The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) last week warned 13 property owners in the New York City area that illegal FM radio broadcasts were emanating from their properties, and that they could face multi-million dollar fines if the transmissions do not promptly cease.
To operate a broadcast station, the Communications Act of 1934 and the FCC’s rules require an FCC license. Those operating illegally are commonly referred to as “pirate” operators. These operations are frequently the target of FCC enforcement actions as they can, among other things, interfere with FCC-licensed broadcasts and disrupt emergency communications.
The Preventing Illegal Radio Abuse Through Enforcement (PIRATE) Act, enacted in early 2020, gave the FCC increased enforcement authority over pirate radio operators. Importantly, the Act also extended the FCC’s enforcement authority to property owners deemed to be willfully and knowingly permitting pirate radio activity on their property. The PIRATE Act permits the FCC to fine both pirate radio operators and the property owners/landlords who permit pirate radio activity on their property. The risk for property owners is substantial, with maximum fines of $119,555 per day, capped at a statutory maximum of $2,391,097. Both of these numbers are regularly adjusted by the FCC to account for inflation.
Acting on various complaints of unlicensed radio broadcasts from the New York metropolitan area, FCC field agents employed direction-finding equipment to determine the sites from which the suspect signals were originating. The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau then issued Notices of Illegal Pirate Radio Broadcasting (Notices) to the property owners of record for those sites.