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Author Topic: Balls  (Read 1324 times)

Offline Charlie_Dont_Surf

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Balls
« on: March 15, 2023, 1930 UTC »
Quote
7. On April 8, 2022, just over two weeks after the Agent issued the third NOUO, Barnes
uploaded a video to his public Facebook account stating that he was again operating his pirate station.22
Barnes stated in this video that he did not think the Commission could stop his unauthorized broadcasts
unless it “locked him up.” On April 14, 2022, Barnes posted yet another video stating that he was
“getting ready to go live on 100.5 FM.”23 After conducting additional research, the Agent also discovered
that, in the year prior to the start of the 2022 investigation, Barnes had uploaded over 30 videos to his
public Facebook account in which he stated that he was the “Eastern Oregon Pirate of Pirate Radio
Eastern Oregon” and that he was broadcasting live or was planning to broadcast live on 100.5 FM in La
Grande, Oregon.24

https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-23-16A1.pdf
« Last Edit: March 15, 2023, 1939 UTC by Charlie_Dont_Surf »
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Offline Andrew Yoder

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Re: Balls
« Reply #1 on: March 15, 2023, 2147 UTC »
Wonder if he'd've gotten nailed if he hadn't been posting these videos to FB? Seems unlikely that the agents would've been in La Grande, OR, that often to monitor him.
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Offline Charlie_Dont_Surf

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Re: Balls
« Reply #2 on: March 15, 2023, 2213 UTC »
There is zero probability that they were in La Grande, Oregon on a lark.

The NALF indicates they first gave him the knock in 2018 after "complaints". They did not mention Facebook posts in association with the first or second times they visited him.
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Offline Pigmeat

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Re: Balls
« Reply #3 on: March 16, 2023, 0141 UTC »
Balls or lack of brains? There's little difference between the two. The prison systems are overflowing with stupid sociopaths with no fear.

Offline Molvania Poacher

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Re: Balls
« Reply #4 on: March 17, 2023, 0205 UTC »
FCC alleges they received complaints in 2018, 2019 and 2022, and that the Portland Field Office responded each time. A mere four days after he posted his ill-fated Facebook post in April 2022, FCC sent notice to his landlord, under their newfound authority, to which the operator responded with a handwritten and signed statement from him and his wife. Quite the saga.

Here is his Mensa application:

https://www.facebook.com/EasternOregonPirate/videos/3166862786920543

« Last Edit: March 17, 2023, 0208 UTC by Molvania Poacher »
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Offline Charlie_Dont_Surf

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Re: Balls
« Reply #5 on: March 17, 2023, 0735 UTC »
There are people that have taken on the FCC and tied them up in knots for a while (read as "decades") but they typically had the tricks of the trade in their pocket. The case of the former W6WBJ, a retired lawyer, comes to mind. This guy Barnes shows no signs of of employing any delaying tactics (or any sort of tactics, for that matter, other than trying to BS them with a handwritten note) and I just don't think he has the smarts.

I agree that this won't end well.
« Last Edit: March 17, 2023, 0739 UTC by Charlie_Dont_Surf »
I don't STRETCH the truth.

"Every minute I spend in this room, my signal gets weaker.
Every minute Charlie squats in the bush, his signal gets stronger."

Offline Shortwave_Listener

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Re: Balls
« Reply #6 on: March 22, 2023, 1441 UTC »
FCC Fines 15 Year-Old Pirate Radio Station in NYC $2 Million

Motherboard
By Matthew Gault
22 March 2023,

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is using a new law to fine a pirate radio station operating in New York City for more than $2 million. For 15 years, Impacto 2, which has been operated by two brothers, has broadcast Ecuadorian news, culture, sports, and talk-radio on 105.5 FM in Queens. The feds have tried to shut it down repeatedly, but have never succeeded.

The FCC announced the fine in a press release last week. “The Commission proposed the maximum penalty allowable, $2,316,034, against brothers César Ayora and Luis Angel Ayora for pirate radio broadcasting in Queens, New York,” the release said. The FCC also said it was trying to seize $80,000 in equipment from a man broadcasting pirate radio in Eastern Oregon.

The Ayoras have been on the FCC’s radar since 2008 when they started broadcasting Impacto 2 for the Ecuadorian community in Queens: "The brothers César and [Luis] Angel Ayora in September 2008 founded the first Ecuadorian FM radio station in New York City. . . The station never sleeps, because a team of communication professionals are working for you 24 hours a day," their website, which is currently down, said. The station is broadcast over the internet and has moved around the FM spectrum several times over the years.

The station's Instagram and Facebook pages show that they regularly throw events for the community and that their main mission is providing Spanish-language news and music for Ecuadorians living in Queens.

The FCC closely polices radio spectrums around the country, and provides licenses to companies who apply for specific frequencies. On the one hand, this makes sense, because use of radio frequencies are limited by physics and, without licenses, radio would be a free-for-all. Currently, the FCC is not providing any new FM or AM radio frequencies, according to its website. At the same time, pirate radio has a long history of providing access to the airwaves for independent broadcasters. In this case, the targets of the fine are a pair of brothers who were providing a vital community resource.

In court documents about the fine, the FCC detailed its history with the Ayoras and Impacto 2.

The story is always the same. Someone complains about the Ecuadorian broadcast, the FCC investigates and tracks down the radio antenna, and the Ayoras admit to owning it. Then the FCC issues a fine. “On June 2, 2015, the Bureau issued a $20,000 forfeiture order against Luis Angel Ayora for operating this unauthorized radio station,” court document said “The Bureau received no response to the order, and the forfeiture was never paid.”

After the fine goes unpaid, the FCC seizes the equipment. But the Ayoras don’t stop. “The seizure of their equipment by federal agents did not deter the Ayoras from continuing to operate their pirate radio station,” a court document said.

According to the FCC’s court documents, the Ayoras repeatedly talked about the pirate station on the air and let the audience know when the station changed places on the FM dial. César Ayora even hosts a show called Sentimientos where he plays romantic music every Sunday night. The radio station’s Instagram account explicitly advertises it as airing in New York.

The brothers even kept the pirate radio stations running during the pandemic. The feds noticed but held off on investigating. “COVID-19 travel restrictions prevented further onsite inspections until 2022,” the court record said.

Things changed in 2020, when Congress passed the Preventing Illegal Radio Abuse Through Enforcement (PIRATE) Act. The PIRATE act gave the FCC broader powers to levy fines and seize equipment against accused broadcasters including a penalty of $100,000 a day with a maximum fine of $2 million. “In addition to tougher fines on violators, the law requires the FCC to conduct periodic enforcement sweeps and grants the Commission authority to take enforcement action against landlords and property owners that willfully and knowingly permit pirate radio broadcasting on their properties,” the FCC said in a press release.

According to the FCC, the Ayoras have admitted to operating the radio station several times during interviews. The feds even went to the trouble of totaling every day it could prove the pair had run the radio station and detailed what it would like to charge them for it. “Based on the severity of the facts underlying these factors, we propose the maximum penalty of $115,80265 for each day of the 184 days during which the Ayoras operated their pirate radio station in 2022 for a total penalty of $21,307,568,” the FCC’s court documents said.

That is, however, not possible under the new PIRATE Act. “We reduce the proposed penalty from $21,307,568 to $2,316,034 based on the statutory limits imposed by section 511(a) of the Act,” it said in court documents.

All of this said, the FCC may have trouble finding the Ayoras. On February 19, a month before the FCC announced the fine, Luis Angel Ayora posted a picture of himself on Facebook in front of a lush green mountain. “The person who guesses the location gets a guinea pig,” he said in the caption.

Impacto 2 did not immediately respond to Motherboard’s request for comment.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/93k535/fcc-fines-15-year-old-nyc-pirate-radio-station-dollar2-million
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Offline Sealord

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Re: Balls
« Reply #7 on: March 22, 2023, 1457 UTC »
They could pay it off using Apple cards.
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Offline Pigmeat

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Re: Balls
« Reply #8 on: March 23, 2023, 0128 UTC »
FCC Fines 15 Year-Old Pirate Radio Station in NYC $2 Million

Motherboard
By Matthew Gault
22 March 2023,

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is using a new law to fine a pirate radio station operating in New York City for more than $2 million. For 15 years, Impacto 2, which has been operated by two brothers, has broadcast Ecuadorian news, culture, sports, and talk-radio on 105.5 FM in Queens. The feds have tried to shut it down repeatedly, but have never succeeded.

The FCC announced the fine in a press release last week. “The Commission proposed the maximum penalty allowable, $2,316,034, against brothers César Ayora and Luis Angel Ayora for pirate radio broadcasting in Queens, New York,” the release said. The FCC also said it was trying to seize $80,000 in equipment from a man broadcasting pirate radio in Eastern Oregon.

The Ayoras have been on the FCC’s radar since 2008 when they started broadcasting Impacto 2 for the Ecuadorian community in Queens: "The brothers César and [Luis] Angel Ayora in September 2008 founded the first Ecuadorian FM radio station in New York City. . . The station never sleeps, because a team of communication professionals are working for you 24 hours a day," their website, which is currently down, said. The station is broadcast over the internet and has moved around the FM spectrum several times over the years.

The station's Instagram and Facebook pages show that they regularly throw events for the community and that their main mission is providing Spanish-language news and music for Ecuadorians living in Queens.

The FCC closely polices radio spectrums around the country, and provides licenses to companies who apply for specific frequencies. On the one hand, this makes sense, because use of radio frequencies are limited by physics and, without licenses, radio would be a free-for-all. Currently, the FCC is not providing any new FM or AM radio frequencies, according to its website. At the same time, pirate radio has a long history of providing access to the airwaves for independent broadcasters. In this case, the targets of the fine are a pair of brothers who were providing a vital community resource.

In court documents about the fine, the FCC detailed its history with the Ayoras and Impacto 2.

The story is always the same. Someone complains about the Ecuadorian broadcast, the FCC investigates and tracks down the radio antenna, and the Ayoras admit to owning it. Then the FCC issues a fine. “On June 2, 2015, the Bureau issued a $20,000 forfeiture order against Luis Angel Ayora for operating this unauthorized radio station,” court document said “The Bureau received no response to the order, and the forfeiture was never paid.”

After the fine goes unpaid, the FCC seizes the equipment. But the Ayoras don’t stop. “The seizure of their equipment by federal agents did not deter the Ayoras from continuing to operate their pirate radio station,” a court document said.

According to the FCC’s court documents, the Ayoras repeatedly talked about the pirate station on the air and let the audience know when the station changed places on the FM dial. César Ayora even hosts a show called Sentimientos where he plays romantic music every Sunday night. The radio station’s Instagram account explicitly advertises it as airing in New York.

The brothers even kept the pirate radio stations running during the pandemic. The feds noticed but held off on investigating. “COVID-19 travel restrictions prevented further onsite inspections until 2022,” the court record said.

Things changed in 2020, when Congress passed the Preventing Illegal Radio Abuse Through Enforcement (PIRATE) Act. The PIRATE act gave the FCC broader powers to levy fines and seize equipment against accused broadcasters including a penalty of $100,000 a day with a maximum fine of $2 million. “In addition to tougher fines on violators, the law requires the FCC to conduct periodic enforcement sweeps and grants the Commission authority to take enforcement action against landlords and property owners that willfully and knowingly permit pirate radio broadcasting on their properties,” the FCC said in a press release.

According to the FCC, the Ayoras have admitted to operating the radio station several times during interviews. The feds even went to the trouble of totaling every day it could prove the pair had run the radio station and detailed what it would like to charge them for it. “Based on the severity of the facts underlying these factors, we propose the maximum penalty of $115,80265 for each day of the 184 days during which the Ayoras operated their pirate radio station in 2022 for a total penalty of $21,307,568,” the FCC’s court documents said.

That is, however, not possible under the new PIRATE Act. “We reduce the proposed penalty from $21,307,568 to $2,316,034 based on the statutory limits imposed by section 511(a) of the Act,” it said in court documents.

All of this said, the FCC may have trouble finding the Ayoras. On February 19, a month before the FCC announced the fine, Luis Angel Ayora posted a picture of himself on Facebook in front of a lush green mountain. “The person who guesses the location gets a guinea pig,” he said in the caption.

Impacto 2 did not immediately respond to Motherboard’s request for comment.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/93k535/fcc-fines-15-year-old-nyc-pirate-radio-station-dollar2-million

Gonna send some cuy, eh?

BTW, Ecuador has no extradition agreements w/ the USA, no matter where the offender hails from. Two Ecuadorans, back home, with a country to the north, Colombia, where it's perfectly legal to counterfeit US currency, while Ecuador has used nothing but the dollar as it's official currency since the turn of the century? My senses tell me there's a lot of funny money floating around down there? Good luck on getting those two to pay up.

Offline Ct Yankee

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Re: Balls
« Reply #9 on: March 23, 2023, 2032 UTC »
https://wirelessestimator.com/articles/2023/pirate-radio-broadcaster-never-paid-a-20k-fine-in-2015-so-why-does-the-fcc-think-theyll-get-2-3-million-for-a-second-offense/

From webpage above:
"Ayora relocated Radio Impacto 2, founded in 2008, to multiple locations, and in 2016, the U.S. Marshals Service, assisted by a multi-agency team comprised of FCC Field Agents, FCC Field Counsel, and members of the NY/NJ Fugitive Task Force, executed a warrant issued by the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of New York and seized the equipment that the Ayoras used to operate Radio Impacto 2 from its studio located in Elmhurst, NY."

This is personally amusing for a number of reasons.  I lived in Elmhurst for a dozen years in my childhood, my grandparents lived there for a generation.  While the 70's & 80's saw a vast migration of South Americans to this 1 square mile, 85 thousand resident community in NYC, the South American population has been displaced by Asians.  Elmhurst is now the second largest Chinatown in NYC https://www.timeout.com/newyork/restaurants/the-new-chinatown-elmhurst (Manhattan 3rd, neighboring NY Mets' home Flushing, Queens the largest).  So in effect, the Aroyas were not broadcasting to the Ecuadorean Diaspora but rather to a few  "friends & family" and the majority Chinese migrant neighbors in Elmhurst and surrounding communities. 🤦

Well, at least they had good graphic design sense.


« Last Edit: March 24, 2023, 2344 UTC by Ct Yankee »
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Offline Charlie_Dont_Surf

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Re: Balls
« Reply #10 on: March 24, 2023, 2139 UTC »
This is amusing. Maybe they have a half-hour in Mandarin on Sunday mornings?  ;D

Seriously though, I (we) don't know what their range is and I also don't know where the Ecuadorian diaspora has been displaced to. On the other hand, the tri-state area has likely one of the most saturated FM bands in the US and the capture effect* of receivers may limit their range.

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_effect
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Offline Azimuth Coordinator

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Re: Balls
« Reply #11 on: March 28, 2023, 0021 UTC »
WDHA is assigned 105.5.. About 48 miles from Queens.. So Queens would have been on the outer fringe of their signal..  I'm sure they were running at least 100w. so they would be able to cover most of Queens. and some of Long Island..  On the air for 15 Years they were running a Business not a "Pirate Station"..  their were a few before them. one guy in Paterson NJ was on the air for 10 or 12 years..  So you would have to think the Station made enough money for them to continue to operate.. 2M dollar fine.. No Problem.. We'll just leave the country So the first big test of the "Pirate ACT" looks like it's not going to produce the results they were hoping for.. They are still streaming on the internet BTW...  But don't worry.. “nature abhors a vacuum" So in a few months someone else will be there to take their place... as long as money can be made.... ad nauseam..

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