Illegal or unregulated radio transmissions
A
pirate radio station
is a
radio station
that
broadcasts
without a valid license.
[1]
In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are received—especially when the signals cross a national boundary. In other cases, a broadcast may be considered "pirate" due to the nature of its content, its transmission format (especially a failure to transmit a
station identification
according to regulations), or the transmit power (wattage) of the station, even if the transmission is not technically illegal (such as an
amateur radio
transmission). Pirate radio is sometimes called
bootleg radio
[2]
(a term especially associated with
two-way radio
),
clandestine radio
(associated with heavily politically motivated operations) or
free radio
.
History
[
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]
Radio "piracy" began with the advent of regulations of the airwaves at the dawn of the
age of radio
. Initially, radio, or wireless as it was more commonly called at the time, was an open field of hobbyists and early inventors and experimenters.
The degree of state control varied by country, for example in the UK, Marconi's work was supported by the post office, but in an era of weak regulation, a music hall magician
Nevil Maskelyne
deliberately hijacked a demonstration.
The
United States Navy
began using radio for time signals and weather reports on the eastern coast of the United States in the 1890s. Before the advent of
vacuum tube
technology, early radio enthusiasts used (electronically) noisy
spark-gap transmitters
. The navy soon began complaining to a sympathetic press that amateurs were disrupting naval transmissions. The May 25, 1907, edition of
Electrical World
in an article called "Wireless and Lawless"
[3]
reported authorities were unable to prevent an amateur from interfering with the operation of a government station at the
Washington, D.C. Navy Yard
using legal means.
In the run-up to the London Radiotelegraph Convention in 1912, and amid concerns about the safety of marine radio following the sinking of the
RMS
Titanic
on April 15 of that year, the
New York Herald
of April 17, 1912, headlined President
William Howard Taft
's initiative to regulate the public airwaves in an article titled "President Moves to Stop Mob Rule of Wireless."
United States
[
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]
In the US the
1912 "Act to Regulate Radio Communication"
assigned amateurs and experimenters their own frequency spectrum, and introduced licensing and
call-signs
. A federal agency, the
Federal Radio Commission
, was formed in 1927 and succeeded in 1934 by the
Federal Communications Commission
. These agencies would enforce rules on call-signs, assigned frequencies, licensing, and acceptable content for broadcast.
The Radio Act of 1912 gave the president legal permission to shut down radio stations "in time of war". During the first two and a half years of
World War I
, before US entry,
President Wilson
tasked the US Navy with monitoring US radio stations, nominally to "ensure neutrality." The US was divided into two civilian radio "districts" with corresponding call-signs, beginning with "K" in the west and "W" in the east, in the regulatory measures; the Navy was assigned call-signs beginning with "N". The Navy used this authority to shut down amateur radio in the western part of the US. When Wilson declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917, he also issued an executive order closing most radio stations not needed by the US government. The Navy took it a step further and declared it was illegal to listen to radio or possess a receiver or transmitter in the US, but there were doubts they had the authority to issue such an order even in war time. The ban on radio was lifted in the US in late 1919.
[4]
In 1924, New York City station
WHN
was accused by the
American Telephone and Telegraph Company
(AT&T) of being an "outlaw station" for violating trade licenses which permitted only AT&T stations to sell
airtime
on their transmitters. As a result of the AT&T interpretation a landmark case was heard in court, which even prompted comments from
Secretary of Commerce
Herbert Hoover
when he took a public stand in the station's defense. Although AT&T won its case, the furor created was such that those restrictive provisions of the transmitter license were never enforced.
In 1926,
WJAZ
in Chicago changed its frequency to one previously reserved for Canadian stations without getting permission to make the change, and was charged by the federal government with "wave piracy". The resulting legal battle found that the Radio Act of 1912 did not allow the U.S. government to require stations to operate on specific frequencies, and the result was the passage of the
Radio Act of 1927
to strengthen the government's regulatory authority.
While
Mexico
issued radio station
XERF
with a license to broadcast, the power of its 250
kW
transmitter was far greater than the maximum of 50 kW authorized for commercial use by the government of the United States of America. Consequently, XERF and many other radio stations in Mexico, which sold their broadcasting time to sponsors of English-language commercial and religious programs, were labelled as "
border blasters
", but not "pirate radio stations", even though the content of many of their programs could not have been aired by a US-regulated broadcaster. Predecessors to XERF, for instance, had originally broadcast in
Kansas
, advocating "
goat-gland surgery
" for improved masculinity, but moved to Mexico to evade US laws about advertising medical treatments, particularly unproven ones.
Europe
[
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]
In Europe,
Denmark
had the first known radio station in the world to broadcast commercial radio from a vessel in
international waters
without permission from the authorities in the country to which it broadcast (Denmark in this case). The station was named
Radio Mercur
and began transmission on August 2, 1958. In the Danish newspapers it was soon called a "pirate radio". In the Netherlands in 1964
Radio Noordzee
and
TV Noordzee
began broadcasting from the
REM Island
and
Radio Veronica
acquired a new ship, a converted
fishing trawler
named
MV Norderney
.
United Kingdom
[
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]
In the 1960s in the UK, the term referred to not only a perceived unauthorized use of the state-run spectrum by the unlicensed broadcasters but also the risk-taking nature of
offshore radio
stations that actually operated on anchored ships or marine platforms. The term had been used previously in Britain and the US to describe unlicensed land-based broadcasters and even
border blasters
(for example, a 1940 British comedy about an unauthorized TV broadcaster,
Band Waggon
, uses the phrase "pirate station" several times). A good example of this kind of activity was
Radio Luxembourg
located in the Grand Duchy of
Luxembourg
. The English language evening broadcasts from Radio Luxembourg were beamed by Luxembourg-licensed transmitters. The audience in the United Kingdom originally listened to their radio sets by permission of a
wireless license
issued by the British
General Post Office
(GPO). However, under terms of that wireless license, it was an offence under the
Wireless Telegraphy Act
to listen to
unauthorised
broadcasts, which possibly included those transmitted by Radio Luxembourg. Therefore, as far as the British authorities were concerned, Radio Luxembourg was a "pirate radio station" and British listeners to the station were breaking the law (although as the term 'unauthorised' was never properly defined it was somewhat of a legal
grey area
). This did not stop British newspapers from printing programme schedules for the station, or a British weekly magazine aimed at teenage girls,
Fab 208
, from promoting the DJs and their lifestyle (Radio Luxembourg's wavelength was 208 metres (1439, then 1440 kHz)).
Radio Luxembourg was later joined by other well-known pirate stations received in the UK in violation of UK licensing, including
Radio Caroline
and
Radio Atlanta
(subsequently Radio Carolines North and South respectively, following their merger and the original ship's relocation),
Radio London
and
Laser 558
, all of which broadcast from vessels anchored outside of territorial limits and were therefore legitimate.
Radio Jackie
, for instance (although transmitting illegally), was registered for
VAT
and even had its address and telephone number in local telephone directories.
By the 1970s, pirate radio in the UK had mostly moved to land-based broadcasting, transmitting from
tower blocks
in towns and cities.
Free radio
[
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]
Another variation on the term
pirate radio
came about during the "
Summer of Love
" in
San Francisco
during the 1960s. These were "Free radio", which usually referred to secret and unlicensed land-based transmissions. These were also tagged as being pirate radio transmissions. Free Radio was used only to refer to radio transmissions that were beyond government control
[
citation needed
]
, as was offshore radio in the UK and Europe.
The term
free radio
was adopted by the Free Radio Association of listeners who defended the rights of the offshore radio stations broadcasting from ships and marine structures off the
coastline of the United Kingdom
.
Felix Guattari
points out:
Technological development, and in particular the miniaturization of transmitters and the fact that they can be put together by amateurs, 'encounters' a collective aspiration for some new means of expression.
In Europe, in addition to adopting the term
free radio
, supportive listeners of what had been called pirate radio adopted the term '
offshore radio
, which was usually the term used by the owners of the marine broadcasting stations.
More recently the term "free radio" implied that the broadcasts were commercial-free and the station was there only for the output, be it a type of music or spoken opinion. In this context, 'pirate' radio thus refers to stations that do advertise and plug various gigs and raves.
Pirate radio by geographical area
[
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]
Since this subject covers national territories, international waters and international airspace, the only effective way to treat this subject is on a country by country, international waters and international airspace basis. Because the laws vary, the interpretation of the term
pirate radio
also varies considerably.
The longest-running pirate radio station, at 57 years, may be Radio Britannia of South Yorkshire, England, from 1965 to 2022.
[7]
Propaganda broadcasting
[
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]
Propaganda
broadcasting may be authorized by the government at the transmitting site, but may be considered unwanted or illegal by the government of the intended reception area. Propaganda broadcasting conducted by national governments against the interests of other national governments has created
radio jamming
stations transmitting noises on the same frequency to prevent reception of the incoming signal. While the
United States
transmitted its programs towards the
Soviet Union
, which attempted to jam them, in 1970 the government of the United Kingdom decided to employ a jamming transmitter to drown out the incoming transmissions from the commercial station
Radio North Sea International
, which was based aboard the motor vessel (MV)
Mebo II
anchored off southeast England in the
North Sea
. Other examples of this type of unusual broadcasting include the
USCGC
Courier
(WAGR-410)
, a
United States Coast Guard
cutter
which both originated and relayed broadcasts of the
Voice of America
from an anchorage at the
Greek
island of
Rhodes
to
Soviet bloc
countries. Balloons have been flown above
Key West, Florida
, to support the TV transmissions of
TV Marti
, which are directed at
Cuba
(the Cuban government jams the signals). Military broadcasting aircraft have been flown over
Vietnam
,
Iraq
, and many other nations by the
United States Air Force
.
Piracy in amateur and two-way radio
[
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]
Illegal use of licensed radio spectrum (also known as
bootlegging
in
CB
circles)
[8]
is fairly common and takes several forms.
- Unlicensed operation?Particularly associated with amateur radio and licensed personal communication services such as
GMRS
, this refers to use of radio equipment on a section of spectrum for which the equipment is designed but on which the user is not licensed to operate (most such operators are informally known as "bubble pack pirates" from the sealed plastic retail packaging common to such walkie-talkies). While piracy on the US GMRS band, for example, is widespread (some estimates have the number of total GMRS users outstripping the number of licensed users by several orders of magnitude), such use is generally disciplined only in cases where the pirate's activity interferes with a licensee. A notable case is that of former United States amateur operator
Jack Gerritsen
operating under the revoked
call sign
KG6IRO
[9]
who was successfully prosecuted by the FCC for unlicensed operation and malicious interference.
[10]
A subcategory of this is free banding, the use of allocations nearby a legal allocation, most typically the 27 MHz
Citizen's Band
using modified or purpose-built gear.
- Inadvertent interference?Common when personal communications gear is brought into countries where it is not certified to operate. Such interference results from clashing frequency allocations, and occasionally requires wholesale reallocation of an existing band due to an insurmountable interference problem; for example, the 2004 approval in Canada of the unlicensed use of the United States
General Mobile Radio Service
frequencies due to interference from users of
FRS
/GMRS radios from the United States, where
Industry Canada
had to transfer a number of licensed users on the GMRS frequencies to unoccupied channels to accommodate the expanded service.
- Deliberate or malicious interference?refers to the use of two-way radio to harass or jam other users of a channel. Such behaviour is widely prosecuted, especially when it interferes with mission-critical services such as
aviation radio
or
marine VHF radio
.
- Illegal equipment?This refers to the use of illegally modified equipment or equipment not certified for a particular band. Such equipment includes illegal
linear amplifiers
for
CB radio
, antenna or circuit modifications on walkie-talkies, the use of "export" radios for free banding, or the use of amateur radios on unlicensed bands that amateur gear is not certified for. The use of
marine VHF radio
gear for inland mobile radio operations is common in some countries, with enforcement difficult since marine VHF is generally the province of maritime authorities.
Examples of pirate radio stations
[
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]
- Beat Radio
,
Minneapolis
, Minnesota, USA
- BMIR
,
Black Rock City
,
Nevada
, USA
- Britain Radio
, United Kingdom
- Citizens Radio
102.8 FM, Hong Kong
- Dread Broadcasting Corporation
, London's first black music radio station
- Free Radio Santa Cruz
California, United States
- Laser 558
, North Sea
- Mix FM
,
Ottawa
- KQLZ
, a legal radio station billed as Pirate Radio
Los Angeles
(with a mailing address at a
P.O. Box
in
Avalon
)
- Pirate Cat Radio
,
San Francisco Bay Area
- Portland Radio Authority
,
Portland
, Oregon, USA
- Radio 270
, United Kingdom
- Radio 390
, United Kingdom
- Radio Caroline
, United Kingdom (now licensed and legal)
- Radio City
, United Kingdom
- Radio First Termer
, Saigon, Vietnam 1971
- Radio Hauraki
, New Zealand (ship, Tiri 1 and Tiri 2) (now licensed and legal)
- Radio Jackie
, United Kingdom (now licensed and legal)
- Radio Mercur
, Denmark
- Radio Milinda
, Dublin
- Radio North Sea International
- Radio Newyork International
, Jones Beach, New York, United States (1987 and 1988 pirate ship)
- Radio Nova
, Dublin 1981?1986
- Radio Scotland
, United Kingdom (1960s pirate ship)
- Radio Solidarity
, Poland (1982?1989)
- Radio Veronica
, Netherlands
- Rinse FM
, London (gained a license in 2010)
- Swinging Radio England
, United Kingdom
- Thameside Radio
London
- TSF
,
Lisbon
, Portugal (now licensed and legal)
- Twilight FM
,
Hull
,
East Yorkshire
1993?1997
- Voice of Peace
, Israel (pirate ship)
- Wonderful Radio London
, United Kingdom
- Freedom FM
, Ireland
In popular culture
[
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]
The films
The Boat That Rocked
,
[11]
Pump Up the Volume
, and
On the Air Live with Captain Midnight
, as well as the TV series
People Just Do Nothing
are set in the world of pirate radio, while
Born in Flames
features pirate radio stations as being part of an underground political movement. Pirate radio is also a central plot point of the video game
Jet Set Radio
and its sequel
Jet Set Radio Future
.
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]
- ^
"Pirate radio/television station"
.
Online Cambridge Dictionary
. 21 May 2023.
- ^
Misiroglu, Gina, ed. (2015).
"Pirate Radio"
.
American Countercultures: An Encyclopedia of Nonconformists, Alternative Lifestyles, and Radical Ideas in U.S. History
. New York: Routledge.
ISBN
978-1-317-47728-0
.
An unlicensed FM station (often run by an amateur radio operator) that manages to occupy a commercial or state-run FM band is an example of a pirate or "bootleg" radio station
- ^
Electrical world
. McGraw-Hill. 1907. pp. 1023?
. Retrieved
6 March
2012
.
- ^
"Thomas H. White. "United States Early Radio History"
"
. Earlyradiohistory.us
. Retrieved
2011-06-16
.
- ^
"WJAZ "wave pirates" publicity photograph"
.
Popular Radio
. May 1926. p. 90.
- ^
Felix Guattari. "Plan for the Planet". In
Molecular Revolution. Psychiatry and Politics
. London: Penguin Books, 1984. p. 269.
- ^
"Radio Britannia 1965-2022"
.
Radiofax
. Retrieved
8 April
2024
.
- ^
Stan Gibilisco (1 January 1997).
TAB Encyclopedia of Electronics for Technicians and Hobbyists
. McGraw-Hill.
ISBN
978-0-07-024190-9
.
- ^
"W5YI Report"
. W5yi.org
. Retrieved
2011-06-16
.
- ^
"Apologetic Radio Jammer Jack Gerritsen Gets Seven Years, Fines"
.
ARRL Web
. Sep 19, 2006. Archived from
the original
on April 2, 2007.
- ^
Overseas re-titles included
Pirate Radio
(US),
Good Morning England
(France),
Radio Rock Revolution
(Germany),
The Rock Wave
(Russia), and
I Love Radio Rock
(Italy).
External links
[
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]