Gary broadcasts from a makeshift basement studio located in a neighborhood near central Springfield. From the outside of Gary's home you would never guess that something as heinous as violating FCC regs could be going on inside. A small, discrete antenna on the roof is the only giveaway. If you follow it's coaxial cable down the side of the house and through the basement window, it will lead you to a small metal box that turns Gary's home stereo into a radio station. This little 4-watt device beams Radio Free Springfield out in a 1.5 mile radius that includes the SMSU campus, downtown and even as far as Phelps Grove park.
Pirate radio is about taking back the airwaves.
Look at the people who make up the Federal Communications Commission and it's easy to see why this is happening. Almost all FCC commissioners come from either commercial broadcasting or politically powerful trade associations representing commercial broadcasting's interests. Many media experts feel this has turned the FCC into the guardian of corporate concerns with little regard for the public's best interest. The FCC's ban on micro-radios was adopted in 1978 at the prompting of National Public Radio. NPR hoped to force low-power FM stations off the air to amke way for their national network.