From the earliest days of the history of broadcasting, a number of radio stations licensed in Mexico, became known to the general public as border-blasters.
Radio Luxembourg was a licensed station broadcasting with a power and on a frequency that the British authorities objected to, because the intended audience for its programs were located within the United Kingdom.
The objection by the government of the United Kingdom to commercial broadcasts from Luxembourg, France and other countries, was primarily based upon its protection of the non-commercial BBC Radio monopoly.
In the United States, pirate radio is frequently, but not always, associated with anarchism,[citation needed] which considers governmental spectrum regulatory schemes as favoring the interests of large corporations, due to reasons such as high licensing costs.
Because of this severe lack of access, numerous pirate radio operators (such as Stephen Dunifer), as well as other groups petitioned the FCC for a new LPFM service.
Lobbied by the commercial radio industry, the U.S. Congress intervened and limited the new service even further, though technical tests later proved this to be baseless, and the added restrictions were lifted.
Pirate radio also continues because legal open spots on the FM dial have been filled in since and because of the 1979 ruling, by both full-power and translator stations.
Triangulation may be used, but most frequently a spectrum analyzer is driven around the affected area, with a person monitoring where the suspect signal is highest, and another one looking for any obvious signs such as an antenna or small tower (like that used for amateur radio).
The FCC maintains a database of alleged pirate radio broadcasters in the United States on a state-by-state basis which is made available to Congress as a report.