To: arrl-odv@arrl.org
X-MB-Message-Source: WebUI
From: Chris Imlay <w3kd@aol.com>
Date: Tue, 15 May 2012 17:33:13 -0400 (EDT)
Cc: apitts@arrl.org, lkustosik@arrl.org, dhenderson@arrl.org
Subject: [arrl-odv:20779]  FCC Docket 12-91;
 FCC Study of Amateur Radio Emergency Communications and Impediments
 to the Same


Greetings. Please embargo any distribution of this document until tomorrow afternoon late.
 
Attached are the ARRL's comments which will be filed tomorrow electronically in this docket proceeding. ARRL is responding to FCC's public notice released April 2 which asked for comment on the value of Amateur Radio emergency communications; possible enhancements to Amateur emergency communications; and impediments (e.g. CC&Rs) that limit Amateur Radio emergency communiciations capabilities.
 
Because of the very short fuse for preparation of these comments; the heavy burden of proof that is on us to prepare for a "round two" in Congress with respect to CC&R preemption; and the sheer volume of information we felt we needed to present to the Commission in order to meet that burden, we used a different method of preparing comments for filing than we usually do. First, Kay Craigie, Dave Sumner and I collaborated on a strategy for these comments. Because it would be impossible to quantify the number of Amateurs subject to CC&Rs and the inability to avoid them, we had to use two different methods of making our case. The first was to come up with some statistics that show that CC&Rs are pervasive and increasing nationwide. They really are, as our comments note in Section IV. The second, and this was Kay's idea (and a darn good one), would be to share a large volume of anecdotal "horror stories" about hams subject to CC&Rs. We discussed this strategy at length with the Executive Committee at our March in-person meeting and, with some refinements in the plan, they agreed.
 
The next step was to corral a drafting team, which turned out to be a very, very good and hardworking one. Dan Henderson and Alan Pitts developed and implemented several short-fuse surveys of hams. The first one asked about participation in emcomm activities. The second asked for experiences of hams with CC&Rs. With those stories, we asked for text of CC&Rs that the ham was saddled with and other information such as "could you have found other property not subject to CC&Rs?"
 
We struck a nerve on the latter survey. Hams responded in droves. And they told good stories, as Kay predicted they would. The bad news is that the pervasiveness of CC&Rs reflected in the survey results surprised even us. It is terrible, as your review of Exhibits C and D will reveal to you.
 
So, this filing was the product of a good team of drafters and a really good team of reviewers. Dan Henderson probably worked the hardest on this filing. He organized and shepherded the surveys and wrote sections II and III of the narrative and Exhibit B. Allen Pitts collaborated on the surveys and masterminded Exhibit C, which I think is the most compelling part of this filing by a long shot. Brennan Price contributed to Section III of the narrative and Exhibit B with technical informatoin that is very useful. I wrote Sections I, IV and V of the narrative and prepared from the survey results about half of the horror stories in Exhibit D. The rest were assembled by Allen, Brennan and Dan. Finally but not least in the preparation, a lot of good work on Exhibits A and C was done by Lisa Kustosik, Gail Iannone and Ken Bailey.  The Executive Committee, and especially Dave Sumner, Cliff Ahrens, Kay Craigie, Dick Isely and Jim Fenstermaker helped edit this and made it a lot better than it was when they got it.
 
There is no reply comment period in this case, which is a good thing because the Community Associations Institute (CAI), our arch-enemy on CC&Rs, is aware of this and has exhorted its members to file comments. They can't really hurt us on the initial filing but they could if given a chance to reply. As it is, they don't get to, at least not officially. We haven't seen many comments yet from HOAs. There are over 100 comments filed so far, principally from individuals. We will be networking this with our friends at DHS' Office of Emergency Communications and in the FCC Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, and with the WTB also, once filed.
 
Let me know any questions you have. Thanks to the Executive Committee, which strategized this with Kay and Dave and me, provided good edits to a huge document, and approved this filing. I won't speak for any of them, but I think we made a pretty compelling case for some preemption relief from CC&Rs. You make the call....
 
73, Chris W3KD
 
P.S. A good Dayton to all.
 
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

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