Re: Whose Fault is the Bandwidth Expended Over Ads?

[Vincent Reh <VincentR -at- SC -dot- HARRIS -dot- COM>]

I believe the reason the FCC was established was to regulate frequency and
time allocations, not advertising (I think that's the FTC's bailiwick).
 With many hams coming on the air, the airwaves became impossibly crowded,
with numerous stations transmitting over each other, creating a huge mess of
unintelligible noise.  Radio is not selective to where it goes.  Once the
energy is radiated, that's it.  There's no way of preventing it from
reaching specific areas.

The internet is different, I think it's more like telephone communications,
more of a directed point-to-point type of thing.  I can send messages
selectively, unlike radio transmission.  With radio, anyone can receive the
radiated energy.

As far as anyone regulating E-mail, it's technologically very difficult.
 Radio and TV are easy, the FCC just simply monitors a broad range of
frequencies.  However, enforcement is not so easy.  Just listen to all the
prohibited and illegal activity that occur on the Citizen's Band.

I really don't think Washington, the FCC or the FTC or whatever, has the
money, time, or technical expertise to effectively monitor bulletin boards.
 I think it's too late.  It's just too big, and to complicate matters, it's
now on a worldwide scale.   Just about everybody and his brother has
relatively powerful communications technology in their own homes.  Not so in
the early days of radio.  Only a small number of hams were versed in the
mysterious new technology of wireless communications.

Even if the FCC did attempt to regulate things electronically, somebody
somewhere would figure out an easy, quick way to defeat it.  I think the
only way that regulation will work is if it's a form a self-regulation.  But
of course, that opens up a whole can of worms on censorship issues that I
don't have the wisdom, RAM, or time to resolve.

Just my $0.02 (0.014 CDN).

Vince Reh
Ham Radio WA2AUY
vincentr -at- sc -dot- harris -dot- com