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In One Day, FCC Snares 10 Alleged Pirates

New York and Pennsylvania violations detailed

The Northeast has long been home to illegal pirate operations. That’s undoubtedly the case when one considers the amount of pirate activity lodged in one day by the Northeast-based Enforcement Bureau at the Federal Communications Commission.

In addition to unusual unauthorized activity in Connecticut, the bureau contacted two alleged operators in New York on Nov. 9 to alert them that they’d been caught operating a radio station without a license. Radio signals were found to be emanating from an address belonging to John Pierre on Albemarle Road in Brooklyn at the frequency 93.7 MHz. Across town, agents noted that an unlicensed FM station was operating on the frequency 90.1 MHz possibly from a residence on Byron Ave. The prospective operator was identified as Victor Miller.

Across the border in Pennsylvania, enforcement agents responded to complaints of an unlicensed FM station broadcasting on 100.9 MHz in Stroudsburg. Using direction-finding techniques, agents discovered a signal emanating from a residence on Frantz Road. That alleged operator was identified as Ray Daniels of World Hype Radio.

The hip-hop, R&B and reggae FM station also broadcasts a live stream online. When asked recently by a listener on the group’s Facebook page how to listen on the radio, a staff member only mentioned that the station is available via the TuneIn and Nobex Radio apps and online.

In an unusual twist, agents discovered that the field strength for the station operating at 100.9 MHz was measured at 1,443,204 microvolts per meter, which greatly exceeds the permitted level of 250 microvolts per meter for nonlicensed devices.

These pirate enforcement notices were a roundup of 10 total cases that the FCC announced on Nov. 9.

In each case, the operators were warned that operating radio transmitting license without a valid license is in violation of federal laws. Each operator must discontinue operating immediately and respond to the FCC with evidence that they have a license within 10 days.

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