Not better than the second paragraph of your e-mail, Coy. But you can tell him that the FCC has very recently made some substantial changes in the licensing structure for Amateur Radio, and without any doubt at all, a further petition to FCC to change them yet again is, at this point, certainly doomed to failure as a practical matter. It would not matter whether ARRL filed such a petition or whether it came from any other source, the license structure was just revisited in Docket 05-235, which we heavily lobbied (in a way that would have made the various license classes more meaningful) The effective date of those new rules was February 23, 2007, a year and a half ago. FCC would never consider changing license classes, licensing requirements, or privileges this soon after the conclusion of a comprehensive license restructuring proceeding. But as I say, your point is more appropriate, though not want W5UC wants to hear. Licensing is not?a means of keeping people out who some think should not be on the air. It is?instead just?the?minimum level of qualifications to allow?shared use of the precious resource. Riley was always properly talking about how it is not for the FCC to regulate behavior on the bands unless it crosses?certain thresholds.?Prior to the time that those thresholds are met, and in?general,?successful shared use of the bands?depends on self-restraint by all concerned. 73, Chris W3KD ? Christopher D. Imlay BOOTH, FRERET, IMLAY & TEPPER, P.C. 14356 Cape May Road Silver Spring, Maryland 20904-6011 (301) 384-5525 telephone (301) 384-6384 facsimile W3KD@ARRL.ORG -----Original Message----- From: Coy Day <n5ok@arrl.org> To: arrl-odv <arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org> Sent: Mon, 18 Aug 2008 12:11 pm Subject: [arrl-odv:17088] Current Licensing Structure I have one Mike, W5UC, that insists that our licensing structure is broken and that the ARRL must fix it. I've relayed to him that their isn't much desire, at this point, to change the licensing structure. He didn't like that answer! He is saying that it is too easy to get a license and that the FCC is licensing those that are totally unqualified to be on the bands. My feelings are that we don't test people into being "fully qualified". We test to see if they are qualified to begin learning amateur radio through experience. Anyone have any good answers for Mike? Coy -- Coy Day, N5OK 20685 SW 29 Union City, OK 73090 405-483-5632