Federal Communications Commission Washington, D.C. 20554 March 1, 2016 C. Lee Peeler President and CEO Advertising Self-Regulatory Council 112 Madison Avenue, 3t1 Floor New York City, NY 10016 Dear Mr. Peeler: As the duly appointed and sworn representatives of the Federal Communications Commission, we seek your assistance in bringing before members of your organization the issue of unauthorized broadcast operations, also known as pirate radio operations, within the FM and AM radio broadcast bands. Congress has charged the Commission with ensuring that radio broadcasting operations generally be licensed, and we do not take violations of this requirement lightly. In general, any unauthorized broadcasting operations are "pirate radio" operations. Pirate operations can cause harmful interference to licensed radio broadcasters serving their communities, thereby starving stations of their ability to reach their listening audiences and obtain necessary advertising revenues. Moreover, this illegal activity can create public safety concerns if the pirate stations interfere with government and emergency responder communication networks. Unfortunately, a number of unrelated businesses and non-profits may be unknowingly or unintentionally providing aid to pirate stations. This can come in many forms, including buying advertising on such stations to housing the physical stations themselves. Beyond exposing legitimate businesses to potential FCC enforcement or other legal actions, as permitted under law, it is also potentially harmful as it can sully the reputations of these businesses with the licensed broadcasting community and other professional organizations in the surrounding communities. It is our sincere hope that this document starts an important dialogue on ways the Commission can work with your organization, including gathering the necessary information to help identify and locate the perpetrators of pirate radio stations and educating the public to avoid participating in any efforts to facilitate pirate radio stations. In order to provide more background on this issue, the attached Enforcement Advisory contains information about the Commission's rules and how to contact the Commission if you or the members of your organization learn or suspect that a pirate station may be operating within your communities. We thank you in advance for any assistance you can provide in educating your members about this issue and eliminating the problem of pirate radio operations. Sincerely, //J'/,f 7 / /I Jé'ssica Rosenworcel Commissioner 'flfLtJ\ Michael O'Rielly Commissioner 2