Pirate Radio/Microbroadcasting?

[unlovablehands]

I'm working on a background for a character and have run into a bit of a stumbling block. Then I remembered little_detailsI've been trying to figure this out with Wikipedia, some websites dedicated to pirate radio, and the FCC site, but it's not giving me a whole lot to go on, so I thought I might ask here

Comments

[birdzilla]

While I'm not an expert, I happen to have a ham radio operator on hand, so this is what my dad says:

1) Imprisonment is possible, but fines would be a lot more likely. Apparently, a VERY likely fine would be $10,000 a day for each violations. (According a an act passed in 1934; apparently some changes were made in 1996, so that may have been one of them.) Also, the radio equipment will be confiscated, and you DON'T get it back. (So between the fines and replacing the equipment, you could go broke pretty quickly.) If the FCC had an open case but hadn't caught them yet, all he can tell me is that "it would depend on how much they aggravated the people pursuing the case". If the person operating the station was a minor, the equipment would still be confiscated, and the parents would probably have to pay the fines; it looks like the punishment would be the same, it'd just be on the parents instead of the kid (and the parents would presumably make the kid pay things back, if they're any kind of responsible parents at all).

2) Switching frequencies apparently would not do too much good, if they pop up on frequencies that were being monitored often enough. Moving back and forth across the country would, but once the FCC has triangulated someone, they can nab them the next time that person comes on a monitored frequency.

3) More complaints would come in from populated areas, because unlicensed/illegal operators would cause interference for other operators and would therefore be more annoying in an area where there's a lot of radio traffic. The FCC will sometimes go after people on their own, if they notice them, but it seems like they don't really actively go hunting for violators.

[unlovablehands]

Thank you so much. This was incredibly helpful!

[full4zaccordion]

Also, if you are operating a pirate radio station, reps from the FCC will literally show up at your door and tell you to shut it down, and, yes, they will take your equipment. A couple years ago, there was a freshman at my university who wasn't aware that one needed a license to broadcast over the airwaves and he started broadcasting his own radio station out of his apartment. The FCC showed up and took all his equipment. I don't think he went to jail, though. I think in that case, they just fined him and told him not to do it again.

[unlovablehands]

Do you know about how long he was doing it before the FCC reps showed up?

Realistically...

[drdeadringer]

I think that pirate radio guys should take over the PHAROS project in England, thereby trumping the FCC into oblivian.

Or just campaign for changing the FCC, since broadcasting over satellite is... not easy for Joe Shmo at the moment.