FCC "received 650 comments and reply comments, most of which opposed" Mark Miller's so-called Digital Stone Age Petition RM-11392.
If you remember, a bulletin about this petition was sent out in December 2007, and many ham operators mobilized to respond to FCC at that time. The petition seeked to eliminate various digital data communications methods, including ALE and PACTOR, and to turn the clock back on digital innovation in the USA Amateur Radio Service. Thankfully, for the future of ham radio, the FCC reasonably considered it, and determined that it was neither convinced nor persuaded to pursue anything in Mr. Miller's petition. In FCC's official consideration statements, FCC specifically supports no finite limit of bandwidth for digital data emissions for the amateur radio service. FCC instead prefers to rely upon existing rules, and to encourage amateur radio operators to advance the radio art. FCC said that imposition of such limits might impede experimentation and technological innovation. Importantly, FCC also says that it does not believe that it is in the public interest to prohibit communications technology that is already in current use in the Amateur Radio Service. The following are a few key paragraphs of FCC's order denying the petition. 73--- Bonnie Crystal KQ6XA Full document: http://hflink.com/fcc/digitalstoneage/denied.pdf Excerpts: FCC ORDER Adopted: May 6, 2008 Released: May 7, 2008 "In this Order, we address a petition for rulemaking filed by Mark Miller (Miller), requesting amendment of the Commission's Amateur Radio Service rules to revise the operating privileges for amateur radio service stations that transmit data emission types. Specifically, the Petition requests that Sections 97.3, 97.221, 97.305, and 97.307 of the Commission's Rules be amended to revise various definitions and frequency privileges. Based upon the record before us, we deny the Petition." "On March 27, 2007, Miller requested that the Commission amend various rules that relate to use of amateur service spectrum by stations transmitting data and other narrow bandwidth emissions. Specifically, the petition requests that the Commission (1) amend the definition of data in Section 97.3(c)(2) to delete language added in the Commission's 2006 Omnibus Report and Order,3 (2) amend Section 97.221 to limit the subbands on which unattended operation of automatically controlled digital stations is permitted, and (3) amend Sections 97.305 and 97.307 to establish maximum necessary bandwidths for radioteletype (RTTY)4 and data emissions in the amateur high frequency (HF) bands." "As Miller notes, adoption of these proposed changes would result in 'a small number of wider bandwidth modes,' including Pactor III, not being authorized. In support of these requests, the petition states that 'emissions have crept into the narrowband RTTY/Data subbands in the 80 through 10-meter bands that are not appropriate for the RTTY/Data subbands,' and that 'stations under automatic control have taken advantage of loopholes created by terminology in the commission's rules'. We received over 650 comments and reply comments, most of which oppose the petition." "We are not persuaded that the petitioner has presented sufficient reason to justify the requested amendment. The present rules allow amateur stations to transmit PSK data emissions subject to the conditions that the station transmission shall occupy no more bandwidth than necessary for the information rate and emission type being transmitted,32 and that emissions resulting from modulation must be confined to the band or segment available to the control operator.33 We believe that these rules provide amateur service licensees the flexibility to develop new technologies within the spectrum authorized for the various classes of licensees, while protecting other users of the spectrum from harmful interference. We also believe that imposing a maximum bandwidth limitation on data emissions would result in a loss of flexibility to develop and improve technologies as licensees' operating interests change, new technologies are incorporated, and frequency bands are reallocated. Additionally, we believe that amending the amateur service rules to limit the ability of amateur stations to experiment with various communications technologies or otherwise impeding their ability to advance the radio art would be inconsistent with the definition and purpose of the amateur service. Moreover, we do not believe that changing the rules to prohibit a communications technology currently in use is in the public interest." "CONCLUSION AND ORDERING CLAUSES" "Based on the record before us, we conclude that Miller has not set forth sufficient reasons for the Commission to propose to delete the 2006 addition to the definition of data, amend the rules to prohibit automatically controlled stations from transmitting on frequency segments other than those specified in Section 97.221(b), or replace the symbol rate limits in Section 97.307(f) with bandwidth limitations. Consequently, we deny the Petition." " IT IS ORDERED that, pursuant to Section 1.407 of the Commission's Rules, 47 C.F.R. § 1.407, the Petition for Rule Making submitted by Mark Miller on March 27, 2007, RM-11392, IS DENIED." --
