Tower block nightmares

Just seen part 2 of the Tower Block Dreams series (here on YouTube). Sad to say, something in it left me with a nastier taste in the mouth than a pint of Bitrex.

It seems the practice of sabotaging pirate radio stations, which was not unknown in Birmingham in the late 1980s /early 1990s, is still going on. As an ex-pirate who still supports free radio, from a free speech and free expression point of view, I decry and condemn the practice of pirates sabotaging other pirates.

Occasionally. there may be mitigating factors behind such moves - such as, if another pirate is deliberately jamming or recklessly causing inteference, is broadcasting truly abhorrent material (such as racism, kiddie porn, libel or threats), or has itself sabotaged another station (including grassing them to the DTI). However, even in such cases, the merit of vigilante action such as sabotaging transmitters is highly debatable.

Besides, broadcasting to or from the same area as an existing pirate is not, in my opinion, a valid excuse for taking them off-air. Indeed, by only allowing one station in an area, such activity is acting not unlike the Establishment regulatory authorities :-(

The reason given for the sabotage (in Tower Block Dreams) is that too many pirate stations in an area are more likely to attract the DTI. I know DTI raids are far from fun, I was raided on Starforce FM back in 1997. And there are many means pirates can use to reduce the risk of studio raids and prosecution - eg the use of link systems, secure transmitter sites (perhaps with security measures such as look-outs or CCTV), measures to avoid interference to other stations or radio users.

But doing the DTI's dirty work should not be one of them!