It’s been quite some time since I can recall the FCC imploring a U.S. Attorney to issue a warrant to shut down an unlicensed FM station. In fact, it’s quite a rare action, usually reserved for long-running stations that either have been utterly unresponsive to administrative notices or have operated for a long time out […]
Tag Archives | unlicensed broadcasting
FCC Warning to Worcester Unlicensed Station Is Indicator of Big New England Pirate Scene
Worcester, Massachusset’s unlicensed Flava 105.5 has received some mostly positive press coverage recently for its focus on underserved Caribbean populations in the area. Probably not coincidentally, about two weeks after it appeared in the local newspaper the FCC issued the station a Notice of Unlicensed Operation (NOUO) ordering it to cease broadcasting immediately. In a […]
College Radio 101: UW-Parkside Station Learns When You Need a License
The University of Wisconsin-Parkside’s student-run station WIPZ has apparently been on the air since the early 1990s, broadcasting on AM, then FM and online. The station has never had a license, presumably operating at very low power under what are known as Part 15 regulations which govern unlicensed operation of devices that radiate radio frequency […]