FCC Has Done "Literally Nothing" to Comply

Here is why your continued membership in the ARRL is so important. Do you see anyone else representing our side in this issue?

On February 25 — 10 months to the day that the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit released its decision on the ARRL’s Petition for Review of the FCC’s Orders adopting rules governing broadband over power line (BPL) systems — ARRL General Counsel, Chris Imlay, W3KD, sent a letter to FCC Acting Chairman Michael Copps, requesting that the Commission "revisit the BPL rules without further delay, and to comply with the obligations placed on it by the Court". In its April 2008 decision, the Court agreed with the ARRL on two major points and remanded the rules to the Commission. According to Imlay, "to date, literally nothing has been done by the Commission to comply with these instructions."

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I am not sure that I feel nay better about the new Special Counsel’s appointment yet. That said, there may be a small ray of hope that she hasn’t just been put in place to placate the Amateur Radio Service while the FCC continues to do what it seems to do best these days, selling off our nation’s radio and TV frequencies to the highest bidder.

Laura Smith visited ARRL Headquarters on March 5 and 6, her first official visit as Special Counsel. Smith was named to the position earlier this year, filling the vacancy created when Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH, retired in 2008; Hollingsworth served in that position for more than 10 years as the Commission’s enforcement watchdog over the Amateur Radio Service.

While at Headquarters, Smith visited with various departments, such as the Lab, the Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (VEC), the Regulatory Information Branch and Membership and Volunteer Programs (MVP).

Spending all Thursday afternoon with ARRL Lab staff, Smith discussed power line noise and how it can affect Amateur Radio. "Since Riley had retired last year, very little had been done at the FCC with regard to the power line noise enforcement," said ARRL Laboratory Engineer and power line noise expert Mike Gruber, W1MG. "The Lab staff discussed the status of the ARRL-FCC Cooperative Agreement on power line noise with Laura and how best to proceed forward. While the ARRL is not in the enforcement business, the Cooperative Agreement was an attempt to help the FCC focus its limited resources in the area where they are most needed — enforcement. The ARRL’s goal is to help resolve as many of these cases as possible with technical and other help before they ever get to the FCC."

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