What changed
Prohibited transmissions — edited Aug 29, 2026 by Unknown editor
This is the first recorded version, so every line is shown as added. Note: Imported from content/wiki
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- **Business or commercial communications.** You may not use amateur radio to conduct business, for
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yourself or an employer. Narrow exceptions exist — you may, for instance, coordinate a personal
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purchase of amateur equipment, and there are provisions for employees operating during emergencies.
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- **Broadcasting.** Transmissions intended for reception by the general public are not permitted.
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This is why a club may not "broadcast" a meeting to non-amateurs.
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- **Music.** No music, incidental or otherwise, except as an incidental part of certain manned
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spaceflight retransmissions.
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- **Obscene or indecent language.** Undefined in Part 97 and enforced under the general standard.
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Keep it clean.
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- **Codes or ciphers intended to obscure meaning.** Standard digital protocols with published
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specifications are fine; encryption to hide content is not — a real constraint for emergency
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groups handling medical or personal information.
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- **False or deceptive signals**, including false distress calls and transmitting another
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operator's call sign.
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- **Unidentified transmissions.**
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- **Malicious interference.** Deliberately interfering with another station is the offence the FCC
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pursues most aggressively in the amateur service.
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- **Retransmitting other services** except as specifically permitted (space stations, and certain
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propagation and emergency retransmissions).
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Enforcement in practice ranges from a friendly advisory letter to five- and six-figure forfeitures
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and license revocation. Almost every serious case involves deliberate interference or operating
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without a license.