China To Crackdown On Unauthorised Radio Broadcasts (www.bgr.in) 44
An anonymous reader writes: Reportedly, in a national campaign aided by more than 30,000 airwave monitors, in over past six months, more than 500 sets of equipment for making unauthorised radio broadcasts were seized in China. The campaign, launched on February 15 by the State Council, resulted in 1,796 cases related to illegal radio stations, after 301,840 hours of monitoring from February to July, according to an online statement by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The number of incidents was down by 50 per cent from April to August, the China Daily quoted the statement as saying. So-called pirate radios have appeared in most parts of China since 2015 and this "has been a channel for criminals to defraud and promote aphrodisiacs, along with counterfeit and poor-quality medicine," according to the Ministry of Public Security's Criminal Investigation Department. The operating cost of a pirate radio is low, but profit can be high. A pirate radio station that broadcasts advertisements for aphrodisiacs can pocket more than 70,000 yuan ($10,500) a month, with an overhead cost of no more than 10,000 yuan, investigators said in a post on Sina Weibo. It said most spare parts for broadcasting equipment can be bought on the internet.
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Your reply was not authorized by the Ministry of Slashdot Posting Conformity Criminal Investigation Department.
Your illegal account will be terminated along with your access to the Internets.
WTF?? (Score:1)
has been a channel for criminals to defraud and promote aphrodisiacs, along with counterfeit and poor-quality medicine,"
That has to be the strangest explanation imaginable.
I would expect the Chinese censors would be more concerned about political content than ads for "aphrodisiacs".
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I wish 'they' would use the same reasons to kill off the millions of web ads and email spam that infest the Internet like Cockroaches. Now THAT would be news!
That also need to arrest that overly generous Nigerian prince who never seems to run out of money!
Smells rather suspicious (Score:2)
So-called pirate radios have appeared in most parts of China since 2015 and this "has been a channel for criminals to defraud and promote aphrodisiacs, along with counterfeit and poor-quality medicine.
No surprise here, given the objectives of the ruling party China.
What happened in 2015 to cause so many "pirate radio broadcasts"? It's not as if the technology to accomplish this was just invented. News from China continues to send chills down my spine.
Re: Smells rather suspicious (Score:3)
Re: Smells rather suspicious (Score:4, Insightful)
I suspect the reason it's a problem in China is because the government tightly regulates internet access there, so the quacks have gone to the airwaves instead. They're dealing with radio spam.
China tightly regulates Internet access. From what? Things the government does not want the people to hear. Going to the airwaves as an alternative to avoid Internet censorship is an understandable option for dissenters to take.
I'm sure true Radio spam is there, it's everywhere else after all. But I suspect China's definition of radio spam is a bit different than yours or mine.
Worldwide, pirate radio has been around for as long as radio has been regulated, but I think China's situation has more to do with politics than the good of the people.
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The fundamental reasons are entirely different. Pirate radio in the free world isn't shut down due to content but rather licensing of the airwaves. Consider HAM radio, almost anyone can broadcast anything they want using it (I'm sure there are some regulations, I'm not a HAM radio operator). China is shutting these down for the CONTENT not because the radio operators haven't taken out a license on the spectrum. And even the 'content reason' they are using (aphrodisiac ads? Seriously?) is pure bullshit, used
At least shipping would be cheap (Score:2)
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Foxconn's "other" business venture...
By any other name... (Score:1)
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"Mr. Anderson... do you wish to take the red pill, the blue pill, or the purple pill?"
"You take the blue pill, the commercials end. You wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, with your ad blocker uninstalled and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. You take the purple pill you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe about what happened the night before."
Re:By any other name... (Score:5, Funny)
*whispered so quickly nobody can really understand* This drug may cause joint pain, nausea, head-ache, or shortness of breath. You may also experience muscle aches, rapid heartbeat, and ringing in the cars. If you feel faint, call your doctor. Do not consume alcohol while taking this pill; likewise, avoid red meat, shellfish, and vegetables. O.K. foods: flounder. Under no circumstances eat yak. Men can expect painful urination while sitting, especially if the penis is caught between the toilet seat and the bowl. Projectile vomiting is common in thirty per cent of users-sorry, fifty per cent. If you undergo disorienting nausea accompanied by migraine and raspy breathing, double the dosage. Leg cramps are to be expected; one knee-buckler per day is normal. Bowel movements may become frequent-in fact, every ten minutes. If bowel movements become greater than twelve per hour, consult your doctor, or any doctor, or just anyone who will speak to you. You may find yourself becoming lost or vague; this would be a good time to write a screenplay. Do not pilot a plane, unless you are among the ten per cent of users who experience "spontaneous test-pilot knowledge." If your hair begins to smell like burning tires, move away from any buildings or populated areas, and apply tincture of iodine to the head until you no longer hear what could be taken for a "countdown." May cause stigmata in Mexicans. If a fungus starts to grow between your eyebrows, call the Guinness Book of World Records. May induce a tendency to compulsively repeat the phrase "no can do." This drug may cause visions of the Virgin Mary to appear in treetops. If this happens, open a souvenir shop. There may be an overwhelming impulse to shout out during a Catholic Mass, "I'm gonna wop you wid da ugly stick!" You may feel a powerful sense of impending doom; this is because you are about to die. Men may experience impotence, but only during intercourse. Otherwise, a powerful erection will accompany your daily "walking-around time." Do not take this product if you are uneasy with lockjaw. Do not be near a ringing telephone that works at 900 MHz or you will be very dead, very fast. We are assuming you have had chicken pox. You also may experience a growing dissatisfaction with life along with a deep sense of melancholy-join the club! Do not be concerned if you arouse a few ticks from a Geiger counter. You might want to get a one-month trial subscription to Extreme Fighting. The hook shape of the pill will often cause it to become caught in the larynx. To remove, jam a finger down your throat while a friend holds your nose to prevent the pill from lodging in a nasal passage. Then throw yourself stomach first on the back portion of a chair. The expulsion of air should eject the pill out of the mouth, unless it goes into a sinus cavity, or the brain. WARNING: This drug may shorten your intestines by twenty-one feet. Has been known to cause birth defects in the user retroactively. Passing in front of TV may cause the screen to moiré. Women often feel a loss of libido, including a woo-octave lowering of the voice, an increase in ankle hair, and perhaps the lowering of a testicle. If this happens, women should write a detailed description of their last three sexual encounters and mail it to me, Bob, Trailer Six, Fancyland Trailer Park, Encino, CA. Or E-mail me at hot-guy.com. Discontinue use immediately if you feel that your teeth are receiving radio broadcasts. You may experience "lumpy back" syndrome, but we are actively seeking a cure. Bloated fingertips on the heart-side hand are common. When finished with the dosage, be sure to allow plenty of "quiet time" in order to retrain the eye to move off stationary objects. Flotation devices at sea will become pointless, as the user of this drug will develop a stone-like body density; therefore, if thrown overboard, contact your doctor. (This product may contain one or more of the following: bungee cord, plankton, rubber, crack cocaine, pork bladders, aromatic oils, gunpowder, corn husk, glue, bee pollen, dung, Engl
A channel for criminals: (Score:1)
But selling the gall bladder of bears, and only the gall bladder, or the hands of gorillas or promoting cupping and acupuncture or Louis Vitton bags or a whole host of other counterfeit and non-existent medicine is perfectly acceptable, right?
It's crack down, not crackdown (Score:2)
Crackdown is a noun.
Crack down is a verb.
Title should be: China To Crack Down On Unauthorised Radio Broadcasts
FFS.
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I take it you are from the Ministry of Public Gramatical Errors Criminal Investigation Department? ;)
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I need to backup my pickup truck and pickup my backup!
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I'mamusedthatmissingspacescauseyousomuchangerandfrustration.
thanks for helping! (Score:2)
The people running their own radio stations might not care about noble tasks like keeping officials in office for example. In fact, I bet they tend to overlook important things like that all the time!
The Chinese are a little bit ahead of the curve, but we're making incredible progress here with the IRS helping people to realize things like the correct
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Even if everyone's lives individually get worse, well, society and the Public are collectively better!
The good of the collective is the supreme objective. Your individual rights are irrelevant. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.
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So, um, yay!
Advertising on pirate radio? (Score:2)
Do they have their own sales staff? How do you even find out how to advertise on a pirate Chinese radio station?
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Ask Facebook or Google. They are pioneers in the invasion of privacy. :P
Soon ads will be beamed into the brain directly - VR is just one step closer. Imagine a "fully immersive ad experience" in full surround sound... for the latest version of Candy Crush.
And? So? (Score:1)
I know that people will want to go on the China oppressing freedom SJW bandwagon, but this is a complete non-story and non-issue.
Every country in the world has a regulatory body that controls the country's RF spectrum. It's the only way for radio to work reliably.
How many times a day does the FCC "crackdown on unauthorized radio broadcasts"? There are literally dozens and possibly hundreds of times every day that the FCC confiscates illegal radio equipment and brings charges against illegal broadcasters. Ar
Built My Own (Score:2)
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Why bother with range when you can go for quantity instead?
A good pirate radio setup would be small box with PV cell, battery, antenna, SD card, and a means to update broadcast via optical networking (or peer to peer mesh, or even low power RF upload). If you could make it for $30, just get a few dozen and scatter them around.
Makes it reasonably hard to trace back to the source, although you would need to design it so you can't easily reverse engineer the encryption when seized and co-opt the network...
Oblig (Score:2)
"Lights out,
Guerrilla Radio.
Turn that shit up"
Cracking down pirate radio is normal though. (Score:2)
If you operate a pirate radio in the US, surely FCC would come and knock on your door? In the UK, the OFCOM would come and known on your door. I am a licensed amatuer radio operator in the UK.
As a Chinese I can testify (Score:1)
Here in China, pirate radio isn't the "romantically rebellious", "devoted for freedom" type you might have imagined. It's just like your usual annoying stupid email spam. You WANT to get rid of that.
There're HUGE lots of scam commercials, fake talk-show shills and other frauds all over radio and TV, pirate or even legal ones once in a while. They indeed mostly sell suspicious alcohols, medicines and healthcare products, while aphrodisiacs are only a tiny bit among them. Under-educated people are easily tric