This underscores the consequences of the League's decades long failure to fulfill its duty to Amateur Radio to maintain an educational program aimed at the general public. In the absence of knowledge anyone can fill that vacuum with false characterizations. There is a scene in A Christmas Carol in which the Spirit of Christmas Present opens the bottom of his red robe to disclose two feral children clinging to his legs. Responding to Scrooge's astonished reaction the Spirit tells Scrooge: "They are Man’s," said the Spirit, looking down upon them. "And they cling to me, appealing from their fathers. *This boy is Ignorance.* This girl is Want. *Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all** **beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom,* unless the writing be erased. Deny it!" The passage of 277 years does not alter the truth; if we do not tell OUR story, someone else will. ______________________________________ John Robert Stratton N5AUS Director West Gulf Division Office:512-445-6262 Cell:512-426-2028 P.O. Box 2232 Austin, Texas 78768-2232 *______________________________________* On 1/17/21 10:31 AM, Bob Famiglio, K3RF via arrl-odv wrote:
And as we discussed as a concern earlier in the week, even the FCC statement conflates our part 97 amateur service with all the other part 95 personal radio services. The statement reinforces the idea that the public sees all those personal radios as Ham radios. What’s worse, it suggests that all amateur radio use would automatically be by licensed hams operating those radios illegally. I suspect most users in any incident will be non-licensed operators or if licensed otherwise (any radio service) will not be announcing any proper call sign and therefore operating as unlicensed. Not much we can do except educate the public consumer of such generalized or partially misleading information, even though such statements may have been innocently issued to the public.
*Bob Famiglio, K3RF*
*Vice Director - ARRL Atlantic Division*
*610-359-7300*
www.QRZ.com/db/K3RF
*From:* arrl-odv *On Behalf Of *n2cop@ec.rr.com *Sent:* Sunday, January 17, 2021 10:54 AM *To:* 'ODV' <arrl-odv@arrl.org> *Subject:* [arrl-odv:31734] FCC Issues Statement Against Illegal Use of Ham Radio
The FCC released this statement Sunday morning. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-17/lin-manuel-miranda-joins-... <https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-17/lin-manuel-miranda-joins-list-of-entertainers-inaugural-update?utm_source=google&utm_medium=bd&cmpId=google>
The board was wise in developing and having a similar statement already prepared.
*FCC Warns About Use of Ham Radio to Commit Crimes (10:23 a.m.)*
Licensed amateur and personal radio services shouldn’t be used to coordinate criminal acts, the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau warned after reports that some people were looking to radios as an alternative to social media platforms, which are being monitored by law enforcement following the deadly Jan. 6 raid on the U.S. Capitol.
“The Bureau reminds amateur licensees that they are prohibited from transmitting ‘communications intended to facilitate a criminal act’ or ‘messages encoded for the purpose of obscuring their meaning,” the agency said in a statement Sunday.
The licensees, which would include Citizens Band radios, Family Radio Service walkie-talkies, and General Mobile Radio Service, would face fines, seizure of their equipment and possible criminal prosecution.
73 de Bill Morine, N2COP
Vice Director – Roanoke Division
/Representing ARRL members in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia/
www.arrl-roanoke.org <http://www.arrl-roanoke.org/>
Facebook Page: ARRL Roanoke Division
ARRL – The National Association for Amateur Radio
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