Preventing Illegal Radio Abuse Through Enforcement Act
Public Law 116–109
Preventing Illegal Radio Abuse Through Enforcement Act
109
116–109
Statute Compilation
United States House of Representatives
Office of the Legislative Counsel
text/xml
EN
Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
GPO Statute Compilations USLM converter, version 20210527.1
2021-10-15
PIRATE Act
Preventing Illegal Radio Abuse Through Enforcement Act
15636
116
2020-01-24
Preventing Illegal Radio Abuse Through Enforcement Act
[(Public Law 116–109)]
[This law has not been amended]
[Currency: This publication is a compilation of the text of Public Law 116–109. It was last amended by the public law listed in the As Amended Through note above and below at the bottom of each page of the pdf version and reflects current law through the date of the enactment of the public law listed at https://www.govinfo.gov/app/collection/comps/]
[Note: While this publication does not represent an official version of any Federal statute, substantial efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of its contents. The official version of Federal law is found in the United States Statutes at Large and in the United States Code. The legal effect to be given to the Statutes at Large and the United States Code is established by statute (1 U.S.C. 112, 204).]

AN ACT
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for enhanced penalties for pirate radio, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1.
[47 U.S.C. 609 note]

SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Preventing Illegal Radio Abuse Through Enforcement Act” or the “PIRATE Act”.
SEC. 2.

PIRATE RADIO ENFORCEMENT ENHANCEMENTS.
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:
“SEC. 511.
[47 U.S.C. 511]

ENHANCED PENALTIES FOR PIRATE RADIO BROADCASTING; ENFORCEMENT SWEEPS; 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 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).
“(c)

Annual Report.—
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the PIRATE Act, and annually thereafter, the Commission shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report summarizing the implementation of 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.
“(d)

Enforcement Sweeps.—
“(1)

Annual sweeps.—
Not less than once each year, the Commission shall assign appropriate enforcement personnel to focus specific and sustained attention on the elimination of pirate radio broadcasting within the top 5 radio markets identified as prevalent for such broadcasts. Such effort shall include identifying, locating, and taking enforcement actions designed to terminate such operations.
“(2)

Additional monitoring.—
Within 6 months after conducting the enforcement sweeps required by paragraph (1), the Commission shall conduct monitoring sweeps to ascertain whether the pirate radio broadcasting identified by enforcement sweeps is continuing to broadcast and whether additional pirate radio broadcasting is occurring.
“(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.
“(e)

State and Local Government Authority.—
The Commission may not preempt any State or local law prohibiting pirate radio broadcasting.
“(f)

Revision of Commission Rules Required.—
The Commission shall revise its rules to require that, absent good cause, in any case alleging a violation of subsection (a) or (b), the Commission shall proceed directly to issue a notice of apparent liability without first issuing a notice of unlicensed operation.
“(g)

Pirate Radio Broadcasting Database.—
“(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:
“(A)
Each licensed station, listed by the assigned frequency, channel number, or Commission call letters.
“(B)
All entities that have received a notice of unlicensed operation, notice of apparent liability, or forfeiture order issued by the Commission.
“(2)

Clear identification.—
The Commission shall clearly identify in the database—
“(A)
each licensed station as a station licensed by the Commission; and
“(B)
each entity described in paragraph (1)(B) as operating without a Commission license or authorization.
“(h)

Definition of Pirate Radio Broadcasting.—
In this section, the term ‘pirate radio broadcasting’ means the transmission of communications on spectrum frequencies between 535 and 1705 kilohertz, inclusive, or 87.7 and 108 megahertz, inclusive, without a license issued by the Commission, but does not include unlicensed operations in compliance with part 15 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations.”
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