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Pirate radio

A pirate radio station is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license.[1]

For other uses, see Pirate Radio (disambiguation).

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.

Propaganda broadcasting[edit]

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 Martí, 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.

Unlicensed operation—Particularly associated with amateur radio and licensed personal communication services such as , 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.

GMRS

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 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.

General Mobile Radio 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 or marine VHF radio.

aviation radio

Illegal equipment—This refers to the use of illegally modified equipment or equipment not certified for a particular band. Such equipment includes illegal 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.

linear amplifiers

Illegal use of licensed radio spectrum (also known as bootlegging in CB circles)[8] is fairly common and takes several forms.

Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Beat Radio

Black Rock City, Nevada, USA

BMIR

United Kingdom

Britain Radio

102.8 FM, Hong Kong

Citizens Radio

London's first black music radio station

Dread Broadcasting Corporation

California, United States

Free Radio Santa Cruz

North Sea

Laser 558

Ottawa

Mix FM

a legal radio station billed as Pirate Radio Los Angeles (with a mailing address at a P.O. Box in Avalon)

KQLZ

San Francisco Bay Area

Pirate Cat Radio

Portland, Oregon, USA

Portland Radio Authority

United Kingdom

Radio 270

United Kingdom

Radio 390

United Kingdom (now licensed and legal)

Radio Caroline

United Kingdom

Radio City

Saigon, Vietnam 1971

Radio First Termer

New Zealand (ship, Tiri 1 and Tiri 2) (now licensed and legal)

Radio Hauraki

United Kingdom (now licensed and legal)

Radio Jackie

Denmark

Radio Mercur

Dublin

Radio Milinda

Radio North Sea International

Jones Beach, New York, United States (1987 and 1988 pirate ship)

Radio Newyork International

Dublin 1981–1986

Radio Nova

United Kingdom (1960s pirate ship)

Radio Scotland

Poland (1982–1989)

Radio Solidarity

Netherlands

Radio Veronica

London (gained a license in 2010)

Rinse FM

United Kingdom

Swinging Radio England

London

Thameside Radio

Lisbon, Portugal (now licensed and legal)

TSF

Hull, East Yorkshire 1993–1997

Twilight FM

Israel (pirate ship)

Voice of Peace

United Kingdom

Wonderful Radio London

Ireland

Freedom FM

In popular culture[edit]

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.

Low-power broadcasting

Border blaster

Community radio

Open spectrum

Pirate radio in Europe

Pirate television

Thomas H. White "United States Early Radio History"

Harvey J. Levin: Pioneering the Economics of the Airwaves

The Invisible Resource: Use and Regulation of the Radio Spectrum

The Pirate Radio Hall of Fame