Cheers!

Respectfully yours,

Tim Boucher

Microbroadcasting usually serves a town or community which doesn’t hear
what it wants on commercial radio. A 100-watt FM signal will travel
approximately 20 miles, while a 100-watt AM signal can typically be heard
for 30 miles; however, most microbroadcasts fall in the range of 15-30 watts,
with an audible range of 10-12 miles.
There’s only one problem. AM or FM microbroadcasts with power
greater than 1/4 watt are illegal, and the Federal Communications
Commission will only license FM or AM broadcasters with a power of 100
watts or above.

http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Lounge/7704/micro.html

Pandemonium broke out.
Stations, liberated from all Federal control, upped their power, jumped
frequency, and/or began full time operations on daytime or time shared
frequencies. Smaller stations were jammed off the air. Unlicensed
transmitters appeared out of nowhere, dropped down on any convenient (or
inconvenient) frequency, and began broadcasting. Anarchy was King

http://ham-shack.com/history07.html

Democracy was still a foreign idea to most nations; many hovered in that gray area between Old World Monarchy
and Fascism/Communism. Communications were a government monopoly.  Individual private stations were feared; they could compete with
the Government Stations, or they could be used in anti-government activities. This attitude was even present in the representatives
from England and France. As for the other countries, many were blatantly anti amateur radio. Germany, for example, stated that
private stations could violate “the rights of the State”.  Switzerland was on the record against amateur radio. Japan would
tolerate amateurs, however they would have to use “phantom” (i.e. non radiating ) antennas. In other words, you could have
a transmitter, you just couldn’t radiate a signal!!!!

After amateurs had returned to the air in November 1919, hundreds of them began to explore the area of broadcasting. In May, 1920, amateur station 8XK joined many other hams in the transmission of music. Incidentally, it WAS LEGAL for amateurs to broadcast music, news, sports, lectures, advertisements or indeed just about anything else they wanted. The Radio Act of 1912, still in effect, did not mention amateurs, rather, one paragraph made a general reference to individual private or commercial stations. The only real restriction was the 1 kw power limit and the 200 meter wavelength, after that, the government didn’t care. Thus, those amateurs who had built equipment to modulate their CW transmitters eventually played a phonograph record or two, sang (or tried to sing), or broadcast some form of entertainment.

Which is, of course, utterly illegal. The compartmentalization of information is much like any other religious axiom: totally absurd upon examination, but circularly airtight upon ingestion.