Was not aware of this, was aware of spectrum squatting happening in the past.

Point is noone else was using the spectrum, it wasn't like they were stepping on another station's broadcasts. Whole point of the system is to ensure that this is fundamentally what happens -- not to gatekeep and make it cost-prohibitive for anyone but large companies who bought up a ton of small stations in the past. I mean it is once politicians with donors get involved, but it's not supposed to be that way.