From Amateur Radio Newsline:
In the United States, the Federal
Communications Commission has finally put a piracy
enforcement resource online that the agency says
is late because of delays in funding.
A database and map displaying pirate radio
enforcement actions taken by the FCC has gone live
as part of an overall response to the Pirate Act
passed by Congress.
The database shows the agency’s actions over the
past three years following the act’s passage and
includes consent decrees, landlord notice letters
and the $10,000 forfeiture associated with pirate
operations. The FCC said that it was delayed until
now in implementing the Pirate Act because of
funding delays and challeges posed by the
pandemic. The funding covers the cost of other
actions, including enforcement sweeps and
in-person investigations. To comply with that
mandate, the agency needs to hire additional field
agents and buy a half-dozen mobile
direction-finding vehicles . Although the FCC has
already posted openings for five agents and a
field counsel, its purchase of six
mobile-direction-finding vehicles has been
delayed, because much of the funding remains
delayed.
Implementation of the Pirate Act was expected to
cost $11-million, according to the Congressional
Budget Office. Funds were not provided until last
March and only $5-million was available to the FCC
at the time. The Pirate Act mandates enforcement
sweeps in the top five markets. The act also
strengthened the agency’s enforcement abillity,
permitting it to take action against those
landlords and managers who permit pirate
operations on their properties.
FCC Map Database: https://opendata.fcc.gov/stories/s/wgq8-eb5c