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U.S. government no longer tracking pirate radio activity
Oct 09, 2013 10:16 pm
With just a skeleton crew since the government "shutdown" Oct. 1, the Federal Communications Commission currently has no enforcement division, to react to complaints about pirate radio. Those complaints may be logged later, but the pirates may be long gone by the time the government re-opens for business. So, with America in a lawless state on the airwaves, is anyone monitoring pirate activity? The FCC keeps the records of pirate radio activity that anyone reporting about pirate radio inevitably refers to in their story. Pirates no longer like to leave internet traces, but there are a few websites with information about illicit activity on the airwaves. "PiratesWeek," a weekly audio report about shortwave and FM pirate radio activity comes from upstate New York's Ragnar Daneskjold, although he posts much less often every fall. Even when he doesn't post the weekly show that airs on many FM, shortwave, and internet stations, he does post audio files of pirate stations, and his Twitter feed is full of broadcast alerts. Pirate Radio Central (blackcatsystems.com/radio/pirate.html) also hosts a lively message board with information about shortwave pirates, numbers stations, utility stations, and more. Free Radio Cafe also has a lively forum, and includes solar weather and a way to upload QSL cards.