U.S. House of Representatives Committee plans to update Communications Act

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AK9R

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WASHINGTON, DC – House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) today announced plans for the committee to examine and update the Communications Act. Upton and Walden made the announcement via Google Hangout, where the committee leaders were joined by former FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell as they outlined the need to update the law to better fit the communications marketplace of today.

See more at: Upton and Walden Announce Plans to Update the Communications Act | Energy & Commerce Committee

Keep up with the committee’s efforts on Twitter using the hashtag #CommActUpdate.

Note that Rep. Greg Walden is a licensed amateur radio operator (W7EQI).
 

K5MPH

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There goes our VHF/UHF ham bands it's only time when corporate america takes it all away from us......
 

AZScanner

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This makes me nervous. Every time the government attempts to "fix" something, they make it worse, not better. We may see our ability to legally monitor public safety agencies removed "to protect us from bad people who listen to the police on their cell phones" and other such BS.

I hope Uniden and Whistler have some money set aside for lobbyists. :(

-AZ
 

mmckenna

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The Communications Act isn't just about RF, there is a lot in there that has to do with telephone, network, etc.
I think more than likely what you will see is an update regarding the antiquated rules regarding telephone companies and how internet plays into it. I doubt there will be a big change to the RF side of things.
 

MTS2000des

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There goes our VHF/UHF ham bands it's only time when corporate america takes it all away from us......

All the more reason to solidify the relationship between local governments and the amateur community and re-institute RACES.

No, ham radio is not "to save the day", but it does serve a valuable tool that local governments can rely on as a community resource.

This will buy some time. But the telecom cartels are spectrum hungry, the real threats to part 97 spectrum are 420MHz and above, however we are not primary users of those bands. The Feds are, and so long as they have first dibs- we are safe.

Until such time as the cartels convince the Feds "we can do it better for you, but we need that spectrum you're sitting on and wasting with 20th century LMR". In other words, the sham that is FirstNet and other "I Heart Waste" projects.

NOW is the time to WATCH carefully the discussions about changing such Federal laws, and when proposed changes are brought forth, to educate our so-called elected officials. Yeah right. Like they listen to us.

Most of us don't have enough room on our credit cards to even sit at the same tables they do.
 

AZScanner

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The Communications Act isn't just about RF, there is a lot in there that has to do with telephone, network, etc.
I think more than likely what you will see is an update regarding the antiquated rules regarding telephone companies and how internet plays into it. I doubt there will be a big change to the RF side of things.

Yeah I'm not holding out hope that any of those decisions will make life better for us either. I'm sure the net result will be increased logging of EVERYONE'S online activities to enforce new and existing draconian copyright laws as well as additional costs passed on to consumers from providers who will now have to comply with a bunch of do-nothing feel good regulations. Look no further than Obamacare for what happens when the government "solves" a problem. You can bet your bottom dollar (as Annie would say) that whatever these clowns come up with is going to suck big time. I wouldn't be surprised if taxes crop up on internet transactions and we might even see "excessive" bandwidth taxed. Nothing good will come of this - I'm certain of it. I just hope we'll still have our hobby when these guys are done "fixing" what isn't broken.

-AZ
 

szron

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Specifics! There's none!

It all sounds pretty but until I see some proposals on paper I'll wait with speculation.
 

BeerNutz

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Did Ronald Reagan say this?

The nine scariest words are "I'm from the government and I'm here to help".
 

INDY72

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Yes Ronaldus Magnus did indeed say that! (Borrowed Romanized name from Rushus Maximus.... :twisted:
 

SCPD

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Specifics! There's none!

It all sounds pretty but until I see some proposals on paper I'll wait with speculation.

Well now... that's no reason not to turn the topic into an "off-the-rails, hoard your ammo, anti-government, anti-establishment, Obama death panel, corporations are people, fence the borders, down with encryption, my tax dollars, get off my lawn, where's the megaphone, war on christmas" political diatribe, is it?

Ain't radio great? :)
 

ElroyJetson

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DO NOT ASK ME FOR HELP PROGRAMMING YOUR RADIO. NO.
I'm guessing that they'll remove the obsolete restriction against scanners being able to monitor the 800 MHz cellular frequencies but make additional changes that preserve the original INTENT of that law,
only written in a more technologically agnostic manner. Rather than restrict by frequency, they will
instead write it so it states "No scanning radio device shall include technology that permits it to recover or decode any audio or data associated with any digital cellular telephone, regardless of the specific voice or data format(s) used by the cellular device.

I think something like that will be in it.

Why not? "Cellular" covers, what, four major bands plus others in some locales, now? And with it all being digital, and no scanner able to decode it, why keep the frequency restriction when it doesn't even matter anymore?
 

SCPD

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I'm guessing that they'll remove the obsolete restriction against scanners being able to monitor the 800 MHz cellular frequencies but make additional changes that preserve the original INTENT of that law,
only written in a more technologically agnostic manner. Rather than restrict by frequency, they will
instead write it so it states "No scanning radio device shall include technology that permits it to recover or decode any audio or data associated with any digital cellular telephone, regardless of the specific voice or data format(s) used by the cellular device.

I think something like that will be in it.

Why not? "Cellular" covers, what, four major bands plus others in some locales, now? And with it all being digital, and no scanner able to decode it, why keep the frequency restriction when it doesn't even matter anymore?

I agree... But why write a standard/law which prohibits what is technologically infeasible in the first place?
 

kruser

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Yep, I could see them wording in something that will protect discriminator taps in much the same way they made the manufacturers epoxy over the band switching circuitry so one could not easily modify a blocked scanner to receive the useless AMPS band via images by turning on/off various band switching components.

At least there is a licensed amateur operator involved so maybe some good could come from this on the RF side of things. I could see them lifting the obsolete AMPS band block but at the same time, adding some other type of block or restriction like some countries require today.

It will be interesting to keep an eye on this and see what becomes proposed for the future of the radio monitoring hobby.
 

SCOTTER

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I think the easy set up scanners will fall into the scumbags hands and the more PD finds on drug busts the worst things will get and next thing we will have fire and dot trucks to listen to.BTW I like it now they cant figure out the scanners we have now thier too stupid most of them anyway.
 
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I think the easy set up scanners will fall into the scumbags hands and the more PD finds on drug busts the worst things will get and next thing we will have fire and dot trucks to listen to.BTW I like it now they cant figure out the scanners we have now thier too stupid most of them anyway.


SCOTTER...Not picking a fight..But

I cannot recall where,during a real take down where on the table of items
seized there was a radio for monitoring PS bands..

I live in a DRUG RICH environment. I watch plays go on every day.Day in,,Day out.
Not out while working...In front of my residence...they are sloppy.and for the most part
lazy.habitual...I live in the 12 district..,philadelphia USA..

First hand,Ill tell you.Dealers,,Your giving them a great deal of credit.As criminal as
they are,they have little to no clue what to listen for.Let alone being able to use a radio
to a tactical advantage..

Your dealing with a demographic that is so wrapped into pop culture,their smart phones,
clothing...theres little desire to take the time to learn the nomenclature public safety uses
to even know the patrol areas,SP OPs overlaps,Specialty district units..ect...

I do agree,to a degree.IF your dealing with level of offender that indeed has the knowledge
of police communications then your problem is Not bad guys using radios.its professional
pipe hitters doing hi risk jobs with the intent,ability and desire to not get taken down.And
once your at that level chances are the players that get the job,theyll be on encrypted comms.
detectives,auto theft TF,,org crime..narco TF Ops..they are all smart enough to go to nextel
Or DES2-3 ect..

Again,Ive not come aware of any such incidents.Maybe the agencies are not mentioning it,
they dont want to start any ideas in badguys minds..
 

SCOTTER

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You make some great points. I have seen my son put on his scanning app on his phone its a mess of talk groups and the delay is crazy long.I just dont want our hobby messed up.
 

starfury22

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Communications Act of 1934

This opens a Pandoras' Box. The current administration only cares about giving the commercial interests just what they want, and amateur radio always suffers. Wireless, aircraft, radar - they would all love to see amateur radio lose 2 meters and 440. Any time the government screws with anything, it gets screwed up.

Gary W4GT
 

DisasterGuy

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Just remember folks that much of what you are discussing has nothing to with the Communications Act but rather federal regulation that the act empowers the FCC to issue.
 
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I just dont want our hobby messed up.

Absolutely true and I do agree..the best I can see is that 10 years out we have some new blood in the hobby.
Like we came up on simplex and duplex with PLs and CTCSS and Ohhhh...Inversion!
...they will grow with apps and SDR..

And lets face it..as soon as a shiny new app comes along,with the new generations attn span..that should filter out a pile of fluff..what wil be left is the a fore mentioned future monitor-ers..(making up vocab as I go!)
and a small sliver of lo level crooks..

As far as the feeds..All out broadcast..But delay is a must.Id say a minimum of 15-20 maybe 30 minutes..Locals will have real time..But nationally and internationally theyll never know the difference.Gos for media also..I remember a radio show repeating word for word what the TAC teams were saying on the comms during the 2nd boston bombers takedown..It was just poor taste and worse to hear the lame recital..
 

AZScanner

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For those of you who think this will probably not affect the hobby we currently enjoy, let's take a stroll down memory lane and educate ourselves on what happened LAST TIME Congress wanted to monkey around with the Communications Act: “FARENHEIT 451 ?? “

This is what happens when Congress tries to "fix something". The notion that the ECPA of 1986 will be repealed is a pipe dream. If anything, they will expand it to cover 700MHz as well "to prevent terrorists from tuning in to the police band" and other such monsters-under-your-bed hysteria.

Think about it - isn't it convenient how all public safey agencies large and small are being migrated towards the 700MHz band by the FCC in the name of "interoperability"? I'm sure that's not by accident. Then along comes the good Congressmen to "fix some old antiquated laws and get them up to speed for the modern age". Folks, this is the writing on the wall. Fight this any way you can. They've tried to kill this hobby before (see link above). You can bet your next Tax Return that they will try again.

-AZ
 
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