A more apt mantra here is "it's easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission".

After all, FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said the size of the penalty “is probably not significant enough to deter future behavior". I'd guess that Swarm knew someone would notice and they knew the fine would be worth paying in lieu of dealing with the red tape needed to get the launch authorized.

Now the question is, what penalty is significant enough to deter this behavior and why isn't that the penalty presently?