§511 Enhanced penalties for pirate radio broadcasting; enforcement sweeps; reporting

Summary

Makes people who knowingly run pirate radio stations face heavy fines and forces stronger enforcement. A person who willfully runs pirate radio can be fined up to $2,000,000. If someone willfully breaks the chapter’s rules or related international rules about pirate radio, they can also be fined up to $100,000 for each day the violation keeps happening, subject to the limit in subsection (a). Within 1 year after January 24, 2020, and every year after, the Commission must send Congress a report on how it used these rules and how it worked with federal, state, and local law enforcement (including U.S. attorneys and U.S. Marshals) to serve papers, collect fines, seize equipment, and enforce orders. At least once a year the Commission must put enforcement staff on the top 5 radio markets with the most pirate broadcasts to find and stop illegal stations, then check within 6 months whether those stations keep broadcasting or new ones appeared. The Commission cannot cut back its normal enforcement at other times, and it cannot override state or local laws that ban pirate radio. The Commission must change its rules so that, unless there is a good reason not to, it goes straight to a notice of apparent liability for violations under the fines above without first issuing a notice of unlicensed operation. Within 90 days after January 24, 2020, and every six months after, the Commission must post an easy-to-find database of all AM and FM licensed stations and of all entities that have received notices or forfeiture orders, clearly marking which are licensed and which are operating without a license. Pirate radio broadcasting means transmitting on 535–1705 kHz or 87.7–108 MHz without a Commission license, but not unlicensed operations that follow part 15 of the rules.