Pirate Radio operator thumbs nose at Industry Canada
Yesterday Digital Home broke the story of a 13 year old boy whose pirate radio station in Ottawa was shut down by Industry Canada.
Despite a cease and desist order from the feds on Tuesday, Jayhaed Saadé, and his father George Saadé simply waited a few hours and began broadcasting again on Wednesday afternoon.
The illegal radio station is being operated by Mr. Saadé and his son out of Saadé International Inn, a shabby looking hotel and strip club on Bank Street, north of Greely in Ottawa.
The radio station had been operating sporadically for several months on various frequencies but came to Industry Canada last Saturday. The agency began investigating on Monday and issued a cease and desist order on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Mr. Saadé and his son began broadcasting again. In a interview with the Ottawa Citizen, Mr. Saadé thumbed his nose at Industry Canada saying rather than shutting them down, “they should be encouraging him to do this.”
In an email to Digital Home, a representative for Industry Canada said the agency “could consider taking enforcement measures”
According to the Radiocommunication Act, the operator of an illegal radio station is liable to a fine of up to five thousand dollars or imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or both.
Comment below or discuss in Digital Home’s Canadian Radio forum.
this punk is breaking the law and should be shut down. period.
There are a number of factual errors in this article. The station is being operated solely by Jayhaed who purchased the equipment using money left to him by his deceased grandfather. His father has nothing to do with it. I applaud this kid for providing competition to the mainstream stations and not bowing down to Industry Canada for permission to transmit. He wasn’t stepping on anyone’s toes by using an existing frequency and he didn’t even realize he had to beg government permission to transmit.. Anyone who calls him a punk and thinks he should be shut down, fined or jailed is a disgusting and violent human being. Stop abusing peaceful, enterprising young adults, sicko.
Eric… I don’t know how old you are but it doesn’t matter who is helping him or the sob story of where he got his money (I’ve got a few sob stories for you and I don’t expect your sypathy either). He is a punk… the fact that he is breaking the law, and literally giving the one finger salute to the government is outrageous. You know what, when I was a kid, I got my ham license, without the need of my parents help and without the need of anyone else’s assistance. I found out THE RULES and played within them. The fact that this kid didn’t even look up the rules (maybe he did, but I knew even before my ham days that it was illegal to operate a non licensed radio station), then when informed of them, ignored them and kept going. That makes him a criminal and yes, a punk. The rules are there (and maybe because I was / sort of still am) a HAMMY means that I KNOW there is interference caused by any kind of electromagnetic radio broadcast at any given power level. This is why there are regulations. That does not anyone who REGARDS the rules as a “disgusting and violent human being” nor a “sicko”. I bet you’re 12. Grow up and abide by the rules which are there for everyone and every devices protection, and stop throwing juvenile insults around.
Dear Eric,
In case you didn’t know, broadcasting over the PUBLIC airwaves without a license is AGAINST the law — no matter your age, where you paid for the equipment, or any other excuse you want to make. Just like MURDER and SHOPLIFTING are also against the law no matter what sob story you can dream up. Clearly, I think you need to read up on the rules that all citizens of this country are required to obey, or otherwise, don’t be surprised if they are dire consequences for your actions. Anyways, I hope your friend Jayhaed and his father enjoy the hefty fines, jail time, and potential lawsuits that could be coming their way soon, as well as the confiscation of their equipment.
Oh, and I wish Jayhaed good luck ever finding a job in the broadcast industry after this, or with anything remotely requiring any sort of trust, as he’ll now be labelled a “untrustworthy disciplinary problem” for his total and utter contempt for the rule of law.
Oh and FYI, he is steeping on people’s toes by broadcasting on frequencies close to those in use by LICENSED radio broadcasters, causing interference with their signals in various parts of town.
Industry Canada can go right ahead and plunder and pillage Amateur Radio spectrum and make it available for the masses. After all they are Industry Canada and “playing within the rules” when they do so.
ok.. well i find that jayhaed should just go and get a license! its not that a big deal sure its against the law but its not like he`s doing somehting SUPER wrong and hurting people … hes just having fun and doing something he likes to do … everyone should just chillout andlet him be.. he’ll get a fine , pay it and w.e his dad is rich so he couldnt care less, i dont find it that bad.. but i guess thats just my opinion…
Eric… I don’t know how old you are, but if you’re young, then please don’t let “old” Mo and sanctimonious LiquidThunder give us old guys a bad name, they are terrified of rule breakers.
I’m a 55 year old Ham radio operator and I play by those rules, AND I started a Pirate Radio station about 13 years ago (with the blessings of the local city government), nobody has died, no harm has been done, but according to “old” Mo and sanctimonious LiquidThunder I’m a “punk”, and I should face “hefty fines, jail time, and potential lawsuits” all because we didn’t get a broadcast license.
What a crock …
Look at how LiquidThunder rants for punitive measures against a 13 year old boy, AND his father for merely not getting a proper broadcast license, thats a sign of rigid thinking.
Look how he grasps at straws by comparing broadcasting without a license to MURDER and SHOPLIFTING.
I think that 13 year old has lots of moxie, and I hope it turns out well for him, if he were in the USA, I’d hire him.
most laws are out there to keep rich people rich just like the crtc and industry canada. who cares about crappy canadian content and artist royalties if they want to make money off their music have more live shows play good music and sell out. quit policing the people. stop real criminals like the gangs. quit sitting there in your police cars pulling people over for doing 10 over speed limits pull over people driving dangerously
I thought we have a mellow law here in Canada concerning broadcasting below a certain power (9 watts?), where you could easily get a license for not too much money. Am I mistaken about that?
Some people here keep refering to His law breaking. I ask have they always driven at exactly 50kph
on Prince of Wales or at exactly 100kph on Queensway, if not guess what They too are breaking the
law !. Yes I agree Jayhaed should have gotten Federal clearance before “Broadcasting” but I do have
to admire His skill at 14 in putting together a very impreesive sounding station
Karl;
I guess by your logic, then if I want to drive on the left side of the road at you head on then I should be allowed to do so? It against the “rules” but I want to do it anyway so should I be allowed to? Thats what he’s doing. So what if his broadcast causes a plane to crash or a firefighter not to be able to call for help on his radio in the middle of a fire. NO problem..he’s not doing anything wrong….right? No one here I’m sure has any problem with the kid expressing himself and showing some enterprise and initiative but there are technical rules there for a reason. Same reason why you cant dump toxic waste in the middle of a park. And the FM band is a public reasource…just like a park..and it needs to be shared according to the rules.