
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 23, 2000 and December 4, 2001]
[CITE: 47USC308]

 
          TITLE 47--TELEGRAPHS, TELEPHONES, AND RADIOTELEGRAPHS
 
                 CHAPTER 5--WIRE OR RADIO COMMUNICATION
 
          SUBCHAPTER III--SPECIAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO RADIO
 
                       Part I--General Provisions
 
Sec. 308. Requirements for license


(a) Writing; exceptions

    The Commission may grant construction permits and station licenses, 
or modifications or renewals thereof, only upon written application 
therefor received by it: Provided, That (1) in cases of emergency found 
by the Commission involving danger to life or property or due to damage 
to equipment, or (2) during a national emergency proclaimed by the 
President or declared by the Congress and during the continuance of any 
war in which the United States is engaged and when such action is 
necessary for the national defense or security or otherwise in 
furtherance of the war effort, or (3) in cases of emergency where the 
Commission finds, in the nonbroadcast services, that it would not be 
feasible to secure renewal applications from existing licensees or 
otherwise to follow normal licensing procedure, the Commission may grant 
construction permits and station licenses, or modifications or renewals 
thereof, during the emergency so found by the Commission or during the 
continuance of any such national emergency or war, in such manner and 
upon such terms and conditions as the Commission shall by regulation 
prescribe, and without the filing of a formal application, but no 
authorization so granted shall continue in effect beyond the period of 
the emergency or war requiring it: Provided further, That the Commission 
may issue by cable, telegraph, or radio a permit for the operation of a 
station on a vessel of the United States at sea, effective in lieu of a 
license until said vessel shall return to a port of the continental 
United States.

(b) Conditions

    All applications for station licenses, or modifications or renewals 
thereof, shall set forth such facts as the Commission by regulation may 
prescribe as to the citizenship, character, and financial, technical, 
and other qualifications of the applicant to operate the station; the 
ownership and location of the proposed station and of the stations, if 
any, with which it is proposed to communicate; the frequencies and the 
power desired to be used; the hours of the day or other periods of time 
during which it is proposed to operate the station; the purposes for 
which the station is to be used; and such other information as it may 
require. The Commission, at any time after the filing of such original 
application and during the term of any such license, may require from an 
applicant or licensee further written statements of fact to enable it to 
determine whether such original application should be granted or denied 
or such license revoked. Such application and/or such statement of fact 
shall be signed by the applicant and/or licensee in any manner or form, 
including by electronic means, as the Commission may prescribe by 
regulation.

(c) Commercial communication

    The Commission in granting any license for a station intended or 
used for commercial communication between the United States or any 
Territory or possession, continental or insular, subject to the 
jurisdiction of the United States, and any foreign country, may impose 
any terms, conditions, or restrictions authorized to be imposed with 
respect to submarine-cable licenses by section 35 of this title.

(d) Summary of complaints

    Each applicant for the renewal of a commercial or noncommercial 
television license shall attach as an exhibit to the application a 
summary of written comments and suggestions received from the public and 
maintained by the licensee (in accordance with Commission regulations) 
that comment on the applicant's programming, if any, and that are 
characterized by the commentor as constituting violent programming.

(June 19, 1934, ch. 652, title III, Sec. 308, 48 Stat. 1084; July 16, 
1952, ch. 879, Sec. 6, 66 Stat. 714; Pub. L. 87-444, Sec. 3, Apr. 27, 
1962, 76 Stat. 63; Pub. L. 102-538, title II, Sec. 204(b), Oct. 27, 
1992, 106 Stat. 3543; Pub. L. 103-414, title III, Sec. 303(a)(15), Oct. 
25, 1994, 108 Stat. 4295; Pub. L. 104-104, title II, Sec. 204(b), Feb. 
8, 1996, 110 Stat. 113.)


                               Amendments

    1996--Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 104-104 added subsec. (d).
    1994--Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 103-414 made technical amendment to 
reference to section 35 of this title to correct reference to 
corresponding section of original act.
    1992--Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 102-538 inserted before period at end 
``in any manner or form, including by electronic means, as the 
Commission may prescribe by regulation''.
    1962--Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 87-444 struck out requirement that 
applications or statements of fact were to be signed under oath or 
affirmation.
    1952--Subsec. (a). Act July 16, 1952, Sec. 6(a), provided that the 
Commission may grant construction permits and station licenses, or 
modifications or renewals, only upon written application except that 
during war or emergency periods no formal application need be filed.
    Subsec. (b). Act July 16, 1952, Sec. 6(b), substituted ``All 
applications for station licenses or modifications or renewals thereof, 
shall set forth'' for ``All such applications shall set forth''.


                    Effective Date of 1996 Amendment

    Section 204(c) of Pub. L. 104-104 provided that: ``The amendments 
made by this section [amending this section and section 309 of this 
title] apply to applications filed after May 1, 1995.''

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 309, 310, 312 of this title.
