DELRAY BEACH, FLA. — Palm Beach County, like Broward and Miami-Dade Counties to the south, has been plagued by pirate radio activity for years. Some pop up after dark, and at various hours. Similar unlicensed activity has lured largely underserved ethnic listeners away from legitimate AM stations, or online streams, and has also attracted the likes of concert promoters and advertisers seeking a unique audience to connect to.
Approximately one hour south of this city is a pirate that has received the maximum penalty allowed by law from the FCC. This entity bills itself as “the #1 Haitian radio in Miami,” has had a Twitter feed for nearly a decade, and continues to broadcast at various hours at 90.1 MHz from North Miami.
The 115th Congress started the fight to give greater fighting power to the FCC to put these operators off the air for good, and to collect massively increased fines. It’s up to the 116th Congress to act.
The story of Radio Touche Douce has been told many times over the past three years by various media organizations.
It is led by Fabrice Polynice, whose name is well-known by everyone at the FCC Enforcement Bureau.
Why? Because Polynice has effectively said “Al fè rout ou” to the Commission, and is essentially ignoring its maximum forfeiture of $144,344 handed to him by continuing to periodically use the 90.1 MHz signal for his Haitian Creole “Radio Touche Douce.”
Also involved in that July 2018 forfeiture order, first proposed by the FCC at its September 2017 Open Meeting, are North Miami property owners Harold and Veronise Sido.
In the Forfeiture Order, the Commission reiterated that it takes “very seriously” allegations of unauthorized broadcasting.
Polynice, and the rest of the individuals behind “Radio Touche Douce,” don’t.
There’s not much else the FCC can effectively do — yet.
Days after the July 2018 Forfeiture Order was sent to Polynice, and promptly ignored, the U.S. House of Representatives on July 23 — by unanimous consent — passed H.R. 5709, Preventing Illegal Use of Radio Through Enforcement Act — dubbed the “PIRATE Act.”
What happened? Nothing.
The legislation, proposed by Reps. Leonard Lance and Paul Tonko, had moved to the House floor out of the Energy & Commerce Committee on July 12, where it was approved in a voice vote that took less than 10 minutes of time.
By mid-November, with time running out for the 115th Congress, the upper body of Congress had yet to act. That led every state broadcasters association in the nation, representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico to plead to the Senate’s Majority and Minority Leaders to pass companion legislation already.
The Senate declined to take up the legislation.
The PIRATE Act would increase forfeitures for illegal pirate operations to $100,000 per day per violation, from $10,000 per violation, up to a maximum of $2 million. It also streamlines the FCC’s enforcement process and empowers state and local law enforcement in combating illegal pirate operations.
That is, if the Senate seated for the 116th Congress will now consider the bill, which the previous Senate did not.
Rep. Tonko has introduced the PIRATE Act to the now-Democratic controlled House — this time with the help of veteran Florida Republican Gus Bilirakis, who serves all of Pasco County and northern parts of Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, to the north of Tampa Bay.
It is identical to the legislation introduced in the 115th Congress that the House was in support of. It calls for the creation of a licensed radio station database, with entries reflecting every unlicensed station the Enforcement Bureau has detected. This would need to be publicly accessible from FCC.gov within 90 days of the Act taking effect.
Further, the PIRATE Act would do away with the Notice of Unlicensed Operation warning and go straight to a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture — giving further fire-power to FCC efforts. A “sweep” would see Enforcement Bureau agents visit six months after a detected pirate is found, to see if they — or other new illegal radio stations — are broadcasting.
Additionally, the Act would allow state and local authorities to take the lead on the prohibition of pirate radio stations, giving them jurisdiction and the ability to conduct a raid and seize equipment — something FCC Enforcement Bureau agents are not empowered to do without the assistance of U.S. Marshals or local law enforcement.
The latter was used to help silence an unlicensed radio station operator in Westchester County, N.Y., in mid-December 2018. In this case, unlicensed broadcasts were traced to by FCC field agents who worked with the county District Attorney’s Office in an effort that saw them take radio equipment used by Richard Dominguez and place him under arrest on a charge of unauthorized radio transmission.
The joint investigation began with the Enforcement Bureau’s field agents investigating a complaint of a pirate radio signal broadcasting on 98.5 MHz in Croton-On-Hudson, N.Y. The illegal station was operated by Dominguez under the name “La Mojada FM.”
“It is vital that we combat this problem aggressively, and partnerships like this make that possible,” said Rosemary Harold, Chief of the Enforcement Bureau.
That’s what the PIRATE Act intends to do … should the new Senate Act.
NAB EVP/Communications Dennis Wharton was pleased with the PIRATE Act’s introduction in the the 116th Congress.
“Unlicensed radio stations are not merely a nuisance to legitimate radio broadcasters who play by the rules,” he said. “They also pose a threat to public safety by disrupting communications between air traffic controllers and airline pilots. We strongly urge bipartisan support of the PIRATE Act and we look forward to its swift passage.”
Until then, the FCC is restricted to hunting and fining without slaying.
In North Miami, Enforcement Bureau agents started their efforts to take down Radio Touche Douce in 2013. On February 9, a “pre-Valentine’s Day Affair Fat Boy Birthday Bash” will be held in association with Radio Touce Douce.
It’s being promoted on Instagram, which also includes a link to the station’s TuneIn stream and a now-outdated note that “DJ Paz” can be seen live each Wednesday at Black Diamonds, an adult entertainment establishment in North Miami that is now closed.
Radio Touche Douce lives on, and it can be contacted at 786-277-1093.
It just can’t be buried without the Senate’s help, and that of local law enforcement.
What areas of the U.S. have the greatest pirate radio activity? This map confirms that Florida, the New York Tri-State Area and the greater Boston area have the highest concentration of unlicensed broadcast stations.
https://www.fcc.gov/reports-research/maps/fcc-enforcement-actions-against-pirate-radio-location/
