War on Pirates

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 659, 10 May 1929, Page 8

War on Pirates

Prosecution for Radio Listeners WAR has been declared against "pirate" radio listeners in Auckland. The police are now handling the first hatch of court actions. All over the Dominion there has been a good response in renewals, however, and only about 1.000 out ot 1-5,000 listeners in Auckland have failed to notify their intentions.

JpiRATES on the ether waves have no parallel with the pirates of youthful ambitions —the buccaneers who seek hidden treasure in uncharted seas—and the penalties are in no way analogous. But many people will find it an irksome procedure next week in explaining why they have continued the use of unlicensed wireless sets for listening in on the IYA broadcast. At the end of March there were just over 15,000 registered listeners in Auckland. Between 800 and 1.000 of these people have failed to notify the department whether or not they intend to remain on the service. In the eyes of the law they are pirates. Not all of them will be prosecuted, of course, but those who are found to be using their sets without having renewed their licences will be rounded up and brought to Court. The police are now handling the first, few actions, and proceedings have been instituted against many others. . On the whole, however, the people throughout the Dominion are respond-, 1 ing more readily than ever to the ap* peal for renewal of licences. HIGHEST RENEWALS YET A week ago 36,664 licences, comprising 35,880 receivers’, 652 dealers’ and 132 amateurs’ transmitting licences were registered for the whole of New Zealand, this number representing a higher percentage of renewals than ever before recorded. On March 31, 44.510 receiving licences were in force, though many were short-term agreements representing accretions during the late part of the year. The Radio Broadcasting Company, which is looking forward to a record year, regards the fact as gratifying that all except 9,000 should have renewed within the first month. For comparative purposes it is explained that at the end of April, last year, the licences totalled 30,175, of which approximately 28,000 odd were from the listening public. On the same day in the preceding year the total was 15,000. It is found in Auckland that about 200 people drop oft the licenced iist at the end of every year, but these are

more than offset by additions which are made a few mouths later. Recent developments in radio broadcast methods must in some degree affect the popularity of receiving sets. It is probable that since the Racing Conference refused permission for broadcasts from racecourses many people who were in the habit of enjoying the sport of kings at long distance will have disposed of their powerful valve sets and reduced their reception to the popular orystal model. The Racing Conference has agreed to discuss the question again at its annual conference in Julj*, however, and the radio authorities are hopeful that the microphone will be reinstated at race meetings. LISTENING IN ON -STUNTS'* It is true many listeners use their sets merely for •‘stunts'’ like the recent land-line relay from Wellington to Auckland, and for newsy incidents like the Southern Cross flight, boxing contests in Australia, and other daily happenings, and it is suggested that a widening of the scope of these features would increase the popularity of the broadcast. Band music, in Auckland, too, is exceedingly popular. But there again the difficulty of attaining universal satisfaction is shown by the action of boxing associations and other societies in preserving their gate receipts by refusing to permit the broadcast. This disparity is now being sur mounted by the land-line relay, which transmits the performance far beyond the area affected by gate receipts and at the same time gives outside listeners an opportunity of hearing it. The company’, encouraged by the success of the recent WellingtonAuckland relay, has arranged for three relays from Invercargill to Dunedin and one from Invercargill to Christchurch. Later this month a relay’ will be made frorq Hamilton to Auckland. Mr. A. R. Harris, general manager of the company’, says the response to the licence renewals has been clearly an incentive for still further improvements in the service, while the gener** osity of the P. and T. Department is assisting largely in popularising radio programmes.