The term pirate radio usually refers to illegal or otherwise unwelcome types of broadcasting, often taking the form of an unlicensed FM station on the commercial FM band.

Sometimes radio stations are deemed legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal and considered "pirate stations" where the signals are received -- especially when the signals cross a country's border. In other cases, a broadcast may be considered "pirate" due to the nature of the content, even if the broadcast is not technically illegal (such as a webcast or a HAM radio broadcast). Therefore pirate radio can sometimes mean different things to different people. Pirate radio stations are sometimes called bootleg stations or (in Europe) Free Radio stations.

Pirate radio history and examples

In the 1960s in the UK, the term referred to not only a perceived theift of the state-run airwaves by the unlicensed broadcasters, but also the risk-taking nature of offshore radio stations that actually operated on anchored ships or marine platforms.

A prime example of this kind of activity was Radio Luxembourg located in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The English language evening broadcasts from Radio Luxembourg were intentionally beamed toward the British Isles by Luxembourg licensed transmitters, while the intended audience in the United Kingdom originally listened to their radio sets by permission of a Wireless License issued by the British General Post Office (GPO). However, under terms of that Wireless License, it was an offense under the Wireless Telegraphy Act to listen to unauthorized broadcasts which possibly included those transmitted by Radio Luxembourg. Therefore as far as the British authorities were concerned, Radio Luxembourg was a "pirate radio station" and British listeners to the station were possibly breaking the law (although as the term unauthorised was never properly defined it was somewhat of a legal grey area). This did not stop British newspapers from printing programme schedules for the station, or a British weekly magazine aimed at teenage girls, "Fab 208" from promoting the deejays and their lifestyle (Radio Luxembourg's wavelength was 208 metres).

Where actual sea faring vessels are not involved, the term pirate radio is a political term of convenience as the word "pirate" suggests an illegal venture, regardless of the broadcast's actual legal status. The radio station XERF located at Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila, Mexico, just across the Rio Grande from Del Rio, Texas, USA, is an example.

While Mexico issued radio station XERF with a license to broadcast, the power of its 250,000 watts transmitter was far greater than the maximum of 50,000 watts authorized for commercial use by the government of the United States of America. Consequently, XERF and many other radio stations in Mexico which sold their broadcasting time to sponsors of English-language commercial and religious programs, were labeled as "border blasters", but not "pirate radio stations", even though the content of many of their programs were in violation of US law. Predecessors to XERF, for instance, had originally broadcast in Kansas, advocating "goat-gland surgery" for improved masculinity, but moved to Mexico to evade US laws about advertising medical treatments, particularly unproven ones.

In 1924, New York City station WHN was accused of being an "outlaw" station by AT&T (then American Telephone and Telegraph Company) for violating trade licenses which only permitted AT&T stations to sell airtime on their transmitters. As a result of the AT&T interpretation a landmark case was heard in court, which even prompted comments from Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover when he took a public stand in the station's defense. Although AT&T won its case, the furor created was such that those restrictive provisions of the transmitter license were never enforced.

Free radio

Another variation on the term pirate radio came about during the "Summer of Love" in San Francisco during the hippie days when many things were named "free". Examples include "free store", "free love" and even "free radio", which usually referred to clandestine and unlicensed land-based transmissions. These were also tagged as being pirate radio transmissions.

The term free radio crossed the Atlantic Ocean, where it was adopted by the Free Radio Association of listeners who defended the rights of the "pirate radio stations" broadcasting from ships and marine structures off the coastline of the United Kingdom. However, the term free radio also has another meaning, because it differentiates between that form of licensed broadcasting supported by the sale of commercial airtime which anyone can hear free of charge, from that form of licensed commercial broadcasting (especially television) that listeners and especially viewers have to subscribe to and which is usually known as Pay TV.

In Europe, in addition to adopting the term free radio, supportive listeners of what had been called pirate radio adopted the term offshore radio, which was usually the term used by the owners of the marine broadcasting stations.

Freebooter was yet another variation of the term pirate radio and it was sometimes used by the business press in the USA when describing marine broadcasting in Europe.

While pirate radio began as a defamatory term in Britain, it later became accepted as having a secondary meaning to describe adventurous forms of licensed broadcasting that had roots in true offshore unlicensed broadcasting. To this end the British licensing authorities have allowed both independent stations and to date even one local BBC station to use this name, while the government retained use of the term pirate radio to describe any stations on land or at sea which are broadcasting without a license and contrary to law.

Pirate radio by geographical area

Since this subject covers both national territories, international waters and international airspace, the only effective way to treat this subject is on a country by country, international waters and international airspace basis. Because the laws vary, the interpretation of the term pirate radio also varies considerably.

Questions have been raised about various types of broadcasting conducted by national governments against the interests of other national governments which have in turn created jamming stations transmitting noises on the same frequency so as to destroy the receivability of the incoming signal.

While the USA transmitted its programs towards the USSR which attempted to jam them, in 1970 the government of the United Kingdom decided to employ a jamming transmitter to drown out the incoming transmissions from the commercial station Radio Northsea International, which was based aboard the Motor Vessel (MV) Mebo II anchored off Southeast England in the North Sea.

Other examples of this type of unusual broadcasting include the Coast Guard Cutter USCGC Courier which both originated and relayed broadcasts of the Voice of America from an anchorage at the island of Rhodes, Greece to Soviet bloc countries. Balloons have been flown above Key West, Florida to support the TV transmissions of TV Martí which are directed at Cuba. Military broadcasting aircraft have been flown over Vietnam, Iraq and many other nations by the United States Air Force. The European Union financially supported a radio station broadcasting news and information into the former Yugoslavia from a ship anchored in international waters.

Pirate radio in Asia

For individual listings under this heading please click the link above.
China (From International Waters)
Taiwan (The history of Underground Radio)

Pirate radio in Australasia

For individual listings under this heading please click the link above.
New Zealand (From International Waters)

Pirate radio in Central America and Caribbean Sea

For individual listings under this heading please click the link above.
Swan Island (History of Radio Swan / Radio Americas)

Pirate radio in Europe

For individual listings under this heading please click the link above.

• Belgium (From International Waters)
• Denmark (From International Waters)
  • http://myspace.com/piratradio69
• France (History of Pirate Radio from 1970 to 1990)
• Greece
  • http://www.geocities.com/stergiousakis
  • http://www.mousikosdiavlos.gr
  • http://www.lalos.gr
• Ireland (History of Pirate Radio)
  • Kieran Murray personal web siteOn working in Irish pirate radio through the 80's & 90's
  • Kieran Murray Homepage This is a mirror of Kieran Murray's personal web site above]
  • http://193.63.162.100/ A site dedicated to the history of the development of pirate radio stations in the Irish Republic
  • http://uk.geocities.com/db142002
• Italy (Radio Alice)
• Luxembourg (History of "Radio Luxembourg")
• Netherlands (From International Waters)
  • http://freeteam.nl/patapoe/ Radio Patapoe
• Scotland (From International Waters)
• Sweden (From International Waters)
  • Radio Nord
• United Kingdom (History of Pirate Radio: Pre-World War II; Land based)
• Yugoslavia (From International Waters)
• Greece
  • http://www.geocities.com/stergiousakis
  • http://www.mousikosdiavlos.gr
  • http://www.lalos.gr
  • http://www.katanakis.com
  • http://www.geocities.com/radioaquarius

Pirate radio in the Middle East

For individual listings under this heading please click the link above.
Israel (From Territorial Waters)

Pirate radio in North America

For individual listings under this heading please click the link above.
Mexico (History of the "Border blasters")
United States of America (History of Pirate Radio; From International Waters)

Pirate radio in South America

Pirate radio stations

• Pirate Cat Radio (San Francisco & Los Angeles)
• Radionuclear (Ottawa, Ontario. Canada. Shut down on FM by Industry Canada, now shoutcasting online)
• Free Radio Santa Cruz
• Free Radio Folsom (CA)
• Radio Alice
• Free Radio San Diego
• Rádio de Tróia (Florianópolis - Brazil)
• Rádio Muda (Campinas - Brazil)
• Wicked Radio (Edgerton and Door County simulcast on shoutcast)
• LUNk Radio (Lincoln, NE)
• Radio Free Canton
• Iron Action Radio Nyack's Pirate Radio
• Power Hits 103.3 (Quad Cities IA/IL)
• Free Radio Olympia
• Extensive history of Brooklyn Pirate Radio stations WHOT, WFAT, and WCPR
• Blazin 94.9