Pirate Fines Are Often Tough to Collect, Or, "Askin' ain't Gettin' "

While the following article initially appeared several years ago in 'Radio World', an organ of the licensed broadcast industry, it is still a very good source of information for pirate radio station operators who are concerned with the possible vs. likely consequences of being caught running a pirate radio station by the FCC.

It should be noted that standard operating procedure for the F.C.C. currently is to issue a warning to the offending operator on a first offense, usually a "Notice of Unlicensed Operation" warning the operator to "cease and desist" operating the unlicensed station  (such as was received by The Crystal Ship back in 2011).   It is usually only after the op has been caught in continued unlicensed operations after at least one warning, that the FCC will  attempt issuing a fine to the offending station, called a "Notice of Apparant Liability".

As the following article will explain, these fine notices against pirate radio operators often aren't worth the paper they are printed on... (thus, "Askin' ain't Gettin' " ~ John Poet)

Pirate Fines Are Often Tough to Collect  
by Randy J. Stine
on 11.17.2011

WASHINGTON — While the FCC Enforcement Bureau tally of fines against “pirate” operators has grown steadily this year, it is hard to know how many of those fines will ever be collected.

In fact, broadcast industry people familiar with commission practices believe the FCC likely fails to collect a majority of pirate fines.

Once the commission starts to go after an alleged illegal operator, things get complicated. It’s not easy to collect money from what often turn out to be fly-by-night operations. And in tight economic times, when federal agencies face budget constraints, authorities must decide how far to go to collect a relative pittance.

One problem lies in the fact that the FCC needs an outside agency help to get an enforcement action to stick, observers said. The commission can assess fines on an unlicensed broadcaster, but it must engage the services of the United States Department of Justice to file a civil claim for the judgment rendered, according to the Communications Act of 1934.

Read More Here:
http://www.radioworld.com/article/pirate-fines-are-often-tough-to-collect/24837

The Week Before The Congressional Christmas...................... And The Day After Mine

 

 

Congressional “Twas The Night Before Christmas”

"Twas the week before Christmas and those sly little elves,
Our congressmen, labored to better themselves.
They cared not a whit what the public might think
"Let them eat cake," some said with a wink.

And putting their thumbs to the tip of their nose,
they waved as they shouted "Anything goes!"
They scoffed at the thought that we might object,
to a tax cut for the wealthy of a posh percent.

They've got prerequisites-franking, per diem, and more --
bargain-priced haircuts and gyms (three or four!)
Paid speaking engagements and meals on the cuff,
celebrity status -- (they've sure got it tough!),

Yet they claim they're in touch with the man on the street,
as John Q. Public struggles to make both ends meet.
If all workers decided what they were due,
they'd be getting those fat paychecks too!

But while we take cutbacks or raises quite small,
and one out of 20 has no job at all,
our millionaire Congress decides on the budget
land trimming Medicare and Medicaid will do it, they say.

In this season for giving, our Congress is taking.
We've had it with them and our backs are breaking.
With hard times, disasters, and layoffs on our dockets,
we bit the bullet and they fill their pockets!

Oh jobless, oh homeless, oh desperate and needy -
dare anyone say our Congress is greedy?
If in this feeling I'm not alone,
take up your pen or pick up your phone.

As dry leaves before the wild hurricane fly,
let the road of your anger mount to the sky.
Indignant, outraged, appalled and beset
let your congressman know that you won't forget!
When election times comes -- and certain it will --
you're voting him out for passing that bill.

More rapid than eagles, their elections assured
they toasted each other and laughed at the herd.
And I heard them exclaim with adjournment at hand,
"Merry Christmas to us, and the public be damned!

Tax The Rich... an animated fairy tale; and the Ghost of Reagan Joins Forces with Obama!

 

 

(Narrated by Ed Asner)


Dr. Seuss lied.  The Grinch's heart is actually getting smaller all the time.

Even President Ronald Reagan thought that the rich shouldn't get away with paying lower tax rates than blue-collar workers...

If he were President today and said that, my guess is he'd get primaried by the TeaBaggers...

(Yeah, I know what I just called them)

Shortwave Listeners report reception of TCS Shortwave Relay Network from coast-to-coast in North America, and from Europe

By John Poet

Since the transformation of the pirate radio station 'The Crystal Ship', into a program broadcast by other widespread pirate radio operators known as the 'TCS Shortwave Relay Network', our coverage of the North American continent has greatly increased.  Listeners in the western United States and western Canada are now able to receive TCS Shortwave at much better signals than we were ever able to achieve when we were broadcasting from Michigan.  Part of that is due to the wide use of SSB transmissions, which are able to provide a better signal-to-noise ratio than AM.

We received many reception reports for our recent show "That Awful Seventies Station", received on a wide range of frequencies from 6.925 up to 18 mHz, and from listeners located from New York to Oregon to Italy. (I was surprised at the number of listeners able to hear the 18 mHz transmission.)  We replied with our TCS Shortwave Relay Network eQSL, in use since late 2011, shown below:

Following are a few of the reception reports recently received.  Names have been omitted:

What the Murphy-Graves-Bunny Doesn't Tell You About 'The Rules of Pirate Radio Broadcasting' Can Hurt You!

Pirate Radio News & Commentary
by The Radical

When the radio pirate former radio pirate  Commander Bunny (aka Pat Murphy, aka Jerry Michael Graves) talks about the 'rules of Pirate Radio Broadcasting', Bun-Bun left out a few things:


1) Never give your home address to a rodent.  When you order a t-shirt or receive freebies from a certain “legendary” pirate, beware of a Bunny bearing gifts. After all, if you catch the Commander in a sock puppet or a lie, he has your address and is not afraid to turn you into the Federal Communications Commission. Not out of spite or jealousy, but just to keep the airwaves clear for the professional keyboard pounders... er, bloggers... uh, internet celebrities!

2) Always complain about your critics in your blog, which you use in such a self-loathing way.  Yes, the King of the Keyboards likes to pretend to hate his web log, but that is the only way he can keep screaming in the wind. Especially, when his version of fun involves continuously lying, denying,  libeling and projecting while accusing the critics of being pedophiles or inviting them to kill themselves. So, Commander, again I ask, tell me about the "good ol’ days" of pirate radio broadcasting!

3) Ask yourself this question:  If a Grenade goes off in the woods,  does anybody hate hear you?  That is, somebody  who is not your sock puppet or a voice in your head?  I am sure, since you despise the internet,  you would not dream of using it to promote yourself-- like on a blog, which you hate---  and would never use to promote hate!!

4) Be sure to use large font and lots of pictures in your journal. I mean, after all, the intelligence of your average rabbit is around that of your average houseplant. So use large font and lots of pictures to entertain yourself when publishing your blog (which you hate-- like yourself). Besides, that means, you can repeat the same message over and over for your self-amusement-- especially since comments are closed own your blog (which you hate!) and parroting yourself makes your web log a pleasure to read! (Second verse, same as the first!)

So, if you consider these helpful pointers, maybe you, too, may make a successful foray into pirate radio broadcasting.   Or maybe even become a North American Pirate Radio Hall of Fame member  (if enough people forget about the other things you've done over the past couple years)!

-30-