Here in the Netherlands, pirate radio is definitely still a thing. As long as radio has been around, people have tried to regulate it. And if something’s regulated, people are bound to ignore and break those rules.
Our own local station actually has its roots in pirate radio. Back in 1994, a group of local pirates got together and formed a legit, licensed FM radio station. The reason being that those pirates got caught frequently. They figured going legit would be cheaper than constantly paying fines and having equipment seized.
Even in 2024, pirate radio still exists. In 2023, the police and Dutch telecoms agency caught 114 illegal stations. When someone finds an illegal transmitter, police get involved. In some cases, that’s also due to safety issues. There have been cases where the pirates put the equipment in trees, surrounded by asbestos as a deterrent to dismantling it. That’s actual, legitimate crime that endangers people. When caught, they can get fined up to 45.000 euros.
Now, you might be thinking: why even risk that? Why be a pirate when you can just set up a completely legal online station? Online radio gets you an even wider audience without all the risk. But to the pirates, that risk, the illegal nature, is part of what draws them to it. Most pirates aren’t assholes, thankfully, and they frequently run nicer, more modern equipment than the stuff we use. As long as they keep off legit FM frequencies, we don’t really have beef with them doing their thing.
Makes sense. Here in the Netherlands, it’s quite densely populated. You only need a very small antenna and not much power to reach other people. I know a guy who’s a pirate. He has a telescoping antenna fixed to the back of his house that he can raise up when transmitting. He can reach everyone in his city of about 24.000 people, even with relatively low power. When he’s not using it, the antenna isn’t visible to anyone.
In the US you’d need a lot more power and a bigger tower to reach people, which means easier detection.
I briefly worked the telephone support line for a radio scanner manufacturer a few years ago and had an FCC field agent call to confirm a couple of things before they purchased several to scan for pirate radio stations
Here in the Netherlands, pirate radio is definitely still a thing. As long as radio has been around, people have tried to regulate it. And if something’s regulated, people are bound to ignore and break those rules.
Our own local station actually has its roots in pirate radio. Back in 1994, a group of local pirates got together and formed a legit, licensed FM radio station. The reason being that those pirates got caught frequently. They figured going legit would be cheaper than constantly paying fines and having equipment seized.
Even in 2024, pirate radio still exists. In 2023, the police and Dutch telecoms agency caught 114 illegal stations. When someone finds an illegal transmitter, police get involved. In some cases, that’s also due to safety issues. There have been cases where the pirates put the equipment in trees, surrounded by asbestos as a deterrent to dismantling it. That’s actual, legitimate crime that endangers people. When caught, they can get fined up to 45.000 euros.
Now, you might be thinking: why even risk that? Why be a pirate when you can just set up a completely legal online station? Online radio gets you an even wider audience without all the risk. But to the pirates, that risk, the illegal nature, is part of what draws them to it. Most pirates aren’t assholes, thankfully, and they frequently run nicer, more modern equipment than the stuff we use. As long as they keep off legit FM frequencies, we don’t really have beef with them doing their thing.
I haven’t heard about pirate radio in the U.S. in years though. So I don’t think that’s the case here.
Makes sense. Here in the Netherlands, it’s quite densely populated. You only need a very small antenna and not much power to reach other people. I know a guy who’s a pirate. He has a telescoping antenna fixed to the back of his house that he can raise up when transmitting. He can reach everyone in his city of about 24.000 people, even with relatively low power. When he’s not using it, the antenna isn’t visible to anyone.
In the US you’d need a lot more power and a bigger tower to reach people, which means easier detection.
Part of that is how quickly the US will find the stations. The FCC won’t let you be.
I briefly worked the telephone support line for a radio scanner manufacturer a few years ago and had an FCC field agent call to confirm a couple of things before they purchased several to scan for pirate radio stations