PIRATE Act

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for enhanced penalties for pirate radio, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Preventing Illegal Radio Abuse Through Enforcement Act PIRATE Act 2. Pirate Radio Enforcement Enhancements Title V of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 501 511. 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 or may hereafter become 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) Facilitation Any person who knowingly and intentionally facilitates pirate radio broadcasting shall be subject to a fine of not more than $2,000,000. (d) Annual report Not later than one year after the date of enactment of the PIRATE Act (e) 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 five 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 six 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. (f) State and local government authority The Commission may not preempt any State or local law prohibiting pirate radio broadcasting. (g) 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 Notice of Unlicensed Operations (h) 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 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. (i) Definitions In this section: (1) Pirate radio broadcasting The term pirate radio broadcasting (2) Facilitates The term facilitates (3) Knowingly and intentionally The term knowingly and intentionally . July 18, 2018 Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

Summary: Preventing Illegal Radio Abuse Through Enforcement Act or the PIRATE Act (Sec. 2) This bill amends the Communications Act of 1934 to address unlicensed radio broadcasting (called "pirating"), including: increasing the fine for a pirate radio broadcasting violation to not more than $2 million, imposing a fine of up to $100,000 per day for pirating violations subject to the $2 million limit, and establishing a fine of up to $2 million for any person who facilitates pirate radio broadcasting ("facilitating" includes providing access to property or providing physical goods or services).    The FCC must: (1) annually report to Congress summarizing implementation of this bill and associated enforcement activities for the previous fiscal year; and (2) at least once a year, assign appropriate enforcement personnel to focus specific and sustained attention on the elimination of pirate radio broadcasting within the top five radio markets. The FCC may not preempt any state or local law prohibiting pirate radio broadcasting. The FCC shall: (1) revise its rules to require that, absent good cause, in any case alleging a violation, it shall proceed directly to issue a Notice of Apparent Liability without first issuing a Notice of Unlicensed Operations; and (2) publish a database of all licensed radio stations operating in the AM and FM bands, which shall be easily accessible from the FCC home page, identifying each licensed station and all entities that have received a Notice of Unlicensed Operation, Notice of Apparent Liability, or Forfeiture Order by the FCC. (Sec. 3) No additional funds are authorized to carry out this bill.