, the codes produce radio broadcasts streamed live over the Internet. Although it seems like a hard way to find a radio broadcast (searching the streets) we will most likely see more of these types of apps surface through our mobile devices.

How to make a radio station

From Free Radio Berkeley via Mediageek:

The venerable Free Radio Berkeley has a (relatively) new video demonstrating all the parts in the air chain of a micropower unlicensed radio station, fresh from their Oakland, CA shop:

How To Make a Radio Station from Free Radio on Vimeo.

The "War on Pirates" in 2008: paper beats rock, scissors

From DIY Media:

I've just finished updating the Enforcement Action Database. The FCC's Enforcement Bureau has reported its field actions through mid-December, and as you can see, given any activity over the balance of the month, it is on target to meet and/or (most likely) beat the record enforcement year of 2007.

What does this mean? It depends on how you look at the data. Sure, the FCC's busting more pirates than ever, but does that really mean it's making a dent in station proliferation? A couple of major conclusions from the year-in-review are striking:

1. Most FCC enforcement is concentrated around geographic "hot spots" around the country. The top two are south Florida (most notably the Miami-Dade metroplex) and New York. If you add New Jersey in with NYC, the density of enforcement actions is about tied. It's not that far of a stretch to equate that with the density of existing pirate radio stations (i.e., they're not going away).

2. Although most of the enforcement occurs in these hot spots, the fact that enforcement takes place essentially nationwide makes the phenomenon of pirate radio a national one. I think it's just much less of a priority for some field offices than others.

3. There's a compelling trend this year in the timing of enforcement actions. Multiple field offices tend to go pirate-hunting around the same time of the month (often on the exact same days). If I had to guess, the FCC's mandate from D.C. is, "spend some time hunting pirates to show that we care," and the agents in the field mark a day or two on their monthly calendars to handle any pending complaints. (For what it's worth, there's no indication that the FCC's 15 month-old online pirate station reporting form is doing much good).

4. Finally, the primary tools of FCC enforcement remain, by and large, quite administrative. Station-visits and threatening-sounding certified letters are the field agents' ammunition of choice. It's worth noting that although the amount of monetary forfeitures has risen to 2006 levels, the FCC's expected recoupment for each enforcement action it takes is paltry; going pirate-hunting is a big money-loser for the agency. Note that the number of arrests and convictions have remained stable - and less than a handful at that. It would seem that those state laws criminalizing pirate radio are doing a whole lot of nothing.

In fact, looking at the raw data from which I compile the majority of my statistics, the Enforcement Bureau's been going after more serious unlicensed broadcasters, like those who potentially jam public-safety, maritime, and land-mobile two-way radio networks. This is a phenomenon that also appears to be on the rise. The FCC's much more quicker to bring the fiscal hammer down on those sorts of people, but they're the ones doing real harm.

The bottom line? 2009 will be a year of opportunity for unlicensed broadcasters. Without some sort of massive infusion of human resources, capital, and political will, the FCC simply doesn't have the strength to shut much of anything down. It's reached its enforcement capacity, and it's being overwhelmed. In that sense, we're winning.

F.C.C. pulls plug on H.F.R.A. Radio Free-radio pirates remain determined

From Santa Cruz IMC:

On Sunday, December 16, the Federal Communication Commission paid a surprise visit to the Humboldt Free Radio Alliance studio wielding a cease operations order. Two agents, reportedly from San Francisco’s FCC office, delivered the order in response to an unspecified complaint. The agents did not confiscate any studio equipment and left without verifying the exact location of the studio. The in-studio D.J shut down the transmitter and contacted other HFRA members. Because of the visit, the station is off the air until further notice.

This is not the first time the FCC has tried to curtail the 45-watt transmission from this small radio station. At least two other visits have been made over the last several years never resulting in a significant shutdown of HFRA. “We are usually able to get back on the air a couple days after the FCC visits, but this hiatus will be prolonged because we have to find a new studio.” says Downbeat, a long time HFRA member. In addition to the cease operations order, the FCC contacted the owner of the property and the property management company of the studio’s location. “That is the first time the FCC has gone after the property owners when trying to shut us down.” laments a DJ who broadcasts under the name Ann Archy.

The Humboldt Free Radio Alliance has broadcast without a license in the Humboldt Bay area since 1999. It is part of a long tradition of free-radio activists broadcasting in Humboldt County going back to the early nineties. In recent years, HFRA moved to 99.9 FM where it broadcasts Thursdays through Sundays. “We believe that local communities should dictate the content of their airwaves. Out of touch bureaucracies like the FCC base their actions and laws around the profit gains of big media, not free speech.” asserts DJ Thrash, who broadcasts several hours a week on HFRA. The FCC crackdown on HFRA came two days before FCC chairman Kevin Martin pushed through a ruling that loosened media ownership regulations allowing media companies to further consolidate control in local markets. Thrash indignantly adds, “Can you believe the nerve? Harassing our small community station with one hand while stroking the pockets of media giants with the other. This is exactly why HFRA and other low power stations are more important than ever.”

Despite the setback, HFRA is determined to continue broadcasting in Humboldt County, however they remain off the air until a new home for their studio is found. Downbeat claims with confidence, “We not only plan to remain on the air in defiance of the FCC order, but we intend to expand our radio transmission so we can reach more Humboldt Bay [WINDOWS-1252?]communities.” He adds, “We are an all-volunteer collective that needs financial and community support from individuals and businesses alike.” From: http://www.freakradio.org/

Hong Kong pro-democracy radio allowed back on air

A Hong Kong court ruled last week that a pirate radio station called "Citizens' Radio" can stay on the air. From a Reuters account:

High Court judge Michael Hartmann dismissed a government request to extend (the) ban (on the station). "Their methods may make some people uncomfortable but it must be accepted that, right or wrong, they see themselves as acting to protect certain fundamental freedoms," Hartmann said. Hartmann added that court injunctions of this nature, tied to criminal proceedings, should only be granted "exceptionally and with great caution." "When fundamental freedoms are at issue ... this court bears special responsibilities," he added. A lower court ruling had seemingly ruled in Citizens' Radio favor, finding local radio laws to be "unconstitutional." But this judgment was later suspended, pending an appeal by the government to a higher court...."The government should immediately prepare to amend the (radio) laws ... rather than continue to tell lies and abuse its power to harm a small radio station," said one of the radio activists, maverick lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung.

Free Radio Olympia off-air but online, for now

From DIYMedia:

It seems that the FCC's sweep of microradio is not leaving the old guard alone. Several long-running microradio stations have been visited by the FCC recently, including two individuals specifically targeted from the Free Radio Olympia collective, which sent out this missive: "Free Radio Olympia, a 6-year-old consensus-run pirate radio collective, has come under heavy harassment from the FCC. Although we have temporarily gone off the air while maintaining our internet stream, we have decided to continue broadcasting once we have found a new, willing transmitter site, despite the strong possibility of an immanent FCC raid...We especially would appreciate your being alert for any news of an actual raid, and spreading the story as rapidly and widely as possible."

Mediageek details another communiqué which details the station's long history of being a good steward the airwaves while posing a radical challenge to the FCC's licensing policies which deny the existence of stations like FRO. The station may consider separating its studio from transmitter via webcasting, which seems to at least complicate the FCC's enforcement process, if not stymie it.

Ofcom report on illegal broadcasting in UK

By Tom Roe

16 percent of Londoners say they listen to "pirate" radio stations, according to a new report from Ofcom, the Office of Communications in England, the UK's equivalent to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.

"In 2006, we undertook 1,085 separate operations against illegal broadcasters, resulting in 63 convictions," Ofcom reports. They guess that the UK has 150 microcasters at any one time, and that listeners tune in for music they can't hear elsewhere.

The report also continues the false canard that pirate broadcasts magically make airplanes fall from the sky. Read the full report here.

"Pirate" transmissions, then and now

By Tom Roe

The "pirate" radio stations picking up Howard Stern's satellite radio show and remicrocasting it on free airwaves, are back in the news again. Both The New York Times and Los Angeles Times are reporting Stern FM transmissions in those cities.

The New York Times Jacques Steinberg reports hearing Stern near 239th Street in the Bronx on 88.1-FM on a car radio. He quotes Russell Skadl, the faculty adviser of a Long Island radio station, WXBA, that operates on very low power on 88.1 out of a high school in Suffolk County, hearing Stern on that frequency on Long Island, quite a distance from the Bronx. The Daily News reported pirates in Brooklyn and New Jersey broadcasting Stern's signal last January, just as his show switched from FM to satellite.

In Los Angeles, the Times there has one person hearing Stern on 88.1 FM where jazz station KKJZ should be, and another on 88.3-FM. They say a local TV station is blaming "Pirate Cat Radio," which has always used 87.9-FM, not those higher frequencies. More likely, it is someone with less of an agenda then the Pirate Cat folk, and more likely some Stern fan with an electronic equipment fetish.

While some pirates pick up satellite feeds now, others have broken over top television feeds. Recently someone YouTubed the infamous November 22, 1987, interruption of Chicago's WGN-TV local newscast. WGN-TV's on-site technicians neutralized the "pirate" transmission of a Max Headroom-like figure spouting dada gibberish by switching to an alternate transmitter, but two hours later the Chicago PBS affiliate WTTW's "Doctor Who" transmission got a similar Headroom visit. Below is the clip from the WGN hijacking. Below that is the CBS News national reporton the incident, also YouTubed.