[raccoonradio]

Pirate, unlicensed stations pop up all over the U.S. and can interfere with legit stations and even aircraft frequencies. The station here, Datz Hits (hip hop etc) has run for years at 99.7 FM, right next to WCRB-FM 99.5, a long-running classical station. These pirate stations get away (often) with running stations without a license (the toothless FCC) often without having to pay these fines (they claim inability to pay) and often the Marshall's service is too busy to arrest them. They run ads but pay no taxes.

And you'd think the feds would want to really come down hard on these particular pirates--the current owners of WCRB is WGBH, the public radio giant which _gets tax money from the Corporation For Public Broadcasting_. Yeah, in some ways we'd like to see an NPR affiliate take it on the chin but there's a principle here.

You can't just throw yourselves on the dial and say "we don't need no stinkin' license". Should an unlicensed, uneducated doctor be allowed to practice? Should a 12 yr old kid drive a car--hey, who needs a license?

[raccoonradio]

http://transition.fcc.gov/eb/Orders/2010/DA-10-1908A1.html

>>In the basement, the agents observed radio station equipment, which included an RF amplifier, an FM modulator with a front panel display reading 99.7 MHz, and a power supply.

http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/exhibitionist/2007/02/wcrb_pirate_rad.html

>>(A WCRB listener wrote the station): “I look forward to the BSO broadcasts on Saturday night, but since WCRB switched to 99.5 it has been virtually impossible to listen these broadcasts. I live in the Ashmont neighborhood of Dorchester and most of the time the WCRB signal is completely overwhelmed by a gospel/hiphop station which broadcasts on 99.7. I have not heard them actually announce call letters, but they do say they are located in Boston.”

>> (WCRB responds): “Thanks so much for your note. You are not the first person to write us with this concern about 99.7. This is an unlicensed pirate station. We have contacted the FCC with an official complaint, and they are currently investigating this. It’s our hope the interference caused by this pirate station will go away very soon.”

[LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget]

where in the constitution does it state the government owns the airwaves?

[ScreamingFist]

These hiphop guys are idiots......that said.....I Heard it on the X...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPAR2zSV84I

[Jack Hydrazine]

Gotta love that asset forfeiture by the Feds!

[Lazlo in PA]

I can’t believe people are still doing this. I knew guy 20 years ago in collage that did this stuff but they were limited in range. These guys seem to be running full out stations here. Thank God the FCC is on top of this. Busy poking their nose in everything else, but easy cases like this get a slap on the wrist.

[Grut]

Should a 12 yr old kid drive a car--hey, who needs a license?

Just to be annoying... at the age eleven, Charles Lindbergh drove his father (a US Congressman) to various political appearances: and at the age of thirteen or fourteen, he drove his mother and uncle from Minnesota to California.

[Thrownatbirth]

Shortwave (HF) pirate stations have been fun to track and listen to for decades. I have operating schedules and QSL cards from stations worldwide. They broadcast on “established” pirate freqs (e.g. 6155 kHz) and are no danger to public safety.