Pirate radio
The term
pirate radio usually refers to illegal or otherwise unwelcome types of broadcasting, often taking the form of an unlicensed FM station on the commercial
FM band.
Sometimes radio stations are deemed legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal and considered "pirate stations" where the signals are received -- especially when the signals cross a country's border. In other cases, a broadcast may be considered "pirate" due to the nature of the content, even if the broadcast is not technically illegal (such as a
webcast or a
HAM radio broadcast). Therefore "pirate radio" can sometimes mean different things to different people. Pirate radio stations are sometimes called
bootleg stations.
In the 1960s in the UK, the term referred to not only a perceived "theft" of the state-run airwaves by the unlicensed broadcasters, but also the risk-taking nature of offshore radio stations that actually operated on ocean-going ships.
A prime 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 intentionally beamed toward the
British Isles by Luxembourg licensed transmitters, while the intended 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 offense under the
Wireless Telegraphy Act to listen to
unauthorized broadcasts such as 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.
Where actual sea faring vessels are not involved, the term
pirate radio is a political term of convenience as the word "
pirate" suggests an illegal venture, regardless of the broadcast's actual legal status. The radio station
XERF located at
Ciudad Acuña,
Coahuila,
Mexico, just across the
Rio Grande from
Del Rio, Texas,
USA, is an example.
While Mexico issued radio station XERF with a license to broadcast, the power of its 250,000
watts transmitter was far greater than the maximum of 50,000 watts 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 labeled as "
border blasters", but not "pirate radio stations", even though the content of many of their programs were in violation of US law. 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.
In 1924,
New York City station WHN was accused of being an "
outlaw" station by
AT&T (then
American Telephone and Telegraph Company) for violating trade licenses which only permitted 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.
Free Radio
Another variation on the term
pirate radio came about during the "
Summer of Love" in
San Francisco during the
hippie days when many things were named "free". Examples include "free store", "
free love" and even "free radio", which usually referred to clandestine and unlicensed land-based transmissions. These were also tagged as being "pirate radio" transmissions.
The term
free radio crossed the
Atlantic Ocean, where it was adopted by the
Free Radio Association of listeners who defended the rights of the "pirate radio stations" broadcasting from ships and marine structures off the coastline of the
United Kingdom. However, the term
free radio also has another meaning, because it differentiates between that form of licensed broadcasting supported by the sale of commercial airtime which anyone can hear free of charge, from that form of licensed commercial broadcasting (especially television) that listeners and especially viewers have to subscribe to and which is usually known as
Pay TV.
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.
Freebooter was yet another variation of the term
pirate radio and it was sometimes used by the business press in the USA when describing marine broadcasting in Europe.
While
pirate radio began as a defamatory term in Britain, it later became accepted as having a secondary meaning to describe adventurous forms of licensed broadcasting that had roots in true offshore unlicensed broadcasting. To this end the British licensing authorities have allowed both independent stations and to date even one local
BBC station to use this name, while the government retained use of the term
pirate radio to describe any stations on land or at sea which are broadcasting without a license and contrary to law.
Since this subject covers both 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.
Questions have been raised about various types of broadcasting conducted by national governments against the interests of other national governments which have in turn created
jamming stations transmitting noises on the same frequency so as to destroy the receivability of the incoming signal.
While the
USA transmitted its programs towards the
USSR 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 Northsea 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 Coast Guard Cutter
USCGC Courier which both originated and relayed broadcasts of the
Voice of America from an anchorage at the island of
Rhodes,
Greece 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. Military broadcasting aircraft have been flown over
Vietnam,
Iraq and many other nations by the
United States Air Force. The
European Union financially supported a radio station broadcasting news and information into the former
Yugoslavia from a ship anchored in international waters.
For individual listings under this heading please click the link above.
China (From International Waters)
Taiwan (The history of Underground Radio)
For individual listings under this heading please click the link above.
New Zealand (From International Waters)
For individual listings under this heading please click the link above.
Swan Island (History of Radio Swan / Radio Americas)
For individual listings under this heading please click the link above.
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Belgium (From International Waters)
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Denmark (From International Waters)
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England (From International Waters)
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France (
History of Pirate Radio from 1970 to 1990)
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Greece**http://www.geocities.com/stergiousakis
**http://www.mousikosdiavlos.gr
**http://www.lalos.gr
*
Ireland (
History of Pirate Radio)
**http://uk.geocities.com/db142002
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Italy (
Radio Alice)
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Luxembourg (History of "Radio Luxembourg")
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Netherlands (From International Waters)
**http://freeteam.nl/patapoe/ Radio Patapoe
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Scotland (From International Waters)
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Sweden (From International Waters)
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United Kingdom (
History of Pirate Radio: Pre-World War II; Land based)
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Yugoslavia (From International Waters)
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Greece**http://www.geocities.com/stergiousakis
**http://www.mousikosdiavlos.gr
**http://www.lalos.gr
**http://www.katanakis.com
**http://www.geocities.com/radioaquarius
For individual listings under this heading please click the link above.
Israel (From Territorial Waters)
For individual listings under this heading please click the link above.
Mexico (History of the "
Border blasters")
United States of America (History of Pirate Radio; From International Waters)
*
Power Hits 103.3 (Quad Cities IA/IL)*
Free Radio Olympia*
Pirate Cat Radio (San Francisco & Los Angeles)*
Radionuclear (Ottawa, Ontario. Canada. Shut down on FM by Industry Canada, now shoutcasting online)*
Free Radio Santa Cruz*
Free Radio Folsom (CA)*
Radio Alice*
Free Radio San Diego*
Rádio de Tróia (Florianópolis - Brazil)*
Rádio Muda (Campinas - Brazil)*
Wicked Radio (Edgerton and Door County simulcast on shoutcast)*
LUNk Radio (Lincoln, NE)AMATEUR PIRATE RADIO:
Pirate amateur radio operators in the
United States are rare, but they do exist. Since they would be shunned by their fellow
hams, they don't publicize their illegal status. Amateur radio operators use the term
bootleg to describe illegal equipment or operators. In the early days of
Citizens Band Radio a license was required and many operators simply didn't bother to get one. Many
bootleg CB operators also used transmitters that radiated more than the four watts allowed or operated on frequencies that were not authorized for CB operation.
*(In the
UK different laws and regulations apply.)
COMMUNITY RADIO: In the
USA Community radio is often used to describe licensed low power stations serving particular communities. It is also used by unlicensed pirate radio stations using very low power to describe their activities and by other stations seeking to obtain licenses for such operations. See also
Micropower radio.
*(In the
UK the term "Community Radio" had a particular point of reference to a plan proposed in the
1980s to licence previously unlicensed land based pirate radio stations, but that plan was aborted prior to being implemented. Today the term "Community Radio" is often used in the UK in conjunction with
RSL for legally licensed low-power stations. A
Restricted Service Licence "RSL", is granted by governmental regulators for low power and short duration transmissions serving a local community or special interest attraction.)
*
Origin of term theory on possible origin of term
*
Pirate Radio StationsPirate Radio Stations on the Internet
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Radio Pirates Forum A community for Pirate Radio enthusiasts to discuss this hobby and to meet other people interested in Pirate Radio
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DIYMEDIA For the latest in Pirate Free Radio & Free Media news
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Top Pirate Radio Sites A list of the top pirate radio site you can add your site vote on other sites & have your site voted on
* The movie
Pump Up The Volume came out in 1990 and featured Christian Slater as a high school student who runs a pirate radio station.
* Click on "History" at
RadioJackie.com to read how one English urban pirate station struggled from 1969 until 2003 to reach the status of legality with a scheduled daily output. Their story and level of community support are not typical of land-based pirate radio.
* London-based
Thameside Radio 90.2 had a substantial influence on the style of future legal and pirate radio by interacting with listeners rather than simply broadcasting to them.
Link to Thameside Radio Wikipedia entry *
Les pionniers des radios libres French free radio (French)
*
Des radios pirates aux radios libres (French)
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How to be a Community Radio Station (formerly known as "How to be a Radio Pirate")
** To promote neighbourhood, community and open-access radio stations;
** To demystify the art of broadcast electronics;
** To be a source of high quality technical information;
** To review equipment and information available elsewhere.
*
Pirate Radio*
Pirate Radio Stations Directory of underground dance music pirate radio stations.
*
Pirate Radio Hall of Fame* When Don Pierson of Eastland, Texas created the most successful offshore stations of the 1960s: "Wonderful Radio London", "Swinging Radio England" and "Britain Radio - 'Hallmark of Quality'", he had no idea that the legacy of his creation would outlive his death in 1996. However, he did attempt one comeback of one his stations as "Wonderful Radio London International" in 1984. The station did not manage to come back on the air as a full time ship based radio station, but the company did produce its own new "Wonderful Radio London" programs which were heard nightly over 250,000 watts XERF-AM (Ciudad Acuña, Mexico across the Rio Grande river from Del Rio, Texas) and a handful of US domestic stations, which included Don Pierson's own radio station: KVMX-FM in Eastland, Texas. Since his death there have been other revivals and even other claims to the name. See
The Wonderful Radio London Story* For more information about Sir James Goldsmith's Referendum Radio of 1997, see:
Sir James Goldsmith web site and the story of the ship
Kowloon Moon* For a listeners perspective on Offshore Pirate Radio mainly in the 60s and 70s look at the offshore radio chunk at http://www.wirelesswaffle.co.uk
*
Irish pirate radio of the 1980's.*
London's FM Pirate Radio Stations List of FM pirate radio stations currently operating in London.
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London Pirate Radio Listings*
The Official Pirate Radio Kit Site Technical information on FM Transmitter Kits, Great Links page
