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But despite its importance for the community, RFB was operating illegally by FCC standards. (When LPFM licenses became available in 2000, RFB didn’t apply for one because FCC rules would’ve required them to shut down while they waited — potentially years — for a license.) In June 2002, FCC agents appeared on the station’s doorstep, ordering 88.1-FM off the air because they claimed an Amherst-based NPR affiliate at 88.5 had filed a complaint against it. RFB reluctantly shuttered. When the FCC sent a letter two weeks later insisting that the station prove they had a "license or authority to operate," RFB decided that the "authority to operate" belonged to the citizens of Brattleboro, and spent the summer petitioning them for support. Armed with thousands of signatures, RFB returned to the airwaves illegally in August 2003, broadcasting on the vacant frequency 107.9-FM. "When the FCC did come back in the fall, we said, ‘Here it is, here is our authority to operate,’ " recalls Bloch. "Of course, the FCC didn’t accept that."

Still, the 10-watt station continued to broadcast. In 2004, the FCC contacted the US attorney for the District of Vermont, then filed a civil suit in state district court requesting an expedited injunction to force RFB off the air. Meanwhile, the town of Brattleboro had drafted a resolution of support for the station, and had voted in the station’s favor on a ballot question. Says Bloch, "We believed that we were operating legally and that the FCC had abandoned their regulatory responsibility."

A month later, a state district-court judge agreed, denying the FCC’s injunction request. "This was absolutely groundbreaking precedent," confirms Larry Hildes, a National Lawyers’ Guild staff attorney in Washington state who helped handle the case. "Before that, [the FCC had] gotten every injunction they sought and every order for seizure. I think the FCC was floored. I don’t think it ever occurred to them that they could lose."

Although Radio Free Brattleboro continues to broadcast without a license, the station rejects the term "pirate" to describe what it does. "We adamantly do not connect with pirate radio," says Bloch. "It seems to me that the definition of pirate radio is more like anarchy, more like, ‘There are 300 million people, and those 300 million people are entitled to broadcast on any frequency that they want’ kind of attitude. And that’s not our model." He adds, "We’re not asking that Brattleboro should have 18 different radio stations in a town of 12,000, but it’s certainly entitled to have one — and without delay. There’s absolutely no excuse for [not having] that."

WSCA 106.1-FM, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 2004-present

There are three 13-year-olds on New Hampshire’s low-power station WSCA who have a Friday-afternoon show called The Three Amigos. Sometimes they play songs from Jesus Christ Superstar. But the six-month-old station is also considerably hip, helmed by erstwhile college DJs enjoying their second acts. In fact, WSCA compiles a top-30 play list, submitted weekly to CMJ, that would rival any indie-minded university-affiliated station worth its salt: the Decemberists, Final Fantasy, M.I.A., Out Hud, the Stars. The station’s music schedule is a guided tour through a record store, with shows like A Merry Wipeout Bag (noise), Portsmouth Duck Confederacy (indie rock), Metaphysical Circus (obscure psychedelic), and the Blue Yodel (bluegrass, old-time country, and swing). As at RFB, there’s Pacifica Network’s progressive Democracy Now, plus public-affairs programming that includes shows by a former Democratic state senator, a conservative Republican, and a Libertarian.

"People will sometimes say, ‘I didn’t like the kids on this afternoon,’ if it was some thrash-metal show," says WSCA president and interim general manager Tim Stone. "I keep saying, ‘It’s okay if it turned you off. We’re like a restaurant: there might be one dish on the menu that makes you sick, but you don’t order it; you find the dish you love and you keep returning for that meal.’ "

WSCA first applied for an LPFM construction permit — the first stage in the licensing process — during New Hampshire’s five-day window in August 2000. Stone, a former college DJ, had always considered Portsmouth an ideal place for a community radio station. When he heard about the LPFM program, he immediately posted fliers around Portsmouth, looking for people who were also interested. About 15 people showed up; collectively, they applied for a license, then waited to hear back from the FCC. Nothing. They kept waiting. For more than two years.

Although in the interim they could have hooked up with a pirate radio station with relative ease, the group decided not to go on the air without FCC sanction. "There was discussion about it," admits Stone. "Should we go as a pirate station if we don’t get a frequency under the LPFM program? I’d suspect there would’ve been a group of us that would’ve taken a shot if we thought nothing would ever come through the LPFM route. But as long as there was a legitimate way to get a frequency, we said, ‘Let’s stay the course.’ "

In May 2003, nearly three years later, the FCC finally granted WSCA a construction permit — which requires that a station get on the air within 18 months. Immediately, they started fundraising at community events, even getting Portsmouth native and Hollywood Squares host Tom Bergeron to donate $1000. WSCA went on the air at 7:10 a.m. on September 12, 2004. With the exception of "a few technical glitches," it hasn’t been off since.

The station is run by volunteers, though Stone is looking to hire a general station manager. "As [far as] we know, we’re the only community station of this format — totally open live — in the state of New Hampshire. There are a few school stations and some college stations. But the other LPFMs are mostly jazz, classical, world music, and they’re primarily all run off of computers by a few folks. We have 75-plus people come through our doors every week, doing programs.

"You might not be able to keep [WSCA-FM] on all day because of the variety of the music," Stone adds. "But you find the shows you like and listen to them — and listen to them with a passion, hopefully."