In a rare action, attorneys at the U.S. Department of Justice are seeking an injunction to stop broadcasts from an unlicensed radio station operating in Massachusetts.
According to a press release issued in early March by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the action by the Justice Department follows repeated violations of laws and regulations against unlicensed radio operations by Vasco Oburoni and the Christian Praise International Church in Worcester. Oburoni, who had previously been fined $15,000 by the FCC for unlicensed radio operation at 97.1 MHz, had agreed to a payment plan in connection with the earlier violation. But complaints by at least one other licensed radio operator in the area identified subsequent operations traceable back to Oburoni and the church at 102.3 MHz that interfered with legitimate radio signals.
The Communications Act of 1934 prohibits the operation of most radio broadcasting equipment without a license from the FCC. The Act authorizes the Department of Justice to seek injunction against illegal operators, upon the request of the FCC.
Read the FCC’s press release on the injunction against Oburoni and the Christian Praise International Church.
