Actually it is. that is almost a joke, but ALMOST.

Many years ago "JS" was the ringleader of an outfit called Radio Solidartity in Poland right around the time all that was going on. He wound up doing seven months in the can over it, but was never actually convicted.

We worked together years ago and had mutual respect. He is a smart cookie but his enamouration (enamouredness ?) with Britney Spears made me choke. Well, he was still young enough I guess.......

He built the transitter and he and his buddies would go up on a hill and erect an antenna made from vacuum cleaner wand sections. A portable cassette player was all that was needed then, along with the batteries of course.

They didn't have much cable there at the time and most people used antennas to get TV on just like we used to for the most part. JS and crew picked the sound carrier (of the intercarrier) frequency of the station at the maximum primetime of viewership. In the evening, the most popular shows. They overrode the audio carrier.

He was on the svelte side and said he was the fastest runner in the group. He also had built the transmitter and told me if they ever caught him with it he would be in jail for a LOOOOOONG time, but only did seven months intermittently under suspicion. His partners would usually bring cars and escape with the antenna and batteries. None of them got busted because vacuum cleaner wands and batteries were not illegal in Poland at the time.

When I worked with him he showed me a Polish magazine with his brother standing there with the transmitter, after the regime had changed and he was no longer likely to get busted for it. I could see the family resemblance.

Because of the suspicions against him he had trouble starting a company there, which impelled him and his olady to move to the US. Too much red tape. I think he came to the wrong place if he doesn't like red tape.

His brother was also in the electronics field and started a company for car lots. Alot of people were scamming the car lots by swapping cars with someone across town. the repossesors could not find the cars. The company would put a GPS tracking unit into the cars so they could be found.

I'm not sure why, but his brother also emigrated here, even though he said the US was not quite what it was cracked up to be.

If you find references to this whole affair online you will find them to differ slightly from my account of it, it is up to you what you believe.