Dutch telecom agency to get tough with pirates

Andy Sennitt post this on the PCJ Media and PCJ Radio Facebook group:

 2 November 2013
 People involved in illegal radio broadcasts in the Netherlands will no longer receive a warning but immediately get a fine, says the Dutch Telecom Agency. The penalty applies to all illegal FM broadcasts and can be as much as 45,000 euros .

 Illegal radio stations often have a wide reach, causing stations that have paid for their licence to lose listeners and advertising revenue. The Telecom Agency receives about twelve hundred complaints a year from people who cannot listen to their favourite radio station because of interference.

 Up to now, owners of land or buildings where an antenna system is found have received a warning letter asking them to stop the illegal broadcasts. A fine was imposed only if it appeared that the system was still used after the warning. Now they will get an instant fine, says the Agency. This applies to all those involved, both the owner or tenant of the place where the transmitter is, and the broadcasters themselves.

 The tightening of the procedure is needed to ensure that more people adhere to the law. In addition to imposing fines, the Agency still has the power to put an immediate end to the broadcast by turning off the equipment and sealing it.

 [Source: Radio.NL/Novum. Translation by Andy Sennitt]

(Mike Terry, BDXC-UK)