Ofcom's Raids

Woebot

Well-known member
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/4402722.stm
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/media/news/2005/11/illegal#content

What I want to know is if this was a strictly practical exercise what this has to do with anything:

"There is a direct link between some illegal broadcasters and serious crime. Ofcom raids on the studios of illegal broadcasters have uncovered drugs and weapons, including firearms. In some cases the cash raised through advertising events at nightclubs is used to finance the purchase of drugs for sale at these events."

Is Ofcom the Office of Communications or is it, i dunno?

WTF?
 

3underscore

Well-known member
Rinse FM - One transmitter disconnected
In layman's terms, what is the difference between disconnecting a transmitter and seizing it?

I guess it means that it is still there, and all Rinse need to do is get another cable to it or whatever. Which means they got off pretty light, but why would they bother just to do that? If they can get to disconnect it, surely it would make sense for them to remove it (unless they want to catch someone reconnecting it?).

Anyway Matt - unless your question is more of stirring, Ofcom is the communications industry regulator. Like the FSA, I guess they have to prove their worth every year by fining/actions against the area they oversee.
 

Diggedy Derek

Stray Dog
That's an interesting point about self-justification. And for me, their justifications sound slightly underwhelming really- I mean, they've apparently noted nine phone numbers down for further investigation, and written a few letters too. Whoah, they must be dedicating an entire binder to this case!

I'd like to hear more about FM signals interfering with emergency services. I hear this is total bollocks, but what like an expert of some sort to give a detailed rebuttal, ie to prove they use a different set of frequencies or whatever.
 

wonk_vitesse

radio eros
Diggedy Derek said:
I'd like to hear more about FM signals interfering with emergency services. I hear this is total bollocks, but what like an expert of some sort to give a detailed rebuttal, ie to prove they use a different set of frequencies or whatever.

It's seem feasible technically, transmitter overtone frequencies maybe? I doubt most pirates are a problem though , i mean if it was such a problem why do vibes & lightning go on broadcasting for so many years unhindered?
 

Grievous Angel

Beast of Burden
I asked around on UKD about this -- some of the people there are specifically knowledgable about all this.

Apparently, pirate radio interference with air traffic control does exist, but is extremely rare.

Similarly, pirate radio involvement in drug dealing does exist, as does pirate radio involvement in violence, but the former is not common and the latter is more about pirate radio crews bashing one another.

I thought the BBC's PM story was an appalling piece of journalism and clearly a case where the journalist was getting much too close to his subject, in this instance, ofcom.

The good news is: this is the annual ofcom push against pirate radio. Ofcom will largely ignore it for the rest of the year.

Anyone know what if any impact there was on rinse?
 

gabriel

The Heatwave
don't emergency services used short wave? oh, but i guess they could still interfere. i dunno, but sounds like bollocks to me. especially given the quality of other 'facts' which i read in the evening standard article about the whole thing - e.g. that apparently pirate stations use songs as coded messages to let people know where drug dealers are operating. ahem. do these peopel have ANY idea how drugs are bought and sold in this country? obviously not. also, the ludicrous claim that some stations make £400k a year in advertising,... ??!

someone told me that they reckoned this set of raids was a direct consequence of the fact that all the trouble in birmingham was started/exacerbated by a pirate radio dj repeating the rumours about the rape of a 14 year old jamaican girl. no idea if this is true though (that this is why the raids happened, i mean)
 

Grievous Angel

Beast of Burden
gabrielsomeone told me that they reckoned this set of raids was a direct consequence of the fact that all the trouble in birmingham was started/exacerbated by a pirate radio dj repeating the rumours about the rape of a 14 year old jamaican girl. no idea if this is true though (that this is why the raids happened said:
That was the implication of the PM piece -- they had an old pirate guy on who said the brum trouble was nothing to do with pirates. Force them to deny it...

... and £8K a week is supposed to be what top pirates make.

I don't think we'd be waiting so long for a proper rinse compo if that were the case.

I would imagine Rinse would have multiple back up transmitters and very secure broadcasting base.
 
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Lichen

Well-known member
WOEBOT said:
Is Ofcom the Office of Communications or is it, i dunno?

Ofcom is an amalgamation of the different regulatory bodies that used to be responsible for different media, the ITC regulated TV, radio had its own body (The Radio Office ???) and so on.


Ofcom was set up 2/3 years ago and now has swanky offices by the Globe theatre.


The Radio 4 piece I heard about the raids included this wonderfully paranoid statement (I paraphrase) .....the playing of a certain record signifies that drgus are ready for collection from a given place.....

Come on.
 
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