H.R. 5709 — what changed

Title V of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 501 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

changed “511. Enhanced penalties for pirate radio broadcasting; seizure of illegal equipment; enforcement sweepssweeps; reporting

“(a) Increased general penalty—Any person who willfully and knowingly does or causes or suffers to be done any pirate radio broadcasting shall be subject to a fine of not more than $2,000,000.

“(b) Violation of this Act, rules, or regulations—Any person who willfully and knowingly violates this Act or any rule, regulation, restriction, or condition made or imposed by the Commission under authority of this Act, or any rule, regulation, restriction, or condition made or imposed by any international radio or wire communications treaty or convention, or regulations annexed thereto, to which the United States is or may hereafter become party, relating to pirate radio broadcasting shall, in addition to any other penalties provided by law, be subject to a fine of not more than $100,000 for each day during which such offense occurs, in accordance with the limit described in subsection (a).

changed “(c) Live pirate radio broadcasting—Section 503(b)(4) does not apply for a forfeiture penalty imposed on a person if the Commission has direct evidence that the Facilitation—Any person is responsible for a who knowingly and intentionally facilitates pirate radio broadcast and such broadcast is occurring in real time.broadcasting shall be subject to a fine of not more than $2,000,000.

changed “(d) Facilitation—Any person who knowingly Annual report—Not later than one year after the date of enactment of the PIRATE Act, and intentionally facilitates pirate radio broadcasting annually thereafter, the Commission shall be subject submit to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation a fine report summarizing the implementation of not more than $2,000,000.this section and associated enforcement activities for the previous fiscal year, which may include the efforts by the Commission to enlist the cooperation of Federal, State, and local law enforcement personnel (including United States Attorneys and the United States Marshals Service) for service of process, collection of fines or forfeitures, seizures of equipment, and enforcement of orders.

“(e) Enforcement sweeps

changed “(1) Biannual Annual sweeps—Not less than twice once each year, the Commission shall assign appropriate enforcement personal personnel to focus specific and sustained attention on the elimination of pirate radio broadcasting within the top five radio markets identified as prevalent for such broadcasts. Such effort shall include identifying, locating, and terminating taking enforcement actions designed to terminate such operations and seizing related equipment under subsection (e).operations.

changed “(2) No effect on remaining enforcement—Notwithstanding Additional monitoring—Within six months after conducting the enforcement sweeps required by paragraph (1), the Commission shall not decrease or diminish conduct monitoring sweeps to ascertain whether the regular pirate radio broadcasting identified by enforcement efforts targeted sweeps is continuing to broadcast and whether additional pirate radio broadcast stations for other times of the year.broadcasting is occurring.

changed “(f) State and local government authority“(3) No effect on remaining enforcement—Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the Commission shall not decrease or diminish the regular enforcement efforts targeted to pirate radio broadcast stations for other times of the year.

changed “(1) Statutes or ordinances permitted—A “(f) State or and local government authority—The Commission may enact a statute or ordinance that imposes civil or criminal penalties for pirate radio broadcasting, not preempt any State or for knowingly and intentionally facilitating pirate radio broadcasting, provided that the determination whether a radio station is engaged in local law prohibiting pirate radio broadcasting shall be made exclusively by the Commission.broadcasting.

changed “(2) “(g) Revision of Commission authority preserved—Enforcement by rules required—The Commission shall revise its rules to require that, absent good cause, in any case alleging a State or local government violation of a statute subsection (a) or ordinance under this section shall not preclude (b), the Commission or Federal law enforcement authority from concurrently enforcing this section and section 301 shall proceed directly to issue a “Notice of this Act, any other Federal law, or any regulation Apparent Liability” without first issuing a “Notice of the Commission thereunder.Unlicensed Operations”.

changed “(g) Definitions—In this section:“(h) Pirate radio broadcasting database

added “(1) In general—Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this section, and semi-annually thereafter, the Commission shall publish a database in a clear and legible format of all licensed radio stations operating in the AM and FM bands. The database shall be easily accessible from the Commission home page through a direct link. The database shall include the following information:

added “(A) Each licensed station, listed by the assigned frequency, channel number, or Commission call letters.

added “(B) All entities that have received a Notice of Unlicensed Operation, Notice of Apparent Liability, or Forfeiture Order by the Commission.

added “(2) Clear identification—The Commission shall clearly identify in the database—

added “(A) each licensed station as a station licensed by the Commission; and

added “(B) each entity described in paragraph (1)(B) as operating without a Commission license or authorization.

added “(i) Definitions—In this section:

“(1) Pirate radio broadcasting—The term pirate radio broadcasting means the transmission of communications on spectrum frequencies between 535 to 1705 kHz or 87.7 to 108 MHz without a license issued by the Federal Communications Commission, but does not include unlicensed operations in compliance with part 15 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations.

“(2) Facilitates—The term facilitates means providing access to property (and improvements thereon) or providing physical goods or services, including providing housing, facilities, or financing, that directly aid pirate radio broadcasting.

“(3) Knowingly and intentionally—The term knowingly and intentionally means the person was previously served by the Commission with a notice of unlicensed operations, notice of apparent liability, or citation for efforts to facilitate pirate radio broadcasting.”