Prohibited transmissions

The short list of things you may never do.

  • Business or commercial communications. You may not use amateur radio to conduct business, for
  • yourself or an employer. Narrow exceptions exist — you may, for instance, coordinate a personal purchase of amateur equipment, and there are provisions for employees operating during emergencies.

  • Broadcasting. Transmissions intended for reception by the general public are not permitted.
  • This is why a club may not "broadcast" a meeting to non-amateurs.

  • Music. No music, incidental or otherwise, except as an incidental part of certain manned
  • spaceflight retransmissions.

  • Obscene or indecent language. Undefined in Part 97 and enforced under the general standard.
  • Keep it clean.

  • Codes or ciphers intended to obscure meaning. Standard digital protocols with published
  • specifications are fine; encryption to hide content is not — a real constraint for emergency groups handling medical or personal information.

  • False or deceptive signals, including false distress calls and transmitting another
  • operator's call sign.

  • Unidentified transmissions.
  • Malicious interference. Deliberately interfering with another station is the offence the FCC
  • pursues most aggressively in the amateur service.

  • Retransmitting other services except as specifically permitted (space stations, and certain
  • propagation and emergency retransmissions).

Enforcement in practice ranges from a friendly advisory letter to five- and six-figure forfeitures and licence revocation. Almost every serious case involves deliberate interference or operating without a licence.

Last updated Aug 27, 2026. Page history · Sign in to edit