The Federal Communications Commission has sent notices to more property owners about apparent pirate radio broadcasts emanating from their properties.
The commission in recent months has been deploying its anti-pirate toolset, which recently expanded to include much larger possible penalties and the threat of action against property owners and landlords found to harbor pirates. (Read about other recent enforcement cases.)
The Enforcement Bureau this week released three such notices, two for addresses in Brooklyn and one in a suburb of Washington, D.C.
It sent a letter to the owner of a property on Avenue I in Brooklyn about an unlicensed station on 105.5 MHz. The owner is listed as 100 E 92nd LLC.
It sent another to Steve Tiamfook and Russell Evelyn, owners of a property on Brooklyn Avenue, about broadcasts on 106.3.
And it sent a notice to Clearview 10601 LLC and its agent Sergey Nikolaev about a station broadcasting on 97.3 MHz from a property it owns on Baltimore Avenue in Beltsville, Md.
In each case, the commission warned the property owners that they could incur fines of up to $2.1 million “if, following the response period … we determine that you have continued to permit any individual or entity to engage in pirate radio broadcasting the property that you own or manage.” The owners have 10 business days to respond.
“In addition, we request that you identify the individual(s) engaged in pirate radio broadcasting on the property that you own or manage.”
[“FCC Starts Crackdown on Pirate Radio Landlords,” Dec. 2020]
