4 ms·
Fascinating how terms such as "pirate station" get into common language and nobody is getting a pause. Pirates are people who ransack other ships on the sea. Th
by stracer 3y ago
Fascinating how terms such as "pirate station" get into common language and nobody is getting a pause. Pirates are people who ransack other ships on the sea. The term has originally nothing to do with not having a license. Is a ship crew who sails the seas without a license a group of pirates? No. Is this a language psyop to implant people with a negative view of people who do stuff without official license?
- kencausey 3y agoI'm afraid that you are about 60 years late on that one.
- hutzlibu 3y ago"No. Is this a language psyop to implant people with a negative view of people who do stuff without official license?" If it is, it was quite succesfull, as at least some of them are using the term themself, also in the warez scene (pirate bay). Romanticizing pirates is not a new thing (while ignoring the bloody murder part).
- sleepybrett 3y agosee also 'jay walking'
- jandrese 3y agoI don't think this is quite the same. "Free as a jaybird" isn't something most people have a negative feelings about.
- sleepybrett 3y ago'jay' was a slur 'cityfolk' used to describe a rube from a rural area. Someone who didn't understand the culture of the city and was too trusting, etc. The auto industry co-oped it and used it as a wedge to get city streets turned over to cars so they could sell more cars. Calling people broadcasting on 'protected frequencies' pirates is a similar slur.
- SV_BubbleTime 3y agoRape and pillage (different things) doesn’t have the same romance as pillage and plunder (same thing).
- ThrowawayTestr 3y agoPirate stations steal bandwidth from the people that paid to use that radio channel.
- johngladtj 3y agoThose people who paid are stealing from everyone else.
- ThrowawayTestr 3y agoIf radio channels weren't managed by a central authority the spectrum wouldn't be able to be used by anyone.
- RF_Savage 3y agoIn ~70% of cases it is ClearChannel.
- AAAAaccountAAAA 3y agoPirates were people who attacked merchant shipping without a license. Those who had a license for that were called privateers.
- jandrese 3y agoClearchannel is privateer radio?
- volkl48 3y agoI don't know that the origin of the name is fully known, but: Pirate radio in the UK in the 1960s was often from actual ships floating just offshore in international waters (or disused forts/installations located in them). There was more of a "evading the authorities at sea" aspect than I think you're giving it credit for.
- JohnFen 3y ago> The term has originally nothing to do with not having a license. Nautical pirates were called "pirates" specifically because they didn't have a license to engage in the activity. The ones who had licenses ("letters of marque") were called "privateers".
- stracer 3y agoI do not think that is why they were called pirates. The term privateer seems to come from 17th century, while "pirate" is a general term for "one who attacks ships" from 14th century. Privateer / corsair is thus a pirate as well, even though not officially called that by their friendly government sanctioning their robbing activities. The terms pirate and corsair do not seem exclusive, corsair is rather a special kind of pirate - one with a government license.
- kgwxd 3y agoStallman was right