InsideRadio reports that the FCC plans to hire a substantial number of agents to step up pirate radio enforcement. According to the report:
The Federal Communications Commission estimates it will cost the agency at least $11 million to enforce the newly-adopted law that requires it to step up pirate radio enforcement. “Specifically, in order to combat the problem of illegal radio operations, the statute requires a sweeping process that will require new equipment and a substantial number of additional field agents to implement fully,” FCC Chair Ajit Pai told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee during a hearing on Tuesday. Pai said he hoped congressional budget writers would determine a “reasonable funding level” for the FCC that reflects that added cost, suggesting the agency’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year should be raised to $354 million.
The Preventing Illegal Radio Abuse Through Enforcement Act, or “PIRATE” Act (S.1228) was unanimously approved by both the Senate and House and signed into law last month. The new law raises fines on unlicensed station operators to $100,000 per day per violation, up to a maximum of $2 million. In addition to tougher fines on violators, the law also requires the FCC to conduct sweeps in the five cities where pirate radio is the biggest problem—New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and Dallas—at least once a year.
Less than five years ago, the FCC scaled back operations at many of its field offices. Perhaps it was a bit too hasty. One interesting thought is that perhaps these new agents could also be used to find amateur radio scofflaws.
Pirate radio in Detroit
I guess that pirate radio isn’t such a big deal here in the Detroit are. I googled “Detroit pirate radio,” and found one story of a legal, low-power FM (LPFM) station in Ferndale. There’s also a Facebook page for something called Pirate Radio of Michigan, but the latest post to this page was in September 2015. Perhaps the closest thing that we have to pirate radio here in Ann Arbor is WCBN, the University of Michigan student-run station.
Spectrum license fee?
There was another interesting tidbit in the story. It says:
The Trump administration is also reviving a proposal that the FCC charge the industries it regulates a spectrum license fee in addition to the annual regulatory fees. If adopted, the spectrum fee would be phased-in over time. If they begin in 2021, the FCC estimates it would bring in $4 billion through 2030. The White House tried a similar move a year ago in what has become an annual proposal that has never gained traction. Groups like the National Association of Broadcasters have successfully convinced lawmakers that it would threaten the ability of local radio and television stations to serve the public.
It seems to me that broadcasters want it both ways. Public-service regulations have been loosened to the point of non-existence, so perhaps a license fee is in order. I don’t really know much about broadcasting to say for sure, though.
BUT… What is the impact to amateur radio?
There’s potential employment for #hamradio folks.
The FCC’s efforts to squash pirate radio is laughable. It’s merely to make it appear that they’re tough and enforcing the law, while screwing over the public with their double talk and subterfuge on net neutrality and auctioning off spectrum to wireless carriers. Other than potential second harmonic interference to aeronautical operations from FM pirates, pirate radio has zero negative impact to the public or licensed broadcasters, for that matter. This is a waste of effort and tax dollars, and is smoke and mirrors, but the FCC obviously is taking its direction from the federal administration which is built on such trickery and deception.
Well, the story goes that when Trump was in Seattle a while back, he was made aware of a pirate station that was running stories against him. As is typical of his behavior when he encounters something he doesn’t like, he asked how to make it go away. Thus the PIRATE act.
What a waste of time and tax payers money. But, it’s par for the course for this administration.