----- Original Message ----- From: "John Scrivner" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "WISPA General List" <wireless@wispa.org> Sent: Sunday, April 22, 2007 12:50 PM Subject: Re: [WISPA] FCC Admits Mistakes In Measuring Broadband Competition
> Mark, > As the "driver of the bus" I feel compelled to reply. You certainly do a > god job of selling your ideas. I could almost decide to mutiny along > with you if I did not believe that part of doing business is to obey the > laws of the land. But I am not talking about "mutiny". Where is the unwritten rule that whatever Uncle Sam wants, he gets without argument? There is a very much alive principle that there is going to be contention between those un-elected regulators and those they seek to regulate. If we have no choice, if we cannnot argue back, then we live in a society I no longer recognize nor want to live in. If it is WISPA's position that we cannot lobby, argue, and publicly campaign against things they do wrong, then WISPA's wrong too. > > So far the government of the United States has asked some fairly basic > things of me and our industry in order to be able to use the airwaves > for free in the United States and to freely operate our businesses. Baloney! I was BORN WITH THE RIGHT to do this. I do not owe the federal government one single IOTA of consideration. Sorry. I pay my taxes. That's my obligation. I do not OWE for the "privelidge" of being in business providing needed services. I do not owe one smidgeon of giving up privelege, rights, or anything else for doing what I do. If I owe ANYONE for the use of the public spectrum, then I owe the people I provide service to... to whom that spectrum belongs. They > have told me that I must use equipment which has been tested and > certified to comply with the rules. They have told me not to exceed > power levels. These are general principles we can all agree on. They want to know where we serve and how many people we > serve. They're welcome to poll my valley and find out, if they really want to know. Just demanding I do the work for them is wrong. Plain old wrong. Not to mention, they already admitted the information is useless anyway. Did we tell them we thought that was a bad idea way back when? Nope. Why the bloody hell not??? There's REAL stuff that can be done to advance what they want advanced, rather than waste our time, their time, and our money on pointless nonsense? Why weren't we advocating this all along? They want me to help them if they need to catch criminals who are > using our networks for planning criminal acts. No problem. But they can darn well pay for it. Each of these > requirements seem to be logical things a government would expect of the > businesses who serve the people that they represent. No, it's logical WANTS of a government. They have not the slightest IOTA of reason to expect we should volunteer our time, talents, and spend our money for their wants. I do NOT, nor does anyone else, OWE them this. They are MY SERVANTS. I am not theirs. I do not owe them the slightest consideration or otherwise. They OWE ME if they want me to do something for them. I do not like the > way many of these things are being handled by our government and I do > not like some of the rules but I have no problem complying with these > rules and laws. But you put yourself in the position of being the person to express FOR US, or objections. > > I feel it is WISPA's job to make sure operators know how to comply with > the rules and the laws and to try to lobby for change in the way > government interacts with us when we see it is being done wrong. If > WISPA ever develops a certification program for WISPs then we will, by > default, become somewhat of a policing agency for our industry at least > if people acknowledge us as an authority within the industry. The > policing authority would not move to the obstructive and intrusive > levels as described by you, Mark. It would simply be a self-imposed and > recognized certification system which others could support or in your > case probably ignore. I am sure part of the certification process would > involve an oath that an operator would follow the rules and laws of the > country they serve. Any industry trade association who offers a > certification process would require the same I would think. Works for me. > > There would only be government recognition of such a system if they > opted to recognize it officially in some way. An example might be that a > WISPA certified operator might be granted some leeway in mixing and > matching certified components in order to build certified systems which > may not have been tested in a lab as a system. Another example would be > that the FCC might develop band sharing rules where some bands could be > coordinated between certified operators. These are only examples for > reference sake. Right. These are items of negotiation between regulators and those wanting something. More to the point, they are the bits that get negotiated between those providing the services government wants provided... and those who provide those services. If they are doing their job, they're going to follow, at least to some degree, the input we give them. We have obstructions, they should help clear them, to whatever point they can. > > I do not wish to see WISPA become a body which openly attacks fellow > operators or works toward "turning in" operators to the government. If > the government wants to enforce their rules and laws then they can do > that. It is not our job to do that. I do not believe the government has > any intentions of using us for that purpose and I would never support > such efforts. In short WISPA is not out to get you and never will be. Never say never, they say. What will you do when the FCC or FBI comes and says " we want you to help us enforce... blah blah"? You're going to have a hard time saying "no" when you have already made a policy of always saying "yes". You will have to "blow" that non-existent 'goodwill'. It wont' have bought us or anyone else a thing. How many times must I say it? It would be far better to have a solidly honest position of ALWAYS standing up for our industry, in everywhere way, in opposition to EVERYTHING negative. > > I think one of WISPA's jobs is to allow some open access for industry > debate and discussion about issues. I openly support having Mark and > others to air their ideas, even when, and especially when, those ideas > conflict with WISPA policy and/or views of leadership. This public list > is here to be that forum. To serve the industry we must hear from the > industry. WISPA is here to serve our members but it is more important > for us to serve the entire industry. That means we have to hear from > them and consider what is best for the industry as our first priority. > > Mark, thank you for sharing your views. We want to hear them. I > certainly hope you find some way of running your business without > getting shut down. I worry that your complete shunning of the rules > could be your undoing someday. I am not advocating "shunning the rules". I am advocating telling those making up the rules as they go, TO BACK OFF BECAUSE THEY ARE COUNTERPRODUCTIVE! It is both our privelege and our duty to tell them to back off when they cross their proper boundaries. And we should be utterly unafraid to do so. WISPA is not here to stop you though. I > certainly would not want my business to be in the jeopardy that you > face. You should probably pray that you never have a terrorist or a > murderer using your network to plot some murderous act. If the Law > Enforcement Agencies cannot track this activity then I am almost sure > you will lose your business. Having an uncertified antenna is one thing > but ignoring CALEA is one of those things that is a deal breaker with > Uncle Sam I am thinking. Good luck with that whole "ignoring the rules" > thing you have going there. I do not see much future in it myself. Again, you mistake what I think. While you SAY that you want other people's opinions, to publicly tar them with denigrating labels, accusing them of doing or being certain things... You're trying to stifle debate, not encourage it. It all boils down to this... Are you (and I mean WISPA people who go to DC) going to work at ingratiating youself in DC, or are you going there to fight for your industry? Which is it? The two are NOT compatible, no matter what some people might think. > Scriv -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
