UK Pirates Face Final Last Stand

Lawyers for the Commercial Radio Companies Association (CRCA) stepped up their attack on UK pirate radio stations this week, taking out civil injunctions against individuals linked to six specific stations.

Legal expert Patrick Gardiner told Music Week the injunctions should prove far more effective than punishments handed down by the criminal courts, since people breaking them face immediate prison. The new tactics could lead to all pirate stations being forced to shut down, having dire consequences for Britian's underground music scene.

Radio Magazine editor Paul Boon was unimpressed, telling Music Week he believes the existence of the unlicensed stations reflects the over-commercialisation and blandness of most legitimate UK radio.

"(They're) a symptom of the many record companies and most of the radio industry, who refuse to deviate to any level of significance, from the easy pickings of the mainstream," he complained.
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