M.V. Sarah

W5YI Report 15-08-1987

PIRATE ROCK’N’ROLL STATION SHUT DOWN

A clandestine “free form rock’n’roll” station broadasting from the “Sarah”, a rusting a Japanese fishing boat, flying a Honduran flag, is now off the airwaves. Operations manager, Randi Steele, 30, of New York City, patterned his operation after the United Kingdom’s pirate Radio Caroline and Laser 558. The “Sarah” was anchored some four miles from New York’s Jones Beach.

It was only a matter of time before someone tested unlicensed broadcasting from. international waters off the U.S. coast. It is surprising it took this long. In theory, the FCC has no jurisdiction over radio signals from foreign registered ships beyond the U.S. claimed three mile territorial limit.

Panamanian registered vessels anchored in the North Sea outside England’s twelve mile limit have been successfully broadcasting to the British for decades! In fact, the most popular U.K. rock’n’roll stations have been pirate broadcasters with American DJ’s. The English pirate stations even sell advertising from the U.S.

Steele, who had vowed to keep RNI, Radio Newyork International on the air, said that he and about 20 radio enthusiasts were fed up with what they called “stale, conventional rock stations.” Although agreeing his station was unlicensed, Steele said he didn’t recognize the authority of the FCC.

The station began testing its signals about two weeks ago on four frequencies, 1620 AM, 103.1 FM, 6.2 MHz (short wave) and low frequency, 190 khz. FCC’s monitoring stations began hearing them as far away as Michigan during late July. On Saturday, July 25th, the FCC ordered RNI to cease operations. The warning was ignored.

The end came on July 28th when a Coast Guard cutter came along side, boarded the vessel and arrested the station’s engineer, Allan Weiner, 34, of Monticello, Maine, and disk jockey, Ivan Rothstein, 24 of Brooklyn. Officials met with no resistance. The pirate broadcasters were arraigned in U.S. District Court and released. Also arrested but not arraigned was a reporter from the Village Voice, a New York alternative newspaper.

Steele called the boarding illegal and charged that the FCC has no power of arrest. He said he wouldn’t give up on the concept. The operation was of a magnitude (at least $100,000 invested) to lead authorities to speculate that the operation was financed by outsiders experienced in pirate broadcasting. There was even discussion of accepting adver-tising.

I telephoned the FCC’s Richard M. Smith, chief of the FCC’s Field Operations Bureau to find out what the “legalities” were.

Smith said that Section 502 of the Communications Act deals with international treaties and conventions. Article 30, Section 266.5 of the ITU Radio Regulations also states that “broadcasting shall not be permitted from vessels or aircraft”. The law designates penalties of jail terms up to five years plus fines of up to $250,000. The U.S. State Department simply contacted the Honduran government and got permission to carry out enforcement of an international law involving illegal activity against U.S. citizens.

The ship is still anchored off of the coast of New York since the winch isn’t strong enough to raise the anchor.

W5YI Report 01-09-1987

NEW YORK PIRATE BROADCAST UPDATE….

The August 12th Washington Post carried an interesting newspaper follow-up article on the radio pirates we covered in our last report. Federal authorities, armed with hacksaws and wirecutters, boarded the rusting 200 foot former Japanese refrigeration vessel on July 28th and dismantled their unlicensed AM/FM broadcast station.

RNI (for Radio Newyork International) had broadcasted on 1620 AM and 103.1 FM. The “Sarah”, registered under the flag of Honduras, was anchored in international waters some four miles out in Long Island Sound one mile beyond the U.S. claimed territorial limit.

Pirate broadcasters, Allan Weiner, 34, and Ivan Rothstein (aka Jeffries), 25, were handcuffed and shackled on the hot deck for 7 hours while FCC engineers made certain that the equipment would never broadcast again. Weiner and Rothstein were quoted as saying they “scraped together” $50,000 to buy

the ship and refitted it with another $20,000 worth of broadcast equipment. Evidence is, however, that much larger investor interests were behind the broadcasts.

Since the arrest, however, the trio seem to be having the time of their lives as New York media celebrities. They have appeared on many talk shows including MTV. WNBC, one of New York’s largest AM stations let them take over Studio 3B from Rockefeller Center and do on land what the FCC closed down at sea broadcast free-form rock-and-roll.

Their broadcast, often degenerating into “adolescent chaos”, included a personal attack on FCC’s Alexander Zimny who coordinated the pre-dawn raid. Zimny heads up the New York FCC District Office. Listeners, who don’t understand unlicensed broadcasting, are very sympathetic to the clandestine operation. The government is being portrayed as “spoil sports.”

Weiner said that he had been trying to get a broadcast license for 16 years but can’t afford the $50 million it costs. In 1984 he operated a backroom 100-watter that lasted three weeks. FCC officials say there is no way to put another station in New York City. There will be in the future, however, as the AM broadcast band (at the expense of a portion of the 160 meter ham band) is shortly due for a WARC-79 100 kHz. expansion.

The viking broadcasters now face five year prison terms and $250,000 fines on felony charges of attempting to defraud the FCC. Their U.S. District Court date is August 27. Another radio pirate, Randi Steele, apparently was not arrested since he was not on board the vessel at the time it was boarded with permission from Honduras.

Radio-World-1987-09-01

“Pirate” Ship Seized By FCC

by David Hughes

New York NY… FCC officials boarded a 200-foot Honduran-registered fishing ship 28 July and arrested two men who operated an off-shore radio station they called “RNI-Radio New York International.”

Ivan Rothstein, 25, and Allan Weiner, 34, had converted the rusting hulk, which they renamed “Sarah,” into a radio station that broadcast rock music on at least four different frequencies.

The ship was anchored in international waters about five miles off Long Beach, a town on the south shore of New York’s Long Island.

At 5 AM, the Coast Guard cutter Cape Horn approached the ship and placed Rothstein and Weiner in handcuffs, as well as Village Voice reporter R.J. Smith who spent the night on the vessel. FCC officials then boarded the ship and spent seven hours dismantling equipment.

Rothstein and Weiner were charged later that day with operating an illegal station, a misdemeanor, and impeding the functions of the FCC, a felony. The two were arraigned and released; each faces a maximum sentence of five years in jail and a $250,000 fine.

Even though the ship was in international waters, FCC Field Operations Bureau Chief Richard Smith told RW that the US received permission from Honduras to board the vessel.

The last night

On the station’s last night of broadcasting, 27 July, Rothstein and Weiner were playing vintage rock’n’roll, including

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, the Beatles and Elvis Costello, peppered with comedy bits and even legitimate public service announcements.

RNI had been broadcasting less than a week. The FCC said the station was first heard 23 July. It operated between 6 PM and midnight.

The most far reaching frequency was 1620 kHz-technically a clear channel. Weiner told RW that RNI’S AM outlet ran a power of 5 kW, with the signal being reported from Florida to Oregon. In the Washington DC area, the signal, at times, was as clear as the local AMers. Weiner said he was also relaying RNI on 103.1 MHz with 5 kW, as well as longwave 190 kHz and in the 6 MHz region on shortwave.

He stressed that RNI carefully selected the frequencies to avoid any interference with licensed stations on the mainland. While the AM frequency was outside the broadcast band, the FM frequency would have fit into the FCC’s allocations had there been a land mass where the ship was, he contends.

Originally, the day the two were arrested, an FCC spokesperson indicated that no interference complaints were reported regarding RNI’s operations. However, Smith later indicated that several complaints were filed regarding the use of 103.1 MHz, although he would not release additional details.

FCC acted “illegally”

Weiner is adamant that the FCC did not have the right to board his ship and shut down RNI. “We were boarded illegally, arrested illegally, searched illegally, and (the station was) ripped apart illegally,” he said. “The FCC went wild.”

“We are just a group of radio enthusiasts who wanted to put a station on the air,” indicated Weiner, who has had several run-ins with the FCC before. Reportedly, he was cited by the FCC in 1985 for broadcasting on unassigned frequencies, and in 1971 for operating a land-based pirate facility.

Weiner maintained that RNI is building a case on its allegations that the FCC had not obtained a search and seizure document in order to board the vessel. He said that the FCC also did not produce any written, legal verification that Honduras had given permission to board the ship.

FOB Chief Smith maintained that

since the ship was outside the three mile US territorial limit, Coast Guard officials did not need court permission to board and search it. He added that even though Honduras gave permission to board and search the Sarah, neither Coast Guard nor FCC officials were required to present written documentation to Weiner or Rothstein.

Damages alleged

While Weiner, Rothstein and Voice columnist Smith sat handcuffed for seven hours, the FCC dismantled the equipment. “They damaged quite a bit, cut many cables, including the transmission lines,” Weiner said.

However, Smith stressed that the Commission did not damage any gear. He admitted that it was dismantled and disassembled. “We did not have a hacksaw, as one press account indicated.”

Weiner also indicated that the FCC did not confiscate any equipment from RNI. An FCC source said that it is customary for it to confiscate gear, even items such as telephones and record albums, if it can be used as evidence against the pirateer.

Smith confirmed that the FCC ran into a major snag in attempting to seize the gear-Coast Guard officials could not raise the ship’s anchor to allow the vessel to be navigated back to port where the gear was to be unloaded and stored.

The FOB chief said that the FCC had to abandon its “original plan.” Upon advice of the US attorney’s office indicating that the Commission had enough of a case against Weiner and Rothstein without physcially seizing the gear, it decided to abandon the plan.

After Weiner and Rothstein returned to the ship a few days later, they discovered that the only items missing from the ship were two flags-a Honduran flag and a skull-and-crossbones pirate flag. Weiner said he thinks the items were heisted as souvenirs.

Back on the air?

Several days after their arraignment, Weiner and Rothstein were told by the Coast Guard that they could have their ship and its dismantled contents back. As of mid-August, the vessel sits at port. Weiner had to promise to the court that he would not attempt put the station back together while the charges against the RNI operation are pending. But he admitted that clearing the court hurdles and getting RNI back on the air is his primary goal.

He said that as many as 20 people with about seven involved in a core group-had donated $150,000 in money, gear and time to get RNI on the air. Some, Weiner indicated, had been involved with legitimate radio stations, while others were “radio buffs.”

“We don’t have $50 million to buy a radio station in New York City,” he said. Weiner stressed that his station was not an illegal pirate, but instead a legal, off-shore operation similar to those in Europe, such as Radio Caroline, that have been in operation-on and off- since the mid-1960s.

However, an FCC source indicated that if RNI does eventually win the right to return to the high seas and get back on the air, a whole slew of off-shore radio stations would soon come into existence and potentially raise havoc to legitimate, licensed broadcasters.

Radio-World-1988-11-01

Pirate Station Plans Return To Airwaves

Long Beach NY… A “pirate” radio station aboard the 170′ freighter Sarah, which broadcast for four days off the coast here last summer, is seeking court approval to return to the air.

The station’s lawyer cited the Constitution’s first amendment, guaranteeing freedom of speech, as the primary justification, adding that the FCC has no right to control unoccupied frequencies.

“I view unoccupied spots on the radio spectrum as unoccupied street corners. If I want to make a speech there, I can do it,” said Jeremiah Gutman, who is representing the station’s proponents through the New York Civil Liberties Union.

“The FCC is acting like a dog in a manger saying nobody can use (unoccupied places on the AM bandwave above 1605) until they decide we can. I don’t think they have a right to do that,” he said. The FCC, meanwhile, said that the ship’s flag will never be raised because the radio signal violates international communications treaties.

Court to decide

A hearing in Boston was scheduled for 20 October, in which a federal judge was to decide whether to issue a restraining order against the station as sought by the FCC.

Dubbed Radio New York International (RNI), the station’s first on-air effort lasted four evenings, 23 to 26 July 1987, playing primarily vintage rock’n’roll music. It was broadcast on four frequencies, according to Allen Weiner, one of its organizers: 1620 kHz and 103.1 MHz at 5 kW, longwave frequency 190 kHz and in the 6 MHz region on shortwave.

As a result, Weiner and fellow organizer Ivan Rothstein, along with a Village Voice reporter, were arrested and the signal ceased. The two founders were charged with operating an illegal station, each facing a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $25,000 fine.

Since then, however, all charges or threats of charges have been dropped, according to Gutman.

The charges were dropped because of doubts about whether or not the broadcasts had a malicious intent, according to

Richard Engleman, chief of the inspections and investigations branch of the FCC’s Field Operations Bureau. He said the Commission issued an “extremely strong warning” instead.

New ground

If it indeed does receive court approval, the return of RNI would set a precedent for those in the broadcasting industry, according to Gutman.

“The entire broadcast industry and the government’s attitude toward it just have to be rethought,” Gutman said. “A statement was made 60 years ago when it was set up in this way and it’s time for some correction.

“I’m not suggesting that it’s appropriate to snatch places on the band away from people that are using them, but I am suggesting that at least in those places that are not being occupied and that are means of communication, the First Amendment requires that they be available,” he added.

Not true, replied the FCC. “It’s the same thing we told them and the US attorney told them last year. Broadcasting as they propose to do it is against the law,” said Engelman.

“US law precludes the broadcasting within our territorial bounds but also the

law requires the compliance with international treaty and international regulations,” Engelman noted.

“International law says that one may not broadcast from international waters. Our position is that the law is quite clear on this matter and they will be barred from going back on the air,” he added.

However, Randi Steele, operations manager of RNI maintained that because the ship is beyond the three-mile territorial limit of the US, it is not bound by Commission standards.