Trump Signs Pirate Radio Enforcement Law
President Donald Trump signed the Preventing Illegal Radio Abuse Through Enforcement (Pirate) Act (HR-583/S-1228) Friday, as expected (see 2001080061). The law increases fines for illegal pirate operations from $10,000 per violation to $100,000 per day per violation, up to a…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
maximum of $2 million. It also streamlines FCC enforcement to empower state and local law enforcement agencies (see 1901170042). The Pirate Act “provides the FCC with additional tools to combat pirate radio,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. “These transmissions can interfere with licensed radio signals -- including broadcasters’ sharing of vital public safety information with their communities. To enforce the law and protect American radio listeners and lawful businesses, the FCC has made a concerted effort in recent years to step up our enforcement efforts against pirate radio stations.” Trump’s signing of the Pirate Act is “great news for the efforts to eliminate these illegal operators causing harm to their communities and local broadcasters,” tweeted FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly, who supported increased pirate enforcement (see 1707280046). “The burden is now on [the FCC] to implement & enforce its provisions until every last pirate has ended operations,” he added. “Pirate broadcasts have long been a nuisance to millions of radio listeners and pose a public safety threat by interfering with communications between airline pilots and air traffic controllers,” said NAB Executive Vice President-Communications Dennis Wharton in a statement. “We're pleased that on a bipartisan basis, Congress and the White House are giving the FCC and law enforcement authorities additional tools to put illegal radio operators out of business.” The Hill also weighed in. “This law will help protect our public airwaves from illegal pirate radio disruptions, which is crucial to safeguarding important public safety communications like our nation's Emergency Alert System and critical aviation frequencies,” said House Commerce Committee ranking member Greg Walden. R-Ore., and House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Bob Latta, R-Ohio. “This legislation … arms the FCC with needed tools to take down illegal broadcasts and strengthens the penalties for the bad actors engaged in this criminal activity.”