47 U.S.C. § 511 — Enhanced penalties for pirate radio broadcasting; enforcement sweeps; reporting

(a) Increased general penalty. Anyone who knowingly and willfully does, or lets someone else do, pirate radio broadcasting can be fined up to $2,000,000. (b) Violation of this chapter, rules, or regulations. Anyone who knowingly and willfully breaks this chapter, or any FCC rule or condition, or any international communications treaty rule about pirate radio broadcasting, can be fined up to $100,000 per day the violation continues — on top of any other penalties, and staying within the $2,000,000 cap in subsection (a). (c) Annual report. Starting one year after January 24, 2020, and every year after, the FCC must report to the House Energy and Commerce Committee and Senate Commerce Committee summarizing this section's enforcement efforts, possibly including cooperation with federal, state, and local law enforcement on serving papers, collecting fines, seizing equipment, and enforcing orders. (d) Enforcement sweeps. (1) At least once a year, the FCC must assign staff to focus on eliminating pirate radio broadcasting in the five radio markets where it happens most, including finding, locating, and shutting down these operations. (2) Within 6 months after those sweeps, the FCC must check whether the pirate broadcasters it found are still operating, or whether new ones have appeared. (3) These required sweeps don't reduce the FCC's regular enforcement against pirate broadcasting during the rest of the year. (e) State and local government authority. The FCC cannot override any state or local law that also bans pirate radio broadcasting. (f) Revision of commission rules required. The FCC must update its rules so that, without good reason not to, any case alleging a violation of subsection (a) or (b) goes straight to a formal notice of apparent liability, skipping the usual first step of a notice of unlicensed operation. (g) Pirate radio broadcasting database. (1) Within 90 days after January 24, 2020, and every six months after that, the FCC must publish a clear, easy-to-read public database of all licensed AM and FM radio stations, linked directly from its homepage. It must list: (A) each licensed station by frequency, channel, or call letters; and (B) every entity that has received a notice of unlicensed operation, notice of apparent liability, or forfeiture order. (2) The database must clearly mark (A) each licensed station as FCC-licensed, and (B) each entity from paragraph (1)(B) as operating without an FCC license or authorization. (h) Definition of pirate radio broadcasting. In this section, "pirate radio broadcasting" means transmitting on AM frequencies (535–1705 kilohertz) or FM frequencies (87.7–108 megahertz) without an FCC license — but it does not include unlicensed low-power operations allowed under separate FCC rules (part 15 of title 47's regulations).