I do not recall a single instance of anyone in the Southwestern Division complaining about pecuniary interest and communications on behalf of an employer in the amateur bands. The only case I recall that seemed possibly over the boundary was the one about the commercial bicycle tour group using Amateur Radio to report where they were in areas with no cell-phone coverage. This seemed innocuous enough that it really didn't bother me. I do not feel that this current flap has done Amateur Radio any good. Somehow a problem has been discovered and considerable attention is now being given to it where I never noticed a problem. These days, essentially all the positive publicity we get comes from emergency communications. It does us good to get as many people involved in Amateur Radio Emcomm as we can, even if some of them are involved through their employment. They learn about ham radio and are likely to support us. Humans have constructed an amazing cell-phone network that is very reliable, reasonably priced, and simple to use. Other than in emergencies, people will use cell-phones for communications, not Amateur Radio. Most of us do these days. If the threats to Amateur Radio posed by local governmental restrictions on antennas and by HOA restrictions are rated in the 90s on a scale of 0 to 100, the threat posed to us by pecuniary-interest communications can be calculated to be approximately 0.00342. I'm in favor of returning to where we were before the Bill Cross missive. At this point I'd support eliminating restrictions as much as possible. 73, Dick Norton, N6AA On Mon, Dec 28, 2009 at 1:18 PM, Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ <dsumner@arrl.org> wrote:
Item 10.d. on the draft agenda for next month’s Board meeting is the development of the ARRL position on possible amendment of the FCC rules concerning pecuniary interest and communications on behalf of one’s employer (Section 97.113). To assist the Board in its deliberations the Executive Committee requested that an options paper be prepared. General Counsel Imlay and Regulatory Information Manager Henderson developed an excellent paper, which is attached for your review.
There will be ample opportunity for discussion of the issues addressed in this paper at the meeting, but of course any consideration that you can give to them in advance of the meeting will facilitate the Board’s work.
73,
David Sumner, K1ZZ
Secretary
<<97.113 Options FINAL.doc>>