47 U.S.C. § 510 — Forfeiture of communications devices

Page 267 TITLE 47—TELECOMMUNICATIONS § 510 (g) Penalties Any person who violates any provision of this section shall, for each such violation, be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than one year, or both. (June 19, 1934, ch. 652, title V, § 507, formerly § 508, as added Pub. L. 86–752, § 8(b), Sept. 13, 1960, 74 Stat. 896; renumbered § 507, Pub. L. 96–507, § 1, Dec. 8, 1980, 94 Stat. 2747.) Editorial Notes PRIOR PROVISIONS A prior section 507 of act June 19, 1934, ch. 652, was re- numbered section 506 by section 1 of Pub. L. 96–507, and is classified to section 507 of this title. § 509. Prohibited practices in contests of knowl- edge, skill, or chance (a) Influencing, prearranging, or predetermining outcome It shall be unlawful for any person, with in- tent to deceive the listening or viewing public— (1) To supply to any contestant in a purport- edly bona fide contest of intellectual knowl- edge or intellectual skill any special and se- cret assistance whereby the outcome of such contest will be in whole or in part prearranged or predetermined. (2) By means of persuasion, bribery, intimi- dation, or otherwise, to induce or cause any contestant in a purportedly bona fide contest of intellectual knowledge or intellectual skill to refrain in any manner from using or dis- playing his knowledge or skill in such contest, whereby the outcome thereof will be in whole or in part prearranged or predetermined. (3) To engage in any artifice or scheme for the purpose of prearranging or predetermining in whole or in part the outcome of a purport- edly bona fide contest of intellectual knowl- edge, intellectual skill, or chance. (4) To produce or participate in the produc- tion for broadcasting of, to broadcast or par- ticipate in the broadcasting of, to offer to a li- censee for broadcasting, or to sponsor, any radio program, knowing or having reasonable ground for believing that, in connection with a purportedly bona fide contest of intellectual knowledge, intellectual skill, or chance con- stituting any part of such program, any person has done or is going to do any act or thing re- ferred to in paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of this sub- section. (5) To conspire with any other person or per- sons to do any act or thing prohibited by para- graph (1), (2), (3), or (4) of this subsection, if one or more of such persons do any act to ef- fect the object of such conspiracy. (b) ‘‘Contest’’ and ‘‘the listening or viewing pub- lic’’ defined For the purposes of this section— (1) The term ‘‘contest’’ means any contest broadcast by a radio station in connection with which any money or any other thing of value is offered as a prize or prizes to be paid or presented by the program sponsor or by any other person or persons, as announced in the course of the broadcast. (2) The term ‘‘the listening or viewing pub- lic’’ means those members of the public who, with the aid of radio receiving sets, listen to or view programs broadcast by radio stations. (c) Penalties Whoever violates subsection (a) shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than one year, or both. (June 19, 1934, ch. 652, title V, § 508, formerly § 509, as added Pub. L. 86–752, § 9, Sept. 13, 1960, 74 Stat. 897; renumbered § 508, Pub. L. 96–507, § 1, Dec. 8, 1980, 94 Stat. 2747.) Editorial Notes PRIOR PROVISIONS A prior section 508 of act June 19, 1934, ch. 652, was re- numbered section 507 by section 1 of Pub. L. 96–507, and is classified to section 508 of this title. § 510. Forfeiture of communications devices (a) Violation with willful and knowing intent Any electronic, electromagnetic, radio fre- quency, or similar device, or component thereof, used, sent, carried, manufactured, assembled, possessed, offered for sale, sold, or advertised with willful and knowing intent to violate sec- tion 301 or 302a of this title, or rules prescribed by the Commission under such sections, may be seized and forfeited to the United States. (b) Seizure Any property subject to forfeiture to the United States under this section may be seized by the Attorney General of the United States upon process issued pursuant to the supple- mental rules for certain admiralty and maritime claims by any district court of the United States having jurisdiction over the property, ex- cept that seizure without such process may be made if the seizure is incident to a lawful arrest or search. (c) Laws applicable to seizure and forfeiture All provisions of law relating to— (1) the seizure, summary and judicial for- feiture, and condemnation of property for vio- lation of the customs laws; (2) the disposition of such property or the proceeds from the sale thereof; (3) the remission or mitigation of such for- feitures; and (4) the compromise of claims with respect to such forfeitures; shall apply to seizures and forfeitures incurred, or alleged to have been incurred, under the pro- visions of this section, insofar as applicable and not inconsistent with the provisions of this sec- tion, except that such seizures and forfeitures shall be limited to the communications device, devices, or components thereof. (d) Disposition of forfeited property Whenever property is forfeited under this sec- tion, the Attorney General of the United States may forward it to the Commission or sell any forfeited property which is not harmful to the public. The proceeds from any such sale shall be deposited in the general fund of the Treasury of the United States. Page 268 TITLE 47—TELECOMMUNICATIONS § 511 (June 19, 1934, ch. 652, title V, § 510, as added Pub. L. 97–259, title I, § 125, Sept. 13, 1982, 96 Stat. 1098.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT The supplemental rules for certain admiralty and maritime claims, referred to in subsec. (b), were re- named the Supplemental Rules for Admiralty or Mari- time Claims and Asset Forfeiture Actions and are set out as part of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure in the Appendix to Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Proce- dure. PRIOR PROVISIONS A prior section 510, act June 19, 1934, ch. 652, title V, § 510, as added May 11, 1962, Pub. L. 87–448, § 1, 76 Stat. 68, related to forfeitures for violations of rules and reg- ulations by radio stations operating in common carrier, safety and special radio fields, prior to repeal effective the thirtieth day after Feb. 21, 1978, by Pub. L. 95–234, §§ 4, 7, Feb. 21, 1978, 92 Stat. 35. § 511. Enhanced penalties for pirate radio broad- casting; enforcement sweeps; reporting (a) Increased general penalty Any person who willfully and knowingly does or causes or suffers to be done any pirate radio broadcasting shall be subject to a fine of not more than $2,000,000. (b) Violation of this chapter, rules, or regulations Any person who willfully and knowingly vio- lates this chapter or any rule, regulation, re- striction, or condition made or imposed by the Commission under authority of this chapter, or any rule, regulation, restriction, or condition made or imposed by any international radio or wire communications treaty or convention, or regulations annexed thereto, to which the United States is party, relating to pirate radio broadcasting shall, in addition to any other pen- alties provided by law, be subject to a fine of not more than $100,000 for each day during which such offense occurs, in accordance with the limit described in subsection (a). (c) Annual report Not later than 1 year after January 24, 2020, and annually thereafter, the Commission shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Com- merce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans- portation of the Senate a report summarizing the implementation of this section and associ- ated enforcement activities for the previous fis- cal year, which may include the efforts by the Commission to enlist the cooperation of Fed- eral, State, and local law enforcement personnel (including United States attorneys and the United States Marshals Service) for service of process, collection of fines or forfeitures, sei- zures of equipment, and enforcement of orders. (d) Enforcement sweeps (1) Annual sweeps Not less than once each year, the Commis- sion shall assign appropriate enforcement per- sonnel to focus specific and sustained atten- tion on the elimination of pirate radio broad- casting within the top 5 radio markets identi- fied as prevalent for such broadcasts. Such ef- fort shall include identifying, locating, and taking enforcement actions designed to termi- nate such operations. (2) Additional monitoring Within 6 months after conducting the en- forcement sweeps required by paragraph (1), the Commission shall conduct monitoring sweeps to ascertain whether the pirate radio broadcasting identified by enforcement sweeps is continuing to broadcast and whether addi- tional pirate radio broadcasting is occurring. (3) No effect on remaining enforcement Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the Commis- sion shall not decrease or diminish the regular enforcement efforts targeted to pirate radio broadcast stations for other times of the year. (e) State and local government authority The Commission may not preempt any State or local law prohibiting pirate radio broad- casting. (f) Revision of commission rules required The Commission shall revise its rules to re- quire that, absent good cause, in any case alleg- ing a violation of subsection (a) or (b), the Com- mission shall proceed directly to issue a notice of apparent liability without first issuing a no- tice of unlicensed operation. (g) Pirate radio broadcasting database (1) In general Not later than 90 days after January 24, 2020, and semi-annually thereafter, the Commission shall publish a database in a clear and legible format of all licensed radio stations operating in the AM and FM bands. The database shall be easily accessible from the Commission home page through a direct link. The database shall include the following information: (A) Each licensed station, listed by the as- signed frequency, channel number, or Com- mission call letters. (B) All entities that have received a notice of unlicensed operation, notice of apparent liability, or forfeiture order issued by the Commission. (2) Clear identification The Commission shall clearly identify in the database— (A) each licensed station as a station li- censed by the Commission; and (B) each entity described in paragraph (1)(B) as operating without a Commission li- cense or authorization. (h) Definition of pirate radio broadcasting In this section, the term ‘‘pirate radio broad- casting’’ means the transmission of communica- tions on spectrum frequencies between 535 and 1705 kilohertz, inclusive, or 87.7 and 108 mega- hertz, inclusive, without a license issued by the Commission, but does not include unlicensed op- erations in compliance with part 15 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations. (June 19, 1934, ch. 652, title V, § 511, as added Pub. L. 116–109, § 2, Jan. 24, 2020, 134 Stat. 3.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT This chapter, referred to in subsec. (b), was in the original ‘‘this Act’’, meaning act June 19, 1934, ch. 652,