more on ARRL's "private game preserve"

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

Delivered-To: dfarber+ () ux13 sp cs cmu edu
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 14:35:58 -0500
From: "John A. Limpert" <jlimpert () acm org>
Subject: Re: [IP] ARRL's "private game preserve"
To: dave () farber net
Cc: Steve Schear <s.schear () comcast net>, dewayne () warpspeed com

    Dewayne Hendricks is CEO of Dandin Group, Inc., a Fremont, CA-based
    company which does research and product development in the area of
    broadband wired and wireless data devices and services

Can you say "conflict of interest"?

I've been a ham (N3DMC), and ARRL member, since I was a teenager. The ARRL
is not a perfect organization. Like any large organization, it has its share
of objectionable people.

Amateur radio is a multi-faceted hobby. You can find people who are
interested in talking to people in other countries, participating in
contests, providing disaster communications, designing and building radio
equipment and antennas, operating packet radio networks, restoring antique
radios, learning about electronics, talking to their family, friends and
neighbors, operating an amateur television station, experimenting with
microwave communications, using unusual propagation modes, communicating
through amateur satellites, and many other areas of interest.

Suggesting that the amateur bands be reclaimed because the average ham is
not marching to your drum beat is short-sighted. There is enough room for
many different interests.

The ARRL has to worry about spectrum preservation, both from the aspect of
reallocation and degradation due to interference. There are many commercial
organizations who are eager to make a few bucks by grabbing a chunk of
spectrum for their own use, or by deploying technology that pollutes the RF
commons with noise and interference.

When the recent hurricane hit the East Coast and wiped out commercial power
for days, amateur radio operators were out in force, providing emergency
communications for disaster relief organizations, medical facilities, and
state and local governments. Many hams spend their own money to provide
emergency power capabilities for their own stations and community radio
repeater stations. They also volunteer their time for amateur radio
organizations that specialize in emergency communications.

> At 15:09 -0800 10/29/03, Steve Schear wrote:
>> Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2003 15:09:56 -0800
>> To: "David P. Reed" <dpreed () reed com>
>> From: Steve Schear <s.schear () comcast net>
>> Subject: Re: [Dewayne-Net] ARRL's "private game preserve"
>> Cc: dewayne () warpspeed com
>>
>>
>>> At 15:26 -0500 10/29/03, David P. Reed wrote:
>>>> Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2003 15:26:33 -0500
>>>> To: dewayne () warpspeed com,
>>>>         "Dewayne-Net Technology List" <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>
>>>> From: "David P. Reed" <dpreed () reed com>
>>>> Subject: ARRL's "private game preserve"
>>>>
>>>> It's becoming increasingly clear to me that the ARRL (which does NOT
>>>> represent all hams) has begun to think of itself as a "spectrum owner" -
>>>> which it is NOT.   Hams who are not ARRL members might want to file
>>>> amicus briefs making this clear to the courts - that the ARRL does not
>>>> necessarily represent their interests in the spectrum they hold licenses
>>>> to.
>>>>
>>>> As an R&D investment, the amateur bands appear to me to have had a piss
>>>> poor return in recent years - they have played very little role in
>>>> advancing the radio arts for a decade or more - instead they are
>>>> becoming a Luddite force that views anything new as bad.
>>>>
>>>> A true spirit of amateur radio would not be working at protecting their
>>>> ancient radio systems from "harmful interference" - instead they would
>>>> be working on ways to share bands with new and more effective
>>>> technologies and high density deployments.   They would not be working
>>>> to preserve "scarcity" but being constructive about solutions that
>>>> accomodate unbounded scaling of the number of users in a band - in other
>>>> words to create abundance.
>>>>
>>>> If they can't be constructive, perhaps we should replace the amateur
>>>> bands with amateur radio NETWORKING bands, where unlicensed radio
>>>> networks that can scale are mandated.
>>>>
>>>> Free the Ham Bands!
>>
>> Here, here.  A long ago let my ARRL membership lapse.  I lost interest in
>> dealing with the on-line prima donnas that frequent their ranks.  All the
>> fun radio stuff (e.g., truly random FFH in HF for anti-fade) is prohibited
>> in the ham bands. Any radio enthusiast who wants to advance the radio arts
>> will likely be playing in the unlicensed bands or operating outside the
>> regulations in the amateur bands.
>>
>> steve
>
> Archives at: <http://Wireless.Com/Dewayne-Net>
> Weblog at: <http://weblog.warpspeed.com>

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