Dan Jacobson wrote:
How many countries have two kinds of licences: operator's licence and
station licence? You only get your callsign (station licence) after
you bring your rig in for inspection, whereupon you are granted a
callsign whose letter reflect the level of operator's licence you have
achieved. Taiwan is one.

This seems like a commercial radio concept dragged over into ham radio.
One would think one equipment approval would be enough too, as all
rigs on the market already have local FCC approval.

The FCC had some strange license concept like this years ago.
Lately they changed it to match most hams' thinking. That the
callsign is associated with the person. Most hams, when visiting
a friend ham and borrowing the shack, would use his own call.
That he would "inspect" the equipment ("yes, it looks like a
Kenwood") and uses it.

Back in the olden days, two brothers living at the same house
got their ham licenses. But the FCC, seeing the same address,
made them share the same callsign, as they shared the same shack.

When was the last time a ham was busted for bad equipment?
All the NALs I've seen are for some stupid *use* of equipment
(jamming a repeater, dirty words, broadcasting, pecunary
interest violations, and such) or a lower level licensee
caught in say the extra portion of 20m. And one has to
work at it to get a NAL it seems. An occasional error
will usually pass unnoticed; the FCC figures that most hams
will spot the error and correct it themselves.