FCC Needs To Seize Pirate Equipment, Broadcasters Say

FCC fines and enforcement advisories are “a step forward” on pirate radio, but the commission should increase equipment seizures to truly reduce the amount of unlicensed operators, broadcasters and their lawyers said in interviews Tuesday. That day, the Enforcement Bureau issued a $15,000 forfeiture for unlicensed Broward County, Florida, station WBIG. Now, the FCC should seize the equipment of pirates like WBIG, broadcasters said. The bureau has been stepping up pirate radio enforcement, though a whistleblower was said to claim priorities had shifted away from such activities amid tight budgets, covered in a Special Report on FCC partisanship (see 1512150014).

The agency issued an enforcement advisory in March (see 1603020057) designed to put property owners, advertisers and others on notice of the issue of pirate radio stations, possible consequences for being involved with them and tips for recognizing them. But observers said the advisory had no teeth. Fines send a stronger message, broadcasters said, some pointing to WBIG.

WBIG changed locations after receiving a notice of unlicensed operation, cropping up again a few months later in a nearby location, the forfeiture order said. Andrew Turner, listed in the order as the operator of WBIG, didn't respond to repeated requests for comment in recent weeks. “A step forward is better than no moment at all,” said Ramon Pineda, general manager of Univision’s New York broadcast stations. "But you have to have teeth with these notices, or they’re just pieces of paper."

Seizing radio equipment is a “resource-intensive task” for the FCC and local federal prosecutors, a commission spokesman told us. Such a seizure is called an “in rem seizure” and requires bureau officials to get a court order from a U.S. District Court judge, the spokesman said. Typically, the commission would work with the jurisdiction in question’s U.S. Attorney’s Office, filing a complaint in federal court, the spokesman told us. If the order is granted, the FCC works with U.S. marshals to perform the seizure. The judge can reject the order, and U.S. attorney's offices may not want to pursue the seizure if they have other priorities at the time, the spokesman said. Streamlining that process would need legislation rather than FCC action, the spokesman confirmed.

Without stiffer enforcement, there's nothing to keep an unlicensed operator from returning to the air, broadcasters told us. New York Public Radio Chief Technology Officer Steve Shultis told us the FCC is responsive when he identifies an unlicensed operator interfering with the signal of stations like WNYC AM/FM New York or WQXR(FM) Newark, New Jersey, and the interference typically stops after the Enforcement Bureau takes action. But that action is typically a warning letter, and though the signals are shut down, they often pop up again nearby, Shultis said. “I believe that the FCC is doing its best,” with its current tools, Shultis said. Seizing radio equipment or property used for unlicensed broadcasting would be a more effective tool, Shultis said. Some unlicensed operators have interfered with station signals for years despite complaints to the commission, Pineda said.

Though WBIG was unlicensed, it acted much like a licensed station, including a false call sign, a live streaming webcam of its DJs, and advertisements on its website. Though the advisory is a positive step, it doesn’t provide the enforcement teeth needed to keep pirate radio from growing, Pineda said. There are more unlicensed stations in the tri-state area of Connecticut, New Jersey and New York than licensed ones, and the number has been growing for years, he said. WBIG's website no longer shows an active video stream, though a feed of streaming music is still available.

That growth is a serious problem beyond just making it hard for listeners to receive a station’s content, Shultis and Pineda said. Since unlicensed stations don’t abide by FCC rules and don’t carry emergency alert system warnings, listeners hearing unlicensed content could miss emergency information. Stations also rely on other stations carrying an EAS alert to know when they should carry an alert, functioning like a daisy chain, broadcasters told us. If one station in the chain can’t receive the signal of a higher one in the chain because of unlicensed interference, the alert won’t be relayed, broadcasters said. In a high population density place like New York City, a medium-strength unlicensed station can potentially reach almost 250,000 people, Shultis said. An unlicensed operator can also cause harm to the people nearby through harmful RF radiation. Licensed broadcasters have to take protective measures against RF radiation, isolating sources of the radiation from residential areas. According to WBIG’s forfeiture order, one of the station’s transmitters was in a shed against the side of a residence.

“We depend on the FCC for enforcement,” Shultis said. Though he keeps meticulous track of unlicensed interference, his nonprofit public broadcast operation can’t be responsible for tracking down pirate radio operations, he said. Though Univision and the New York State Broadcasters Association have done some of their own legwork on unlicensed operators, Pineda said it’s up to the FCC to contact and shut down the operators. Though he said Univision is lobbying legislators to make rules against unlicensed operations easier to enforce, the matter should be primarily handled by the commission, he said. “What should we expect from the FCC if not to protect us from this?”