Phew! Great. I can add this to my “fake news” column in the Hudson Division newsletter. 73 Ria N2RJ On Tue, May 14, 2019 at 7:18 PM Michel, Howard, WB2ITX (CEO) < wb2itx@arrl.org> wrote:
Hi Ria,
I was just about to send this to ODV... CQ is wrong.
It seems CQ missed the following on Page 71, which applies to the Amateur Vanity section:
SEC. 9. [47 U.S.C. 159] REGULATORY FEES. This section is no longer is effect as it has been amended by RAY BAUM’S Act of 2018, Title I, FCC Reauthorization, Public Law No. 115-141, § 102, 132 Stat. 348, 1082-86 (2018) (codified at 47 U.S.C. §§ 159, 159A).
I can't take credit for finding it - it was sent to me by Dave Sumner after he read the CQ piece...
73, Howard, WB2ITX
On 05/14/2019 7:16 PM, rjairam@gmail.com wrote:
ODV - (and particularly EC since this may be on your agenda next week)
It looks like the FCC wants to enact a $7 fee for vanity callsigns per the FY19 fiscal proposal (MD 19-105).
See here, page 73:
https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-19-37A1.pdf
What is our position on this? I would assume opposed since this would mean $70 every renewal which may be a financial burden on some hams. Some may even choose between ARRL membership and the vanity fee. In my former home country when the new regulator enacted the fee of TT$100 (~$14.75 USD) per year for amateur licenses (a more than ten fold increase) many simply opted out of membership in the national society, TTARS whose dues were also TT$100 annually.
It’s also unclear whether this is for new or existing licenses. Since it’s annual it seems to be for existing.
Generally I don’t oppose a small one time fee for each new vanity application as it cuts down on frivolous applications or attempts to game the system to lock up desirable calls in limbo. But $70 every renewal or even one time seems excessive.
73 Ria, N2RJ
-- Howard E. Michel, WB2ITX Chief Executive Officer ARRL, The National Association for Amateur Radio <https://maps.google.com/?q=tional+Association+for+Amateur+Radio&entry=gmail&source=g>®
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