North Korea Steps Up Jamming

Authorities seek to control the narrative on important political events in December.

2012-12-19

North Korean TV shows Kim Jong Un (C) bowing during a memorial ceremony to mark the first death anniversary of his father Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang, Dec. 17, 2012.

AFP/NORTH KOREAN TV

North Korean authorities have intensified their jamming of foreign radio broadcasts since the beginning of December, blocking signals from South Korea and the United States almost every day during the last month of a year-long period of mourning for the country’s former leader Kim Jong Il, sources in China say.

North Korean jamming is usually sporadic due to electricity outages and the cost of special facilities, but has now been continuous since Dec. 1, said a source in the border city of Dandong, in China's Liaoning province.

“Listening to RFA [Radio Free Asia] and VOA [Voice of America] is almost impossible due to static, which has continued since the first of this month,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

A source in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture of China’s Jilin province confirmed that static had disrupted reception of RFA broadcasts, adding that broadcasts of South Korea’s KBS (Korean Broadcasting System) were also “getting harder to hear.”

North Korean jamming signals have also interfered with Chinese broadcasts, leaving state-run CRI (China Radio International) programs hard to listen to, said another source, who recently moved to China from Sinuiju, in North Korea.

“[CRI] broadcasting used to have better sound quality than anything coming from South Korea, but they are now hard to hear because North Korea’s National Security Department is sending jamming signals,” he said.

Mourning period

Sources tied the unusual period of unbroken jamming to the first anniversary of the death of former North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, and said that the jamming will likely continue until the end of December.

Hundreds of thousands of North Korean soldiers and civilians gathered in Pyongyang on Dec. 17 for a mass memorial to the late dictator presided over by his son and successor Kim Jong Un.

But North Korea’s mood of mourning was briefly broken last week by the launch of a long-range rocket that successfully placed a satellite in orbit.

North Korea’s authoritarian leaders typically fear that foreign broadcasts will undermine official narratives of important events, possibly leading to the current period of intensified jamming.

Speaking from Beijing, one observer of North Korean affairs said that if foreign radio is now difficult to listen to in the border regions, it may be “impossible” for a time to hear in North Korea itself.

North Korean authorities usually find it difficult to block all broadcasts, though, he said.

“More than 10 radio stations broadcast into the country from South Korea, and other broadcasts come from the United States and Japan,” the source said.

“They send signals on many different channels, so it is hard for the North Korean government to jam all radio broadcasting from outside the country.”

Reported by Joon Ho Kim for RFA’s Korean service. Translated by Ju Hyeon Park. Written in English by Richard Finney.

Complaint filed in Paris about jamming of Radio Erena

Complaint filed in Paris about jamming of Radio Erena

Published on Thursday 8 November 2012.

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Reporters Without Borders filed a complaint with the public prosecutor in Paris on 6 November accusing persons unknown of acts of piracy against Radio Erena, an Eritrean exile radio station based in Paris which broadcasts by satellite to the Horn of Africa and which is backed by Reporters Without Borders.

A pirate transmission jammed the station’s signal on 14 August. Arabsat, the satellite operator that carried Radio Erena on its BADR-6 satellite, reacted by suspending the station because the jamming was disrupting other signals. It restored Radio Erena on 2 September only to suspend it again two days later, this time indefinitely, because the jamming had resumed. The station’s website was meanwhile the target of a cyber-attack on 28 August. More information about all these acts of piracy.

“Radio Erena’s programmes can no longer be heard by Eritreans living in Eritrea because its satellite broadcasting has been paralysed for more than three months,” Reporters Without Borders said.

“A judicial investigation has to be launched in France with the aim of establishing the precise origin of these acts of sabotage and prosecuting all those responsible, both the perpetrators and the instigators. We have done this because we want to shed light on all the circumstances surrounding this piracy, including where the jamming is coming from and who ordered it.

“Geolocation indicates that the pirate transmission jamming the signal originates from within Eritrea. The government must be doing this in order to gag an independent broadcaster it clearly finds very irritating. This should come as no surprise from the rulers of a country ranked last in the Reporters Without Borders press freedom index for the past five years.

“But President Issaias Afeworki’s government will not get away with it. The complaint that we have filed points out that this piracy is completely illegal. Neither Radio Erena nor Reporters Without Borders have said their final word.”

The Radio Erena staff and its supporters have been able to repair the damage to the website while mirror sites have been created. But satellite broadcasting has not resumed so the station is not being received in Eritrea or anywhere else in the Horn of Africa.

For the time being Radio Erena is only broadcasting on the Internet, but only the Eritrean diaspora can access the web broadcasts because the Internet is not sufficiently developed in Eritrea.

As a Paris-based radio station, Radio Erena operates under a convention ratified by France’s Higher Council for Broadcasting (CSA). The complaint alleged “disruption of over-the-air broadcasting by an authorized service” and “disruption of an automated data processing system” under article L. 39-1 of the Post and Electronic Communications Code and articles 323-2 and 323-5 of the Criminal Code.

Radio Erena in the French and international press:

• “Radio Erena, fighting for the airwaves” (Libération)
• “Radio Erena, the free voice that Eritrea wants to gag” (Le Monde)
• “Radio Erena is the only independent radio station broadcasting in Eritrea, so it’s no surprise they don’t like it” (Interview with Biniam Simon by RFI’s Sonia Rolley

Jamming TV satellite broadcasts: Who is doing it, and how?

17 November 2012 Last updated at 00:16 GMT Help

There has been an increase in the number of complaints about the jamming of satellite TV signals around the world.
Broadcasters such as the BBC, Voice of America, France 24, Deutsche Welle and Al-Jazeera have all seen transmissions of their international programmes jammed recently.
The European Broadcasting Union has accused Iran and Syria of being behind the disruption and of attacking media freedom.
But authorities in Tehran and Damascus say that their broadcasts are also being interfered with.
But how does satellite jamming work? And what can be done about it?
Video produced by Thomas Hannen, with Mike Linstead from BBC Monitoring.

Satellite and internet jamming rises as broadcast industry seek to uphold UN Article 19

Date: 20.11.2012Last updated: 20.11.2012 at 18.40

Category: World Service

At a conference hosted by the BBC today, broadcasters and satellite operators condemned the sharp increase in jamming of broadcasts, and considered what steps can be taken to address the growing threat of intentional blocking of international broadcasts and internet services.

Article 19 of the universal declaration of human rights states that individuals should have ‘the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers’, but this right is not universally respected.
Satellite owner Eutelsat reports that jamming incidents doubled between 2010 and 2011. The number of incidents has increased three fold from 2011 to 2102. From January 2012 to November 2012, 340 incidents have been recorded. The Middle East-based operator Arabsat has recorded an increase in incidents of deliberate jamming of between 2011 and 2012 of nearly three times. Eutelsat estimates that between 30 per cent and 50 per cent of jamming in 2010 originated in Iran. In 2011, the source was mainly Iran with some interference traced to Syria and Bahrain. This year, most of the interference has been traced to Syria, but jamming also continues in Bahrain and Iran. The current regulatory process offers no direct sanction against countries that allow jamming to originate from within their borders.
Michel de Rosen, Eutelsat CEO says: "Today’s meeting adds more weight to the growing voice of condemnation of pollution of the airwaves and the need for decisive action to combat jamming."
Keynote speaker Jamie Saunders, Director International Cyber Policy at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, says: “The FCO is a strong supporter of freedom of expression, and we believe that the existing framework of international human rights law is as equally applicable in the digital environment as it is on the off-line world. Specifically, we believe that efforts to block and suppress broadcasting are wrong and are bound to fail over time: we need to understand what more can be done to address deliberate interference, and what part the Government should play.”
Peter Horrocks, Director of Global News at the BBC, says: “Satellite jamming is a growing scourge and a threat to the vital flow of free information. Throughout its history the BBC World Service has countered the efforts of jammers, whether on old shortwave or new satellites. We always called on the guile of the best editorial and technical minds to overcome jamming. Today we do that again to help tackle the menace of jamming."
On the internet, BBC Chinese has been blocked in China since its launch in 1999. BBC Persian has been blocked intermittently from 2006 onwards, and routinely since 2009. The BBC has run pilot services with Psiphon (a Canadian corporation that develops advanced censorship circumvention systems and technologies specifically designed to support users in countries where access to the internet is restricted) to deliver content into China, Iran, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan so that people who want to read BBC news are still able to do so. Over one million pages are viewed weekly through the BBC's Psiphon web proxies. In a study commissioned by BBC in Iran, 97 per cent of respondents believed that unmonitored and uncensored access to the Internet is a universal right.
Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, Richard Ottaway MP says: “Gunboat diplomacy is history. Soft power is the future. We live in a globally networked world where human rights abuses cannot hide.”
The International Broadcasting without Barriers Conference brought over 100 delegates from a variety of satellite operators, broadcasters and stakeholders together to consider what political and technical steps that can be taken to make the distribution of media less vulnerable to interference. They face the challenge that jamming is becoming more frequent and there is currently no viable technical solution that can protect direct to home broadcast satellites.
Conference twitter hashtag: #BBCEndJamming

EU demands Iran stop jamming int''l broadcasts

EU demands Iran stop jamming int''l broadcasts

14/11/2012   |   01:57 PM | Gulf News

BRUSSELS, Nov 14 (KUNA) -- The European Union Wednesday accused Iran of jamming broadcast satellites and called on Tehran to stop this "illegal" act. Since 2009, repeated waves of jamming have affected the signals of European satellites in the Middle East, said Michael Mann, the spokesman of EU High Representative Catherine Ashton, in a statement here today. "Such jamming, whose origin has been traced to Iran in particular, are hampering the broadcast of international media on Iranian territory. The jamming, notably against BBC, Deutsche Welle, France 24, and Voice of America, has intensified since October 15 and obstructs over 500 TV channels and 200 radio channels," it noted. "This illegal interference with satellite signals is affecting not only broadcasting on Iranian territory, but also international broadcasting to the wider region. The High Representative is highly concerned by such practices," said the statement. Ashton recalled the regulations of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) which forbids states "to carry out unnecessary transmissions, or the transmission of superfluous signals, or the transmission of false or misleading signals, or the transmission of signals without identification." The High Representative calls on Iran to abide by its obligations under the ITU Radio Regulations and to "cooperate in the detection and elimination of harmful interference," added the statement.(end) nk.wsa KUNA 141357 Nov 12NNNN

EBU says Syria suspected of jamming satellite broadcasts

GENEVA | Mon Oct 22, 2012 9:24am EDT

(Reuters) - Syria is suspected of jamming broadcasts by the BBC, France 24, Deutsche Welle and the Voice of America, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said in a statement on Monday, citing satellite operator Eutelsat.
Eutelsat had already blamed Iran for deliberately jamming satellite signals on October 4, but the EBU said Eutelat had reported "deliberate and intermittent interference" from regional ally Syria as well.
"Access to information is a universal human right and an essential component for democracy. We deplore this attack on media freedom," EBU Director General Ingrid Deltenre said.
The EBU said the jamming may be linked to Eutelsat's decision to stop carrying 19 channels operated by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, which were taken off air to comply with tougher European Union sanctions.
Deliberate interference with broadcast signals is banned by the International Telecommunication Union, a U.N. body which includes both Iran and Syria among its membership.
(Reporting by Tom Miles; Editing by Alison Williams)

Jamming interrupts Western broadcasters

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Jamming interrupts Western broadcasters

Programming from the Deutsche Welle and other foreign broadcasters has been jammed in parts of the Middle East. DW Director General Erik Betterman called the interruption an attack on freedom of the press.

Western radio and television broadcasts to parts of the Middle East have apparently been cut off because of a targeted jamming attack. In addition to programming by Deutsche Welle, the BBC and Voice of America have also been affected.
European satellite operator Eutelsat said earlier this week that the "deliberate and intermittent interference" originated in Syria.
Deutsche Welle programming was last interrupted on Thursday morning (18.10.2012). DW Director General Erik Bettermann protested against the renewed attack on freedom of expression. In cooperation with other foreign broadcasters, the Deutsche Welle was preparing a resolution against the jamming, Bettermann said.
Experts suspected that Iran was behind the current interruptions. According to media reports, the country has jammed reception of a variety of broadcasters in recent years.
The most recent episode, experts said, could be connected to a Eutelsat decision to stop carrying 19 Iranian channels. The satellite operator on Monday stopped broadcasting television and radio stations operated by Iran's state media organization, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB). Effective immediately, the programming offered by these channels, including the international news channel "Press TV," is no longer available outside of Iran.
Eutelsat has stopped broadcasting television and radio stations operated by Iran's state media organization, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB). Effective immediately, the programming offered by these channels is no longer available outside of Iran. Among the 19 stations affected by the decision is the international news channel, Press TV.
The European satellite operator justified its actions by referring to a March decision by the Council of the European Union, when EU leaders placed IRIB head Ezzatollah Zarghami on its list of sanctioned persons. Eutelsat, which is based in France, also cited a request by the French broadcasting authority to shut down IRIB channel Sahar 1 TV.
Iran considers legal action

IRIB head Zarghami, left, is on the EU's list of sanctioned persons

Iran has protested the decision, calling it an attempt "to prevent a dissenting voice to the broadcasting of Western thinking." Speaking with DW, the Iranian embassy in Berlin said Eutelsat's actions were illegal and a clear violation of press freedoms and freedom of expression. "The Islamist Republic reserves the right to take legal action against these measures," said a spokesperson.
Anja Zimmer, head of the German Federation of Journalists (DJV) in North Rhine-Westphalia, was also critical of Eutelsat's decision. "Regardless of this case, a broadcaster should not be prevented from airing its programming," she said. "A satellite operator should, on principle, not censor its content."
Censorship and show trials
It's somewhat of a surprise that the Iranian regime chose to use the "freedom of expression" argument to make its case. This is the same country that ranked near the bottom of the latest press freedom index published annually by Reporters Without Borders. Iran was ranked 175th of 179 countries.
"I don't find it terribly convincing that a country that so obviously tramples press freedoms is now so enraged," said Zimmer. "After all, the information broadcast to the public by Iranian state radio is rather more filtered than free, to put it mildly. That this country would now dare to bring up the issue of press freedom is surprising."
IRIB also didn't balk at showing forced confessions and show trails in August 2009 and December 2011, clear violations of international law that resulted in the EU Council's decision to sanction IRIB head Zarghami.

Iran has ranked poorly on the press freedom index

The Iranian regime and Eutelsat were involved in another conflict a few weeks ago, when the satellite operator complained that Iran had been disrupting the domestic transmissions from the Persian-language offerings of Western broadcasters - an accusation that Tehran has denied.

DW.DE

Statement regarding interference to BBC World News and World Service transmissions

Date: 18.10.2012Last updated: 18.10.2012 at 11.01

Category: World Service; BBC World News

The following statement has been issued by the BBC.

The BBC, together with a number of other broadcasters, is experiencing deliberate, intermittent interference to its transmissions to audiences in Europe and the Middle East.
Impacted services include the BBC World News and BBC Arabic television channels and BBC World Service radio services in English and Arabic.
Deliberate interference such as the jamming of transmissions is a blatant violation of international regulations concerning the use of satellites and we strongly condemn any practice designed to disrupt audiences’ free access to news and information.
BBC Press Office

Iran resumes satellite jamming of VOA, BBC, Radio Farda (updated).

Posted: 05 Oct 2012   Print   Send a link

RFE/RL, 4 Oct 2012, citing agencies: "U.S. international broadcasting into Iran is being jammed again. A U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) statement says the jamming may be connected with demonstrations and mass arrests on October 3 as Iranians protested the plummeting value of Iran's rial currency. The BBG says recent interference began on October 3, affecting signals from RFE/RL's Radio Farda and Voice of America's Persian service. It says the interference also affected other U.S. international programs carried by Eutelsat satellites, including Georgian, Armenian and Balkan-language broadcasts."

Broadcasting Board of Governors press release, 3 Oct 2012: "'The jamming of news delivered by satellite into Iran is an outrage, a deplorable violation of well-established international agreements,' said International Broadcasting Bureau Director Richard M. Lobo. 'Freedom of information is a universal human right as well as an essential component for the health of any nation.' The practice of deliberate interference with broadcast signals, known as 'jamming,' is prohibited under rules of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). ... The jamming affected three satellite transponders operated by Eutelsat and those most popular among Iranian viewers: HotBird 13B, Eutelsat 25A and Eutelsat 7A. Viewers said the signals reappear intermittently, and that less-popular satellites are not impacted. ... VOA and RFE/RL programs continue to be broadcast on diverse media platforms, including digital audio and video streams on other satellite paths and on the Internet. -- And -- although we wouldn't want to give credit to an old and unfashionable medium -- via shortwave radio.

BBC News, 3 Oct 2012: "Viewers of BBC Persian television in Iran reported that authorities began jamming the channel's signals on two satellites after the London-based Persian-language channel reported the Tehran protests."

Update: Broadcasting Board of Governors press release, 4 Oct 2012: "Iranian jamming of U.S. government-sponsored news and information programs disrupted broadcasts from Morocco to Eastern Europe to Indonesia, the Broadcasting Board of Governors has found. Satellite operator Eutelsat confirmed that the intermittent jamming was coming from inside Iran. ... One of the BBG’s Internet anti-censorship vendors is reporting that traffic from Iran using its software and servers has increased substantially since the jamming began. This suggests that Iranian listeners and viewers are shifting to the Internet to receive news and information."

Eutelsat press release, 4 Oct 2012: "Eutelsat Communications today made a new appeal to international regulatory authorities to urgently intervene in order to put an end to repeated jamming of satellite signals from Iran. This new appeal follows significant deliberate interference from Iran since October 3 of international networks, including BBC Persian, the Voice of America’s Persian service and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Radio Farda, that broadcast via Eutelsat satellites. The practice of deliberate interference with broadcast signals is a violation of rules of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Today’s complaint by Eutelsat officially asks the ANFR, France’s national frequency agency, to renew its objection to jamming to the ITU so that it can be addressed as a priority. This new condemnation and call for action to regulatory authorities follows appeals made by Eutelsat since May 2009 to put an end to unacceptable deliberate jamming of broadcast signals from Iran."

Board Condemns Jamming of Broadcasts to Iran

October 3, 2012

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Washington, DC – October 3, 2012 – U.S. international broadcasting signals to Iran are once again being jammed, possibly in connection with street demonstrations and arrests there, and the Broadcasting Board of Governors has condemned the resumption of interference in its programming for Iranians.
“The jamming of news delivered by satellite into Iran is an outrage, a deplorable violation of well-established international agreements,” said International Broadcasting Bureau Director Richard M. Lobo. “Freedom of information is a universal human right as well as an essential component for the health of any nation.”
The practice of deliberate interference with broadcast signals, known as “jamming,” is prohibited under rules of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
The most recent interference began on Wednesday, October 3, and affected both video and audio signals of the Voice of America’s Persian Service and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Radio Farda.
The jamming coincided with reports of street demonstrations and mass arrests of Iranians protesting falling currency exchange rates. Both VOA and RFE/RL report that, in some instances, interference starts just before newscasts, and ends just afterwards.
The jamming affected three satellite transponders operated by Eutelsat and those most popular among Iranian viewers: HotBird 13B, Eutelsat 25A and Eutelsat 7A. Viewers said the signals reappear intermittently, and that less-popular satellites are not impacted.
The interference has affected other U.S. international broadcasting programs on the Eutelsat satellites, including Georgian, Armenian and Balkan-language broadcasts.
VOA and RFE/RL programs continue to be broadcast on diverse media platforms, including digital audio and video streams on other satellite paths and on the Internet.
In February 2012, the ITU called upon the world’s nations to take “necessary actions” to stop intentional interference with satellite transmissions. Earlier, the BBG and other international broadcasters called fir action against jamming.

Firedrake – China’s Secret Shortwave Jamming Project Exposed!

Firedrake – China’s Secret Shortwave Jamming Project Exposed!  by Steven Handler is the new revised and updated version of  this electronic publication.  Published in late August, 2012, this eBook it is now available through Amazon.com for the Kindle, and Barnes and Noble for the Nook.
A little “Firedrake” History-
The Chinese government jams or interferes with the HF broadcasts of certain shortwave stations that they apparently deem “dangerous” for their citizens to hear. My publication serves as a guide to the world of Chinese jamming and helps the reader learn about Firedrake and some of China’s other shortwave jamming stations.
Included are jamming frequencies heard during the current A-11 shortwave broadcasting season as well as times of reception. Also included are frequencies heard in use during the past two shortwave broadcasting seasons (A-11 and B-11).  Readers will also find information about the direction finding results identifying transmitter sites which I obtained from ITU registered monitoring sites. There is also a virtual tour of a Chinese jamming facility.
The Kindle version is available for $3.99 from Amazon.com (stock number ASIN: B0093NNABQ ) you can find more information and view sample pages at Amazon.com.  Click Here 
The Nook version is available for $3.99 from Barnes and Noble.com ( Stock number BN ID: 2940015701814)  you can find more information and view sample pages at Barnes and Noble.com Click Here
For those that have neither a Kindle or Nook, both Amazon (Kindle) and Barnes and Noble (Nook) on their respective web sites offer free downloads to allow their eBook formats to be read on PC’s, MAC’s, iPads, iPhones and Android devices.
The author does not sell copies of this publication directly.  Rather copies are sold by Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com and are or will be sold by other e-Bookstores.
Additional information is available from shortwavereport [at] yahoo.com.  Please remove [at] from the above email address and substitute @ before sending your email.
My other new books published in 2012 include

Firedrake Jammer Helps Listener Find Broadcasts of Voice of Tibet and Sound of Hope!

Anyone who has followed my writings for any length of time knows I am philosophically against the jamming of shortwave broadcasters.

Recently I found a way to use the jamming from China’s Firedrake musical jammer to help me locate the frequencies of two stations which I wanted to hear.

The Voice of Tibet and Sound of Hope’s broadcasts change frequencies from time to time, I suspect, to avoid the jamming and harmful interference originating from China’s Firedrake musical jamming broadcasts. However, these same Firedrake broadcasts have helped me find the frequencies in use by the Voice of Tibet and Sound of Hope.

When I can’t hear the Voice of Tibet on their usual frequency, I simply check the frequencies between 15400 and 15700 kHz and listen for Firedrake’s musical jamming broadcast. When I find a Firedrake jamming broadcast I use Radio Free Asia’s Anti Jamming Antenna to help null out the Firedrake jamming so that hopefully I can listen to the Voice of Tibet.

The same procedure can be used for listening to the Sound of Hope. When I can’t hear the Sound of Hope on their usual frequency, I simply check the frequencies below 15400 and above 15700 kHz and listen for Firedrake’s musical jamming broadcast. When I find a Firedrake jamming broadcast, I use Radio Free Asia’s Anti Jamming Antenna to help null out the Firedrake musical jamming so that hopefully I can listen to the Sound of Hope.

If you don’t already have Radio Free Asia’s Anti Jamming Antenna, you should. It is easy and inexpensive to construct. For information about the antenna, its construction, and use, go to the Radio Free Asia web site, at http://www.rfa.org/english/about/help/Anti-Jamming.html

I do not condone China’s harmful interference to shortwave broadcasts of others. I believe this conduct is wrong and the Chinese should discontinue all jamming of shortwave broadcasts. I do however, find it ironic that I have been able to use their jamming signals to help me find the frequencies of their targets.

Good Listening-Steve

For a Tour Inside China’s jamming facility Click Here

Inside Firedrake, a Tour of a Chinese Shortwave Jamming Facility

By Steven Handler

Copyright 2012 © Steven Handler, All Rights Reserved.

West of the central city of Beijing is 16a Shijingsham Road in Baboshan, part of the Shijingshan District of Beijing. As you arrive, you observe a modern high rise building. At the entrance lies a wall of glass rising almost six stories in height; a beautiful and imposing site.

This is the home of China Radio International. “CRI” is horizontally emblazoned toward the top of the concrete wall lying just right of the front entrance. Next to “CRI” is its name in Chinese, running vertically for about a half dozen stories of the building.

You won’t find a sign labeled “Firedrake”, but this building is also reportedly home to the nerve center of the Chinese government’s shortwave jamming effort.

Broadcast studios are arranged throughout the building including six studios on the third floor and seven studios on the forth floor. The studios are used for CRI as well as for China National Radio. The third floor also houses two separate control rooms.

Security is taken seriously near the control rooms on the third floor. They are guarded by armed members of the Peoples Liberation Army. Access is available only by a pass. The larger of the two control rooms handles the distribution of China Radio International’s shortwave programs.

The smaller, but amply sized control room is the more interesting of the two. A sign in Chinese above the control room door translates into English as “blocking of foreign signals room”. This control room has facilities capable of monitoring foreign shortwave broadcasts heard in China. It is also this control room that handles the satellite distribution of the Firedrake jamming music to transmitters within China. The Chinese government’s shortwave jamming sites can also be controlled from here.

There has always been speculation about why Firedrake usually signs off at the top of each hour. Perhaps it is because, while the jamming broadcasts are silent, the Chinese have the ability to use their monitoring facilities to search for their target’s frequencies that are in use. Apparently, if the target of their jamming switches frequencies, the control room can within minutes, commence jamming of the new frequency.

Although it is the control room which has much of the fancy electronics used in the jamming operation, there are other interesting parts to the jamming operation. Moving on with our Firedrake tour, we make a stop at the central tape archive division. This is the repository for tapes made of, and used for, CRI broadcasts. What is interesting is that, unlike most other tapes which are labeled with the full program details, the tapes containing the Firedrake music are simply labeled with the recording date and the notation “16 track”.

No tour of the Chinese government’s jamming facilities would be complete without a stop at a very special studio. Located to your right as you enter the building on the first floor, is Studio 8. Unlike the other smaller studios in the building, this one looks like a large
auditorium. It was in Studio 8 that the Chinese assembled musicians whom they had contracted to produce a musical arrangement. The music composition lasted over an hour and was recorded in just a single evening.

The tapes of the recording session were edited into multiple versions, including a version that is 59 minutes in length. That 59 minute version has been broadcast from the Control center to the Firedrake jamming transmitters throughout China and from those sites, by shortwave, through-out the world. Three or four minutes of the music from this recording session were eventually also broadcasted by the Chinese governments shortwave station during the Spring festival a number of years ago.

The jamming transmitters however, are not located at 16a Shijingsham Road. They are at sites scattered throughout China. Apparently two different types of jamming transmitters may be in use.

The older and more plentiful type of transmitters were designed by the Soviet Union and built in China. They are able to broadcast throughout much if the HF band. However, they appear to be limited to transmitting on increments of five kilohertz.

A newer style transmitters may have been reverse engineered from those bought from a major shortwave transmitter manufacturing company. Reportedly these newer transmitters more frequency agile and may not be limited to five kilohertz frequency increments.

I hope you have enjoyed this modest tour. The next time you hear Chinese government’s shortwave jamming you will have a better picture of from were it originates.

Note: I haven’t had the opportunity to pay a visit to the Chinese jamming facility mentioned in this article. However, I have spoken to apparently credible source (or sources) who had access to China’s jamming facility on numerous occasions and provided information used for this article. I thank my source (or sources) who shall remain anonymous because of concerns of retaliation.

For more information about Firedrake and Chinese Jamming Click Here

For information on how the author uses Firedrake broadcasts to find frequencies of stations he wants to hear Click Here

Let Me Hear From You. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact me at shortwavereport[at]yahoo.com To help prevent spam I have used [at] rather than @ so when you use my email address, please be sure to remove [at] and replace it with @

Copyright 2012 © Steven Handler, All Rights Reserved.

Jamming signals disrupt IRIB broadcast on Hotbird

Jamming signals disrupt IRIB broadcast on Hotbird

Sat Mar 10, 2012 7:3PM GMT

The broadcast of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting's (IRIB) international channels on the Hotbird satellite provider has been interrupted for two hours by jamming signals sent from an unknown location.

The transmission of high-power jamming signals on frequency 12437 MHz took place from 9:00 to 11:00 GMT on Saturday, March 10, 2012, during which the broadcast of IRIB’s international channels was interrupted several times.

In addition to the 24-hour English-speaking Press TV, other international channels, including Al-Alam, Islamic Republic of Iran News Network, Al-Kowsar, and Sahar 1 and 2 channels were also affected.

The attack on IRIB signals was not the first of its kind in recent months.

On January 19, British technicians operating from Bahrain also sent jamming signals to block IRIB channels on the Hotbird satellite, including provincial channels and a number of international channels such as Press TV, Al-Alam, Al-Kowsar, Jam-e Jam and Sahar.

In addition to jamming IRIB signals, US and Israeli hackers have launched several cyber attacks against Press TV’s website.

The first such attack came on December 9, 2011, when American and Israeli hackers attacked the Press TV website after the network broadcast footage of the US RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft, an advanced US spy drone which was captured by the Iranian military for violating the country’s airspace.

Also on March 5, the Press TV website was subject to another cyber attack by the same hackers.

Both attacks were foiled by effective security countermeasures taken by the Press TV technical team.

SS/PKH/HGH

U.S. TV for Iran Might Be Free, Doesn’t Have to Be Cheap: View

Bloomberg View

By the Editors Feb 21, 2012 9:00 AM GMT+0900

Programs that go on and on. Shows that lack focus. Graphics and production values that make Iranian state TV look hip by comparison. Why has the U.S.-run Persian News Network been so bad for so long?

It’s not for lack of importance. In the absence of a diplomatic mission for 33 years, America’s principal voice in Iran is the actual Voice of America, the U.S. government-run, multimedia news agency. Especially in these times of high tension over U.S.-led efforts to prevent Iran from achieving nuclear-weapons capability, the U.S. has a strong interest in being heard by Iran’s people. But the VOA’s Persian News Network has fallen far short of that aim. According to a survey last year, only 6 percent of adults in Iran watched a PNN program at least once a week.

Iranians depend on external sources for an objective view of current events. Iranian broadcast networks are completely under state control. With one of the highest concentrations of jailed journalists in the world, the country ranks among the worst in terms of media freedom, according to the watchdog group Freedom House. About 13 percent of the population can regularly access the Internet, but the government makes efforts to filter its content.

From its 2007 start, PNN -- which provides six hours of original, Persian-language TV programming a day, repeated over 24 hours, via satellite TV -- has been pretty lousy. The one notable exception is the hit “Parazit,” introduced in 2009 and inspired by “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.” An internal 2009 report documented issues of poor technical and journalistic standards that cropped up again in an informal review last year.

The network can ill-afford to be complacent. Since 2010, it has had stiff competition from the British Broadcasting Corporation, whose superior Persian-language service immediately ate up a third of PNN’s 29 percent market share. Later that year, the Iranian government began jamming both signals, forcing PNN and BBC off the satellite to which most Iranian households tune their dishes. Since then, viewers have had to physically manipulate their devices to watch PNN or BBC. Most don’t bother for PNN; in the 2011 viewership survey, its market share plunged from 20 percent to 6 percent. Yet BBC’s actually grew -- from 10 percent to 12 percent.

To its credit, PNN responded to its weaknesses with a fresh program lineup introduced in mid-January. A more diversified mix includes shows on technology, arts and music, and Iran’s economy, breaking up the previous, heavy diet of news and debate. Several unprofessional hosts are gone, and the network’s stronger personalities have been given greater exposure.

Still, whereas BBC Persian offers world-class entertainment, watching PNN feels dutiful. This is unacceptable. At a time when speaking to more than 6 percent of Iranians should be an urgent U.S. priority, the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees VOA, should make producing first-rate television at PNN an imperative. President Barack Obama should bear this in mind when he nominates a replacement for Walter Isaacson, a seasoned media executive who resigned as chairman of the board last month. Isaacson’s predecessor was a politician.

Even on PNN’s new shows, content is sometimes frustratingly unprofessional. For instance, PNN’s technology show, created in response to the popularity of a well-conceived, well-edited tech program on BBC Persian, is slapdash. An episode might consist of a journalist simply meandering around a trade show ogling new gadgets.

If resources aren’t available to make low-quality shows like this one creditable -- the Broadcasting Board of Governors just announced a 2013 budget that would cut VOA’s allocation by $17 million -- the network should cancel them and focus on what it can do well. “Parazit,” whose popularity with Iranian youth provoked state television to produce a number of rival programs mimicking its style, demonstrates what can be done.

In addition to the broadcast, PNN should improve its website. Television remains by far the most important way Iranians consume news, but the Internet is significant, too, especially given jamming of TV satellite signals. Though the government periodically blocks access to PNN’s website, many Iranians have software to breach the firewall.

The PNN site, however, is off-putting. Even without knowing Persian, a user can easily see why the BBC site is better. PNN’s staid look should be ditched for something livelier. And a new design should enable users to easily discern the most important news of the day.

From the start, President Barack Obama has been an advocate for American soft power. With the prospect of a shooting war looming in Iran, there is no more pressing place to deploy that power. When a well-executed show like “Parazit” can begin to undercut the legitimacy of the Iranian regime, there’s no telling what a superlative network could do.

Press TV signals jammed in Europe: Report

Press TV signals jammed in Europe: Report

Mon Feb 20, 2012 3:49PM GMT

Jamming signals have been reportedly interrupting the broadcast of Press TV, Iran’s 24-hour English-language news channel, in various locations across Europe.

Press TV viewers in Europe say the frequent attacks last three to four minutes each time.

Some reports indicate that the news channel’s online stream is also targeted at the same time as jamming signals disrupt the broadcast of the channel.

Italian viewers said Saturday was the fifth consecutive day of “Press TV signal black-out in Italy.”

“Today (Saturday) was the worst day of all - almost all day no signal - neither on Satellite TV, nor online streaming,” one Italian viewer said.

This is not the first time that Iran’s television waves have come under attack. Last month, the signals for the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) channels on Hotbird were jammed from Bahrain.

HMV/AZ/HGH

New Pressure on Jammers of International Broadcasts

February 20, 2012

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has called upon the world’s nations to take “necessary actions” to stop intentional interference with satellite transmissions.

The change in ITU regulations, which was approved at the just-concluded World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-12) in Geneva, Switzerland, came after numerous complaints that international satellite TV programs in Persian and Arabic were suffering from deliberate interference, known as “jamming”.

Two satellite operators that have been targeted, Eutelsat and Arabsat, said the interfering signals originated from Iran and Syria.

“We are gratified to see the World Radiocommunication Conference take a position on this vital issue,” said Richard M. Lobo, Director of the United States International Broadcasting Bureau.

“Of course, it remains to be seen whether Iran, Syria and other countries which interfere with international satellite communications will change their practices. Jamming is a fundamental violation, not only of international regulations and norms, but of the right of people everywhere to receive and impart information,” Lobo said.

The interference, which has increased since September, 2011, affected broadcasts of the British Broadcasting Corporation, Broadcasting Board of Governors, Audiovisuel extérieur de la France (RFI) and France 24 TV and Deutsche Welle. Joining in backing the ITW rule change were Radio Netherlands Worldwide and the European Broadcasting Union.

The change in the regulation came after hours of discussion and debate, both in small groups and on the floor of the WRC. A report by the ITU’s Radio Regulations Board noted “the persistent character of the harmful interference” and the fact that “in some cases, the administrations involved have not responded … and appear to take no action to resolve the interference.”

The revised language says administrations “shall ascertain the facts and take the necessary actions” when they encounter jamming.

Prior to the WRC action, the Directors-General of five major international broadcasters charged that jamming is a violation of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Reporters Without Borders called for nations to “firmly condemn countries that do not respect the fundamental principles of the free flow of information,” adding, “the ITU must not be the accomplice of regimes that obstruct the flow of news and information on their telecommunications networks.”

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran termed satellite jamming part of a broader effort. “The Iranian government is also engaged in comprehensive attempts to take complete control of online access to the internet as well as restricting mobile voice and data communications,” the group said in a statement urging the WRC to address the jamming issue.

The Broadcasting Board of Governors is an independent federal agency, supervising all U.S. government-supported, civilian international broadcasting, whose mission is inform, engage, and connect people around the world in support of freedom and democracy. BBG broadcasts reach an audience of 187 million in 100 countries. BBG networks include the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (Alhurra TV and Radio Sawa), Radio Free Asia, and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (Radio and TV Marti).

Arabsat transmissions jammed from Ethiopia

Preliminary investigations into the jamming of Arabsat satellite transmission shows that it is originating from Ethiopia, Lebanese Telecommunications Minister Nicolas Sahnawi said on Wednesday.

He called on Arabsat's operator to secure new frequencies for its transmission in Lebanon. "Arabsat told us that the source of the jamming is Ethiopia and it handed us a copy of their complaint they have passed to Ethiopian authorities on this matter," said Sahnawi. Speaking to reporters during a visit to a local satellite station in Mount Lebanon's Jouret al-Balout, Sahnawi said that the political atmosphere in the region is likely to be behind the jamming of certain satellite operators.

"The political atmosphere in the region could push some countries to take such a step and start jamming on some operators," Sahnawi said. Several Lebanese channels and the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera have been jammed in the past year, and the frequencies of Arabsat and Nilesat network providers have been jammed since the pro-democracy uprisings and ensuing unrest in Libya and Egypt.

"There needs to be a permanent solution to this jamming problem," said Sahnawi, adding that contacts are ongoing with the administration of Arabsat to assign a new frequency for their transmission in Lebanon.

ABU

Broadcasters Complain About Iran’s Signal Jamming

Broadcasters Complain About Iran’s Signal Jamming

by James Careless

Five major international broadcasters — Voice of America, British Broadcasting Corp., Deutsche Welle, Audiovisuel Extérieur de la France and Radio Netherlands Worldwide — recently called on Iran to stop jamming radio and TV signals targeted at that country. “It has been going on intermittently for at least two years,” says Jan Hoek, RNW’s director general. “Stations affected have been VOA’s Persian network, RFE/RL’s Radio Farda and Radio Sawa, the BBC’s Persian TV channel and Deutsche Welle. On occasions, other stations such as RNW’s Dutch TV channel and Radio Sawa (a U.S. Arabic-language station) that use subcarriers on the same satellite transponder have been affected, even though they have no broadcasts aimed at Iran.” According to David Hartshorn, secretary of the Global VSAT Forum, a satellite industry group: “Without question, Iran’s jamming of satellite broadcasters has been on the rise, and markedly so. This is due to the ‘Arab Spring’ domino effect and Iran’s concern that the reform movement will take hold in Tehran and destabilize or, indeed, upend the government.” To stay ahead of the jamming, the broadcasters have been hopping from one satellite to another. “In fact, since June 2009, we have changed satellites 10 times,” says Dave Shiben, head of the U.S. International Broadcasting Bureau’s Satellite Engineering & Transmission department. IBB is VOA’s parent organization. “Because of the jamming that has been aimed at our satellite channels, we’ve been kicked off some satellites and told not to return.” Downlinks Jamming — transmitting radio waves on the same channel as a broadcast, to destroy reception through destructive interference — is nothing new. The Nazis jammed the BBC during World War II. The Soviets jammed VOA and BBC during the Cold War. Even today, jamming is a fact of life. “We still have a lot of situations where shortwave radio broadcasts are jammed by certain countries such as Cuba, for example,” says Jeff White, general manager of U.S. commercial shortwave station WRMI/Radio Miami International — which broadcasts to Cuba — and an officer of the National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters. Fortunately for WRMI and other international broadcasters, “Shortwave is hard to jam effectively,” he said. “The jammer’s effectiveness is usually limited to the local groundwave around the jamming transmitter site. The same is true with jamming in Iran, China, Ethiopia and other places where it’s taking place today.” Unfortunately, the same is not true for satellite jamming. If you uplink an interfering signal directly to the satellite itself (uplink jamming) on the same channel as the one being targeted, a nation can be blacked out. Of course, this requires a lot of power. This is why the Iranians also use “downlink jamming,” broadcasting interfering signals at ground level, to disrupt satellite receivers. According to the five international broadcasters named earlier, Iran is jamming signals on a variety of satellites operated by Eutelsat (France), Intelsat (U.S./Europe) and Arqiva (UK). Ironically, the Iranian government rents channels on these same satellites to deliver its own programming. Given the corporate location of these carriers, one might expect their governments to force them to retaliate against Iran. At the least, since Iran’s jamming causes “collateral damage” to their other broadcast clients, perhaps the carriers themselves would fight back. Then again, maybe not. “Governments cannot order private companies, which most of them are, to stop carrying certain channels,” says Jan Hoek. Further, “The satellite carriers know that if they refuse to carry Iranian channels, a competitor will pick up the business, which is worth a lot of money. The only way it would work would be if every satellite carrier signed an agreement not to carry certain signals, but that’s never going to happen.” Says Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, “As a collective trade group, all satellite carriers should be concerned about the precedent set by (the) Iranian government’s extensive jamming and work together to bring an end to it. “Specific satellite carriers, like Eutelsat, that provide broadcasting services both to the Iranian government as well as the channels that it jams, have a much more serious responsibility. By continuing to carry Iranian government broadcasts, they are effectively accepting one of their clients (Iranian government) to harm and destroy the products of their other clients. And that is nothing short of allowing Iranian government getting away with jamming.” What about fighting fire with fire — say, with VOA jamming Iran’s satellite TV and terrestrial radio signals on a tit-for-tat basis? “To do so would violate international law,” said André Mendes, director of technology, services and innovation at IBB. “We don’t do that.” For its part, Eutelsat says it has filed “multiple complaints” about Iranian jamming to “the relevant French and international regulatory authorities” since May 2009, according to a Eutelsat statement released in November 2011. As for taking unilateral action against the Iranians? “We will not do anything about a channel if we do not get a clear order backed by law,” said Eutelsat CEO Michel de Rosen in a December 2011 interview with the Wall Street Journal. WRC Ultimately, “It is the role of the U.N. to address Iran’s actions,” says David Hartshorn. “But so far there has been no forceful action undertaken.” As a result, Iran can continue to jam VOA, BBC and others with impunity. Thus a statement issued by the Big Five broadcasters may seem hollow: “We call upon the regulatory authorities to take action against those who deliberately cause interference to satellite signals on the grounds that this is contrary to international conventions for the use of satellites. We specifically ask national telecommunications authorities to take up the issue at an upcoming meeting of the International Telecommunication Union in Geneva.” For his part, IBB’s Dave Shiben expects Iran’s jamming “to be a hot topic” at the ITU World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC 2012) taking place this month. Will the WRC bring the Iranians to heel? RNW’s Jan Hoek doesn’t think so. “Formal complaints to the ITU can help to raise awareness of what Iran is believed to be doing, and cause some embarrassment to the Iranian government, but so far this has not stopped the jamming,” he told Radio World. “It’s impossible to stop someone uploading a signal to a satellite if they know the technical parameters ... In the short term, the only answer is to switch to a different satellite and hope it takes a while for the Iranians to discover the new parameters.”

International Broadcasters Call for End of Satellite Jamming

January 24, 2012

Geneva, Switzerland — Five of the largest international broadcasters have called upon delegates now convening in Geneva for an international treaty-making conference to address the problem of intentional interference with satellite transmissions.

The practice, known as “satellite uplink jamming,” seeks to disrupt international broadcast coverage. And it is spreading, according to the Directors General of five international broadcast organizations: British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Deutsche Welle (DW), Audiovisuel Extérieur de la France (AEF), Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW) and the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG).

They also noted that satellite uplink jamming is contrary Article 15 of the Radio Regulations of the International Telecommunication Union, and Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which reads:

“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the largest association of national broadcasters in the world, conveyed the views of the five broadcasters in a note to the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-12), which convenes in Geneva from January 23 through February 17. The Conference is held every three to four years at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) – a specialized agency of the United Nations – and is mandated to review and revise the Radio Regulations, the international treaty governing the use of radio-frequency spectrum and satellite orbits.

The statement (reproduced below) appeals to “Member States, working with the support of the satellite industry and broadcasters from all regions, to work to end this increasingly prevalent practice of deliberate interference to satellite broadcasting signals.”

VOA Director Condemns Iranian Satellite Jamming

January 25, 2012

Washington, D.C. — VOA Director David Ensor has condemned Iranian satellite jamming in a new blog posted on the Voice of America Public Relations webpage, www.insidevoa.com.

From the VOA Director:

Satellites are extraordinary devices, hovering quietly above the earth, beaming everyone’s favorite TV shows into living rooms around the world.

Satellites are one of the things I think about when I hear the term “global village.” It’s technology that makes it possible to instantly share information and ideas.

We’ve come to depend on satellites to experience the great events of our time. Whether it’s the opening ceremony of the international Olympic Games or live video of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that rocked Japan last year, satellites bring us together.

Unfortunately, some governments have decided they want to try to block this flow of information.
Since September, the Iranian government has radically increased its deliberate interference with satellites, a practice we all know as jamming. It works like this. Iran sends a bogus signal to a satellite, which overwhelms the legitimate signal and renders it useless to TV and radio audiences on the ground.

VOA’s Persian broadcasts have been a particular target. In fact, the satirical VOA Persian program, Parazit, is a play on words that makes fun of this practice. Parazit, which means static in Persian, is what many Iranians sometimes see when they try to watch this popular program.

Other international broadcasters including BBC and BBC Persian TV, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Radio Farda, Radio France International, Germany’s Deutsche Welle and Radio Netherlands Worldwide have all suffered from radio, TV or web interference by Iran.

This week in Geneva, delegates to the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) begin a series of meetings that only come along once every four years. Satellite jamming is likely to be on the agenda at this important session in one form or another.

For VOA and other international broadcasters, it can’t come a moment too soon. Satellites form the critical backbone of our ability to reach our audience.

It is however, much more than a broadcast industry issue. It goes to the very heart of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”

That language couldn’t be clearer, and it is part and parcel of everything we do at the Voice of America. By jamming satellites, Iran is limiting a fundamental human right of its own citizens.
Unfortunately, jamming by Iran has increased. Worse, the practice seems to be spreading, with new reports of jamming by Syria, one of Iran’s few allies, and a regime increasingly at war with its own people.

VOA and other international broadcasters and organizations have been drawing attention to this issue at every opportunity. The WRC is one forum where governments, regulatory authorities and broadcasters from across the world can become more aware of this insidious problem, and act against it.

On January 24th, five of the world’s largest international broadcasting organizations, including the Voice of America’s parent organization, the Broadcasting Board of Governors, called on delegates meeting in Geneva to address the problem of Iranian uplink jamming.

The statement, issued by the Directors General of the British Broadcasting Corporation, Deutsche Welle, Audiovisuel Extérieur de la France, Radio Netherlands Worldwide and the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors, appeals to member states to “work to end this increasingly prevalent practice.” Other organizations, including the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders, have urged delegates meeting in Geneva to act urgently.

Censorship and satellite jamming violate the fundamental right of access to the free flow of information enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and countries around the world should join together to end this practice.

David Ensor

For more information contact Kyle King at the VOA Public Relations office in Washington at kking@voanews.com. Visit our main website at www.voanews.com.

The Voice of America is a multimedia international broadcasting service funded by the U.S. government through the Broadcasting Board of Governors. VOA broadcasts approximately 1,500 hours of news, information, educational, and cultural programming every week to an estimated worldwide audience of more than 141 million people. Programs are produced in 43 languages and are intended exclusively for audiences outside of the United States.

For more information, please call VOA Public Relations at (202) 203-4959, or e-mail us at askvoa@voanews.com. Follow us on Twitter @VOABuzz and Facebook at InsideVOA.

International Broadcasters Call for End of Satellite Jamming

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International Broadcasters Call for End of Satellite Jamming

January 24, 2012 | Geneva, Switzerland

Geneva, Switzerland - Five of the largest international broadcasters have called upon delegates now convening in Geneva for an international treaty-making conference to address the problem of intentional interference with satellite transmissions.

The practice, known as “satellite uplink jamming,” seeks to disrupt international broadcast coverage. And it is spreading, according to the Directors General of five international broadcast organizations: British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Deutsche Welle (DW), Audiovisuel Extérieur de la France (AEF), Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW) and the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG).

They also noted that satellite uplink jamming is contrary Article 15 of the Radio Regulations of the International Telecommunication Union, and Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which reads:

“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the largest association of national broadcasters in the world, conveyed the views of the five broadcasters in a note to the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-12), which convenes in Geneva from January 23 through February 17. The Conference is held every three to four years at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) – a specialized agency of the United Nations – and is mandated to review and revise the Radio Regulations, the international treaty governing the use of radio-frequency spectrum and satellite orbits.

The statement (reproduced below) appeals to “Member States, working with the support of the satellite industry and broadcasters from all regions, to work to end this increasingly prevalent practice of deliberate interference to satellite broadcasting signals.”

EBU support for DG5 position

The European Broadcasting Union is the largest association of national broadcasters in the world, whose Active Members are public service broadcasters in 56 countries corresponding to the ITU European Broadcasting Area. We promote cooperation between broadcasters and facilitate the exchange of audiovisual content. The EBU works to ensure that the crucial role of public service broadcasters is recognized and taken into consideration by decision-makers.

The EBU would like to support and encourage consideration of the following note prepared by DG5, a group of five broadcasters.

DG5 position on activity at WRC-12 to address deliberate interference to satellite broadcasting

The Directors General of the following international broadcasters - British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Deutsche Welle (DW), Audiovisuel Extérieur de la France (AEF), Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW) and Voice of America (VOA) – have made previous statements condemning the practice of deliberate interference to satellite broadcasting signals in order to silence independent media and prevent free access to information.

In the view of these Directors – known collectively as the “DG5”, this contravenes Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”

The DG5 notes the increase in the practice of deliberate interference to satellite broadcasting signals over the last year and, further, that the impact has extended beyond the DG5 members.

The DG5 notes that the ITU-SG Plenipotentiary Conference in 2010 (PP-10) considered that harmful interference was an issue of serious concern and that the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) is the right forum for such a discussion. The DG5 also notes that the Report by the ITU Radio Regulations Board Report to WRC-12 on Resolution 80 (Rev.WRC-07), in Section 4.2.2 “Considerations regarding jamming of satellite transmissions” makes the following statement:

“Harmful interference reports of this type of interference, commonly known as “jamming,” have increased. Despite the application of the administrative procedures in the Radio Regulations, the harmful interference sometimes continues and this has given rise to the idea that something more is needed to quickly identify and eliminate the source of interference.”

After due consideration of the issues involved, PP-10 confirmed that the ITU is the appropriate UN agency to consider further measures against deliberate interference. More recently, the RRB has identified regulatory problems related to Resolutions 80 and 49, creating confusion over rights to use orbital resources and the associated frequencies, as a contributory factor in some cases of unresolved interference.

Accordingly, the DG5 calls upon WRC-12 to consider ways in which to halt such activities which contravene the Constitution and the Radio Regulations (Article 15), to determine, during the conference, how best this issue can be treated and, most importantly, resolved within the ITU. Although the DG5 would like to see decisive measures taken at WRC-12, it also notes the view of the RRB that, “Studies would be needed to determine what additional measures could be incorporated in the Radio Regulations to improve the protection of satellite networks and enable this type of harmful interference to be resolved expeditiously.”

The DG5 sincerely appeals to Member States, working with the support of the satellite industry and broadcasters from all regions, to work to end this increasingly prevalent practice of deliberate interference to satellite broadcasting signals.

Saturday 14 January 2012

Ethiopia accused of jamming Eritrea’s broadcast signals

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle

January 13, 2012 (ADDIS ABABA) – Ethiopia is blocking satellite transmissions from Eritrea, the government in Asmara accuses its larger neighbor, this week.

The Eritrean Ministry of information in a statement Thursday warned to take legal action. It further said Addis Ababa has been warned by the Arab Satellite Communications Organization over the illegal acts.

Following the alleged interferences the state-run Eritrean satellite television today announced to viewers a change to old frequency.

Ethiopian officials at the government communication affairs office are not available for comments today.

The horn of Africa country is facing increasing accusations of jamming to dozens of news websites and other Television broadcasters.

Last year, Ethiopian Satellite Television (ESAT), Voice of America and Deutsche Welle Amharic Services accused the Ethiopian government of blocking their transmission. An allegation Addis Ababa denies.

Following the accusations, The Ethiopian Free Press Journalists’ Association (EFJA) has accused china of being behind providing the technology, training and technical assistance to Ethiopia’s jamming activity.

The group called on China to immediately put an end to what the group said the republic’s illegal support

(ST)

Eritrea accuses Ethiopia of jamming satellite broadcast

January 10th, 2012 - 17:57 UTC

by Andy Sennitt.

Text of report in English by Eritrean Ministry of Information’s Shabait website on 10 January

Asmara, 10 January: The source of the jamming being conducted against Eritrean satellite broadcast has been confirmed to be Ethiopia. Disclosing this fact, the Riyadh-based Arab Satellite Communications said that it has told the regime in Addis Ababa that the practice is illegal.

In connection with this, Mr Asmelash Abraha, director general of Eritrean Television, told Erina [Eritrean News Agency] that in continuation of its hostile policy of blocking information disseminated from Eritrea, the TPLF [Tigray People's Liberation Front, dominant party with in Ethiopian ruling coalition] regime, with the complicity of external forces, is engaged in jamming and interfering activities.

He further reminded that the aforementioned organization that it has both legal and organizational responsibility to ensure uninterrupted service for the satellite broadcast for which Eritrea has made heavy investment, and thus take legal action against the Addis Ababa regime which is conducting illegal jamming activities.

Mr Asmelash also underlined that “regimes that conduct such airwave banditry are those which lack courage and capacity to face the truth being disseminated.”

(Source: Shabait website, Asmara, in English 10 Jan 12 via BBC Monitoring)