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FCC Chairman: cable TV from phone companies a "victory for consumers"
Att A U.S. Appeals court has upheld the Federal Communication Commission’s 2007 order that made it easier for AT&T and other phone companies to move into the video business. The cable industry challenged the FCC’s ruling, as did states, which have long held sway over the video franchising process. Today the court disagreed, telling the complaintants, in so many words, to shut their pie holes.
In an interview with USA Today, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin says the court’s decision “is an important victory for consumers.” Noting that cable TV rates have skyrocketed over the past decade, he says the cable industry “needs some competition,” and the FCC’s franchising rules help pave the way for that.
As chairman, Martin has gained a reputation for being hard on the cable TV industry. Martin says that’s not fair. “What I focus on is making sure consumers have a choice among services,” he says. What’s not fair, Martin says, is for cable TV operators to continue forcing consumers to buy big bundles of channels, even though they may only want a few. “Consumers need to have more choice.”
Riley Hollingsworth Retires July 3: The End of an Era
Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH, spoke at the FCC forum at the 2008 Dayton Hamvention. After almost 10 years of working
in Amateur Radio enforcement, Hollingsworth is set to retire from the FCC today.
On Thursday, July 3, Special Counsel for the Spectrum Enforcement Division of the FCC's Enforcement Bureau Riley
Hollingsworth, K4ZDH -- the man who has come to embody Amateur Radio Enforcement - will say goodbye to the FCC as
he retires and begins his life as a private citizen. In May, Hollingsworth announced he would definitely retire;
he had contemplated retiring in January 2008, but cited "several issues on the table that I want[ed] to continue to
work through with the amateur community." While his successor has not yet been named, he was quick to point out that
the FCC's Amateur Radio enforcement program will continue.
Court of Appeals: FCC Must Reimburse Fees Stemming from BPL Challenge
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has ordered that the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) reimburse ARRL for the docketing fee and the cost of reproducing copies
of briefs and appendices in the ARRL's successful
challenge of the FCC's broadband over power line (BPL) rules.
The Order,
issued on July 9 following review of an opposition from the FCC and a reply from the ARRL, awarded the ARRL's
full claim of $6,096.18. Commenting on the Order, ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner,
K1ZZ, observed: "While this is just a small fraction of the cost of our judicial appeal, the Order is significant because the Court did not buy the FCC's arguments that the ARRL had only achieved 'partial success' in its appeal and that our claim of costs was excessive. In addition, the FCC falsely claimed that the ARRL 'was unsuccessful in persuading the Court to vacate the rules it challenged.' In fact, the ARRL never sought to do so since the BPL rules adopted by the FCC, inadequate as they are, were still better than nothing. The award of these fees affirms that, contrary to the 'spin' the FCC has tried to put on the Court's remand, the ARRL substantially prevailed in its appeal."
Logbook of the World Net
The first weekly Logbook of the World Net (LOTW-Nets) is now in operation.
Meeting each Monday evening at 2359Z (ie: Monday evening 7:59pm. EDT), this net meets on 14.270 mhz. (increment +5 as required if QRM). Additional frequencies and dates are proposed.
The LOTW DX and WAS nets are to help awards chasers find needed DX and WAS stations that are willing to QSL via the ARRL Logbook of The World system.
This net and e-mail group are open to all amateur radio
operators that are willing to QSL via LOTW. Netlogger is used (optional).
"Work those needed band/entities and have confirmations usable toward ARRL awards in hours, not months or years."
LOTW-Nets reflector:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LoTW- Nets/messages
ARRL Logbook of the World:
http://www.arrl.org/lotw/
Free Netlogger download:
http://netlogger.org/download.html
LOTW-Nets website:
To be announced-
73 Neil W3ZQI
| August, 2008 | |
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