The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has submitted to the U.S. Congress its annual report on the agency’s efforts in 2023 to reduce the incidence of illegal radio broadcasts.
Mandated under the provisions of the Preventing Illegal Radio Abuse Through Enforcement (PIRATE) Act, the January 24th report summarizes actions that the FCC took in 2023 to implement the Act’s provisions. These include enforcement efforts against property owners and managers, a streamlined process for notifying parties of violations, increased maximum forfeitures for pirate radio broadcasting, and increased educational outreach efforts. The report also provides details on a number of specific enforcement actions it took against pirate radio operators in 2023.
The FCC’s report to Congress also notes that 2023 was the first full year in which the Enforcement Bureau conducted annual enforcement “sweeps” in five markets across the U.S. with the largest number of pirate radio operations. In addition, the Commission has worked to develop customized mobile direction-finding (MDFX) investigative vehicles to assist Field Agents in conducting their investigations of complaints about illegal radio operations and will take delivery of six vehicles over the next two years that will include specialized signal detection hardware and software.
Read the FCC’s annual report to Congress on its pirate radio enforcement efforts in 2023.
