Pirate radio in the United Kingdom A number of DJs of the newly created pop music service BBC Radio 1 came from pirate stations. The UK Government also closed the international waters loophole via the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act of 1967, although Radio Caroline continued to broadcast (with some sizeable off-air periods between 1968 and 1972 and 1980–83) until 1990. The 1967 Marine Broadcasting Offences Act officially outlawed offshore stations, but unlicensed radio continued, moving from ships and sea-based platforms to urban areas in the latter part of the 1960s (they were already illegal under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949). During this period, home-made medium wave
Offshore radio Offshore radio Offshore radio is radio broadcasting from ships or fixed maritime structures. Offshore broadcasters are usually unlicenced but transmissions are legal in international waters. This is in contrast to broadcasting without a licence on land or within a nation's territorial waters, which is usually unlawful. The claimed first wireless broadcast of music "and" speech for the purpose of entertainment was transmitted from a Royal Navy craft, HMS "Andromeda", in 1907. The broadcast was organized by a Lieutenant Quentin Crauford using the callsign QFP while the ship was anchored off Chatham in the Thames Estuary, England. However, the majority of