Illegal radio use

[AK9R]

The FCC is a regulatory agency, not a law enforcement agency, and they are not endowed with the funding required to go searching through enough shipping containers to spot check wall warts and USB accessories and so on to make sure they’re certified or otherwise not spewing RFI everywhere.

But, Customs and Border Patrol is a law enforcement agency and does have funding, and authority, to search through inbound shipping containers at ports of entry. If the FCC had notified CBP a few years ago about CCRs coming into the country, do you think the CBP could have stopped them? However, this is the same FCC that takes the word of off-shore testing labs when it comes to FCC compliance.

 

[nd5y]

Most receivers are set to CSQ/no PL/no DPL in cheap radios.

Depends on the radio. Many of the 16-channel no-display radios come pre-programmed with CTCSS or DCS encode and decode on most or all of the channels.

 

[O-B-1]

I also think a valid license for the desired band/service should be required to buy a radio that transmits on that service.

They require that of firearms, now.
But I guess more people have been killed by those than ham radios, LoL

 

[bill4long]

They require that of firearms, now.
But I guess more people have been killed by those than ham radios, LoL

Not in most states in the USA.