47 U.S.C. § 312 — Administrative sanctions

(a) Revocation of station license or construction permit. The Commission can revoke a station license or construction permit for: (1) knowingly false statements in the application or a required statement of fact; (2) conditions that would have justified denying the license or permit if discovered at the original application stage; (3) willfully or repeatedly failing to operate the way the license specifies; (4) willfully or repeatedly violating this chapter, FCC rules, or treaty obligations; (5) violating a final FCC cease-and-desist order; (6) violating certain criminal laws on lottery, fraud, or obscenity or profanity broadcasts (sections 1304, 1343, or 1464 of Title 18); or (7) willfully or repeatedly refusing reasonable access, or the chance to buy reasonable airtime, to a legally qualified candidate for federal office - this doesn't apply to noncommercial educational stations. (b) Cease and desist orders. If someone has failed to operate as their license specifies, violated this chapter or those same Title 18 sections, or violated an FCC rule or treaty obligation, the Commission can order them to stop. (c) Order to show cause. Before revoking a license or permit, or issuing a cease-and-desist order, the Commission must first serve an order to show cause - explaining what's being investigated and calling the licensee, permittee, or person to appear and give evidence, at least 30 days after they receive the order, except the Commission can shorten that when safety of life or property is at stake. After the hearing (or if it's waived), if the Commission decides to revoke the license or issue the cease-and-desist order, it must issue a written order explaining its findings, reasons, and effective date, and serve it on the person involved. (d) Burden of proof. In any hearing under this section, the Commission carries both the burden of presenting evidence and the burden of proof. (e) Procedure for issuance of cease and desist order. The same procedural rules that apply to license-revocation hearings (under section 558(c) of Title 5) also apply to cease-and-desist-order hearings. (f) "Willful" and "repeated" defined. (1) "Willful" means doing or not doing something on purpose and knowingly - it doesn't require intending to break a rule. (2) "Repeated" means doing or not doing something more than once, or, if it's ongoing, doing it for more than one day. (g) Limitation on silent station authorizations. If a broadcast station goes 12 straight months without transmitting any signal, its license automatically expires at the end of that period - no matter what the license says otherwise. The Commission can extend or reinstate the license if the holder wins an appeal, the law changes, or for other fairness reasons. Any Alaska broadcast license revoked or ended over a dispute about using a translator, microwave, or other alternative signal-delivery method is reinstated.