A visit to the Pirate Cat Radio Web site this morning reveals a sad and desolate place. Once, the first thing viewers encountered a listing of the song that was currently playing and what songs had just played.

Now: "Current Song: (Unnamed Server) / Past Songs: / 1. Unnamed Server / 2. [Buffer: 88%] Unnamed Server / 3. [Buffer: 68%] Unnamed Server . . ."

The volunteer-staffed community radio station run out of the Pirate Cat Cafe in San Francisco's Mission District has shut down under a $10,000 fine by the FCC for broadcasting without a license under section 301 of the US Communications Act of 1934.

PCR has been running for 13 years, and while it's true that the site didn't do much in way of paying licensing fees (hence the “Pirate” moniker), neither did it drain the system or make a profit. It certainly wasn't diverting advertising dollars from any other radio station in town. Its rationale (as listed on its Web site):

The Federal Communications Commission is charged with promoting "the larger and more effective use of radio in the public interest." Pirate Cat Radio believes that the FCC has failed in that mission by not creating a practical means for local and neighborhood program services like ours to gain access to the air. We have sought licensing in the past and been ignored or turned down. The FCC appears to have no path of access to air, except for parties having millions of dollars to invest. This is wrong.

Pirate Cat's argument for broadcasting license-free is US Code Federal Regulations Title 47 Section 73.3542, which authorizes broadcasting without a license during wartime. Whether Barack Obama has picked up George W. Bush's mantra of being a wartime president is still unknown, but the FCC apparently isn't buying it.

For now, the cafe remains open, and the radio station plans to continue streaming online.