The story of obnoxious spoilt brat 14-year-old Jayhaed Saade and his pirate radio station has had adequate coverage from newspapers and bloggers all over the world and I did not write about it earlier because I did not feel he deserved any more publicity than he had already. Today is different because he has finally done the right thing and shut down his illegal station and that has to be cause for celebration for those in Ottawa who were having their listening pleasure ruined by his stations interference to legal broadcasts. He had ignored two cease-and-desist letters from Industry Canada. The second had warned him he could face a $5,000 fine for each day he remained on the air, but the reason for his final compliance remains a mystery. He had been operating his station out of his fathers hotel and strip club the Sadde Inn. His father, Georges Saade, initially supported his son but later said he and his wife wanted the station turned off. The big question is why his broadcasting has gone on so long when there are so many regulatations.
In his Blog Post about this issue Bob VA3QV says "Perhaps its time for Industry Canada to sit down with Canadian Border Services and get on the same page about what Radio Equipment can come legally into Canada so this does not happen again.", but the way I see it whatever radio equipment can come legally into Canada it will not stop pirate stations springing up. As a radio amateur you may have heard of ‘Home Construction’, it is a long lost art amongst us radio amateurs but it is still widely practiced by broadcast pirates. Then there is a plethora of ex licenced station equipment for sale if you know where to look. Grey imports from places like China will always be possible because customs cannot check every single import. Industry Canada (and similar agencies in other countries) need to either be more pro-active in cutting off each of the Hydras heads as they arise or make some legal way for these stations to be licensed for low power local broadcasting. I am in favour of some form of limited licence where all the would be DJs can practice their art away from real broadcast stations and off the local amateur radio repeaters.
For information: The obnoxious rum swilling cut-throat in the picture above is none other than your truly who has been known to terrorise the seven seas in search of booty.
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