User:Cfrjlr/Pirate Radio
British pirate radio was an early libertarian influence on this author.
In the early post-WW2 years, broadcast media in the UK was a state monopoly owned by the BBC. In the early 1960's UK govt allowed commercial TV but commercial radio was still illegal.
During the roaring beatnik 1960's the BBC only broadcast one hour of rock music per week.
This nonsense was finally broken on Easter Sunday 1964 when the first offshore pirate radio station started up, Radio Caroline. They offered 24 hour rock music, which had been hitherto denied the British public. Soon several more pirate radio stations started up.
After three years the UK govt enacted the Maritime Offenses Act and sent the Royal Navy to board the ships and arrest the crews.
But the genie was out of the bottle. The UK govt was forced to allow commercial radio broadcasting free of government control, and even the BBC started a 24 hour rock channel.
A detailed history of the revolution in British radio can be found at this page.
http://www.radiocaroline.co.uk/history.asp
This author personally listened to Radio Caroline and the other pirates during the 1960's, and was appalled when the UK government closed them down using military force.
I thus became a Libertarian even before the party was founded.
Radio Caroline is now legal and back on the air, using Internet and Satellite channels. It is the greatest station on the air in my humble opinion. Here is the link where you can listen live.