Stephen Dunifer
Encyclopedia
Stephen Dunifer is the founder of Free Radio Berkeley in Berkeley, California
. Free Radio Berkeley, an unlicensed micropower
pirate radio
station, was involved in a protracted legal case with the Federal Communications Commission
in the mid-1990s They were eventually acquitted of all charges, marking a major victory for micropower radio
. FRB eventually stopped broadcasting and turned all their resources to developing new micropower technology and training activists in the use of pirate radio. They were replaced on the dial by Berkeley Liberation Radio, which has also been a target of the federal government. Stephen Dunifer is also author of several books on the micropower movement. He was coeditor along with Ron Sakolsky
of Seizing the Airwaves. Stephen Dunifer offers a variety of radio broadcast kits and accessories for sale through his Freedradio website, though the kits are of low quality, the directions incomplete, and shipping of orders can take years, self described by Stephen Dunifer as glacial.
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
. Free Radio Berkeley, an unlicensed micropower
Micropower radio
Micropower radio is a subset of pirate radioconcerned with low-power radio broadcasting, usually less than about 100 watts radiated power and sometimes less than 0.1 watt. Micropower radio transmits to a number of recipients that belong to a small local group...
pirate radio
Pirate radio
Pirate radio is illegal or unregulated radio transmission. The term is most commonly used to describe illegal broadcasting for entertainment or political purposes, but is also sometimes used for illegal two-way radio operation...
station, was involved in a protracted legal case with the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
in the mid-1990s They were eventually acquitted of all charges, marking a major victory for micropower radio
Micropower radio
Micropower radio is a subset of pirate radioconcerned with low-power radio broadcasting, usually less than about 100 watts radiated power and sometimes less than 0.1 watt. Micropower radio transmits to a number of recipients that belong to a small local group...
. FRB eventually stopped broadcasting and turned all their resources to developing new micropower technology and training activists in the use of pirate radio. They were replaced on the dial by Berkeley Liberation Radio, which has also been a target of the federal government. Stephen Dunifer is also author of several books on the micropower movement. He was coeditor along with Ron Sakolsky
Ron Sakolsky
Ron Sakolsky is a scholar covering the intersection of music, revolution and radio. As of 2005, Sakolsky is Emeritus Professor of Public Policy at the University of Illinois at Springfield, previously known as Sangamon State University. For more than twenty years he taught at the university on...
of Seizing the Airwaves. Stephen Dunifer offers a variety of radio broadcast kits and accessories for sale through his Freedradio website, though the kits are of low quality, the directions incomplete, and shipping of orders can take years, self described by Stephen Dunifer as glacial.