During the last weekend in May, while many Americans were relaxing at the expense of those who gave their lives for their freedom, soldiers in a lower-profile domestic war gathered to plot their next moves in their fight.
The “Micropower Council of War” was called by Free Radio Berkeley founder Stephen Dunifer; if it were not for his ongoing battle with the government (through the courts), there would have been no blossoming of unlicensed radio stations – and no widespread microradio movement.
When the FCC announced its plans to re-legalize a low power FM (LPFM) radio service, Dunifer was one of the first to discount the move as political hype. Continue reading “Strategy Session”
Category: Pirate Radio
Radio B2-92: The Fourth Crackdown
The biggest threat to any totalitarian government is not the armed potential of its disillusioned citizens; it is the ideas of those citizens infecting others.
One of the first things Nazi German conquerors did when taking over territory was to silence any media not controlled by the state; doctrine told military commanders to take control of radio stations.
That strategy remains true today, and nowhere else is it more prevalent than in the embattled Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, where tensions between the Serbian-controlled central government, still led by President Slobodan Milosevic, and dissidents from a broad spectrum of ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds continue to simmer. Continue reading “Radio B2-92: The Fourth Crackdown”
Summer and Shortwave
Being a radio pirate isn’t easy. Going on the air without a license means having to evade the FCC and there’s often the need to broadcast “on the run” – moving from location to location, trying to stay clear of the law.
Shortwave pirates face additional challenges that unlicensed FM stations do not – the range of an FM station’s signal is much, much shorter. FM signals travel in a “line-of-sight” manner – the only receivers that can pick up an FM signal are those that can “see” the transmitting antenna. It takes thousands of watts to cover a few dozen miles on the FM band.
Due to the tendency of shortwave signals to propagate through the atmosphere, it is possible for a 10-watt signal on the shortwave band to travel hundreds – even thousands – of miles. Continue reading “Summer and Shortwave”
Party Pirate Gets Broadside
On Friday, Tampa’s Party Pirate 102.1 received a double whammy from the FCC.
The day’s issue of the Federal Register included a terse announcement from the agency that Leslie “Doug” Brewer and his two-way radio business had been fined $10,000 for allegedly selling an “unauthorized FM radio transmitter” above the legal Part 15 power limit. According to the FCC, an undercover agent placed the order and made the purchase.
Also on March 3, Doug Brewer found out that a Federal court ruled in favor of the FCC in its seizure of two-way radio equipment stemming from the November 1997 raid of his station. The government gets to keep thousands of dollars worth of equipment not remotely related to FM piracy as “spoils” from their military-style raid on his home. Continue reading “Party Pirate Gets Broadside”
Radio Cops: Beefup or Breakdown?
Just one day before the Federal Communications Commission approved the creation of a low-power FM service, Chairman William Kennard spoke to a group of telecommunications companies and laid out his vision of what the FCC’s new “enforcement ethic” would be in the year 2000 and beyond.
A couple of months ago, the FCC reorganized its resources and created a whole new Enforcement Bureau – consolidating all of the agency’s enforcement activities into one central organization.
Under the old hierarchy, the regulation of telephones, cable companies and radio stations were handled in different FCC bureaus – and each bureau had its own enforcement agents. Now, those agents share a bureau of their own. Does this portend good or bad news for pirate stations? Continue reading “Radio Cops: Beefup or Breakdown?”
Back in Black
Doug Brewer has a thriving radio equipment sales and repair business, but his main love has always been his radio station, 102.1 – Tampa’s Party Pirate. After two years of silence following a brutal raid by the authorities, Brewer is risking it all to take back the airwaves around his Florida home.
At a scaled-back 125 watts and a smaller antenna, the Party Pirate may not be as loud a voice as before, but the fact that it’s back at all is a feat in itself.
In an interview conducted via e-mail, Brewer says it wasn’t a tough decision to go back on the air. “We were already ready. The (new station) site was developed the same week that they raided us 2 years ago.”
“The hardest thing was to resist the urge to turn the transmitter back on for two years,” admits Doug. “I guess I just felt it was time to do it, and since it’s only about a month to Y2K, well, the timing just seemed right.” Continue reading “Back in Black”
Martyr No More
Two years is a long time to stay silent. But in the case of Doug Brewer, who can blame him?
Doug was one of those raided by law enforcement and the FCC on November 19, 1997. That day is referred to by unlicensed microbroadcasters nationwide as “Black Wednesday” – when the FCC swept through Florida with guns at their back and shut down at least three low power FM radio stations. One person was even arrested in the sweep.
Doug’s case was one of the most brutal. He was woken up early the morning of November 19 to the sight of a SWAT team and held “in custody” for most of the day in his home while agents methodically destroyed not only his station, 102.1 “Tampa’s Party Pirate,” but also damaged his home and ransacked his radio equipment sales and repair business. Continue reading “Martyr No More”
Same Old Story
As free radio advocates hold hope for the future, it never hurts to look back.
In less than two weeks, the FCC may take the next step in creating a legal low power FM radio service, providing more “meat” for the relatively skeletal vision the agency has outlined so far. What the Commission does in the near future will either be a big step forward or one back closer to the drawing board.
At the same time, it’s also important to note that the Commissioner most supportive of the proposal – the Chairman, William Kennard – is a little more than halfway through his term in office. He is not well-liked in Congress for giving LPFM a chance, and it’s likely pressures may be brought to bear that could cause his ouster. Without Kennard, this proposal will die. Continue reading “Same Old Story”
After the Bust
As the number of pirate stations in the U.S. has risen, the level of work for the FCC’s enforcement folks has also risen dramatically. This comes in the face of a waning cycle of FCC budget cuts, which forced the agency’s “police” apparatus to consolidate into regional offices.
Now, the FCC has announced the creation of a new “enforcement bureau” dedicated to policing the American airwaves. Under the previous system, the friendly field agents pirates occasionally encounter drew their pay from the Compliance and Information Bureau (CIB).
The move is part of what’s called “A New FCC for the 21st Century,” but it’s actually growth for the agency. Amoeba-like, the CIB has split and multiplied – now the “radio cops” have their own whole bureau to play with! Continue reading “After the Bust”
Tricks and Treats
With Halloween just around the corner, preparations are being made among many in the free radio community to make 1999’s celebration of this dark (and often demented) holiday one to remember.
Holiday broadcasts tend to be the purview of shortwave pirates, who put on some memorable broadcasts around Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Labor Day, the Fourth of July, and April Fool’s Day. But for some reason, for Halloween many tend to pull out all the stops.
At least one broadcaster has already announced his intentions to take to the airwaves on Halloween. Others will surely follow – shortwave pirates tend to pack more creativity into every minute of their shows than any other kind of unlicensed broadcaster, and the fact that Halloween falls on a Sunday may result in some broadcasters spacing out their shows to make the whole weekend a lot of fun. At least one has begun celebrating a week early. Continue reading “Tricks and Treats”