PIRATE Act Passes U.S. House of Reps., Awaits Senate

RADIO ONLINE | Monday, February 25, 2019 | 4:56pm CT

U.S. Congress

The PIRATE Act (H.R. 583) has passed unanimously by the U.S. House of Representatives. It now awaits a vote from the Senate. Under the Act, any person operating a pirate radio station will be subject to a fine of not more than $100,000 per day of operations and not more than $2 million in total. Additionally, the FCC will be required to assign appropriate enforcement personal to focus specific and sustained attention on the elimination of pirate radio broadcasting.

NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith said in a statement, "NAB applauds the House of Representatives for unanimous passage of the PIRATE Act, which strengthens the FCC's ability to combat illegal pirate radio operations. Unlawful pirate radio stations not only interfere with licensed radio broadcasts, but also jeopardize air traffic control communications and threaten public safety. We commend Reps. Tonko (D-NY) and Bilirakis (R-FL) for their leadership on this issue and urge swift passage of the PIRATE Act by the Senate."