Brooklyn FM pirate walks a lowered plank

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Mark Nierman and his Kakadu Productions Inc. was busted by the FCC Enforcement for essentially driving without a license – on 99.9 MHz in the Brooklyn NY airspace. He even had a five year lease for a studio located in a West 8th Street apartment building. Nierman was one spectrum pirate who responded to the FCC, and it actually benefited his bank account.


Management at Luna Park Housing Corporation informed an FCC field agent of the contract for studio space ($6K per year), and the agent observed coaxial cable running from an antenna mounted on a rooftop water tower to the rental space.

He was advised in a Notice of Unauthorized Operation (NOUO) to shut down 10/16/09, and replied 10/26/09 promising compliance. Then on 1/8/10 he was hit with the standard $10K fine.

Nierman admitted breaking the rules, but he also asked for cancellation of the fine due to inability to pay. The FCC did not offer any details, but it did say that Nierman submitted three years worth of income tax returns, and based on that, they reduced the fine by over half, to $4.5K.