I think PLBs and SPOTs are being confused here.

The Grand Canyon "hikers" had a SPOT, per the NPS press release (unfortunately I can't access it right now, but the text was copied here).

With a PLB, you register it with the US Coast Guard. At the time you register, you receive dire warnings about hefty fines and imprisonment if the button is pushed when it is not a life-and-death situation. That's because the PLB uses the government satellite network. To the best of my knowledge, there have been few false alarms with a PLB--the few I've read about were severely punished.

A SPOT uses privately owned satellites, so pushing the button when it's unnecessary is not a violation of federal law. It's the satellite network that calls 911. Unfortunately. I suspect that at some point either these gizmos will be banned or laws will be enacted posing restrictions similar to those on PLBs. Or (thinking of the boy who cried wolf story), the authorities will start ignoring signals from SPOTs.

This is a really scary situation because it puts the lives of the SAR folks in considerable danger for trivial reasons. I hope these guys get a whopping fine if not worse!

I would also like to know why it took three calls before the authorities hauled those idiots out of the Grand Canyon and charged them? IMHO, it should have been done the first time!