Re: [Swprograms] OT: FCC BPL Meeting

[Joe Buch <joseph.buch@xxxxxxx>]

At 12:24 AM 9/27/04 -0400, maryanne kehoe wrote:

>Joe, I thought it was the LAW the FCC had to release the results of the
>tests.....has someone thought of doing a FOIA to get them?
>

ARRL tried.  FCC refused. FCC can refuse FOIA requests if the requested information is considered proprietary by somebody.  BPL manufacturers probably required FCC to agree that they would only cooperate in FCC tests if the test data were kept confidential to the government.  BPL is a competitive, commercial endeavour so test data could be considered proprietary by the manufacturers.  

The engineering folks at FCC have no interest in telling the Commissioners that their hair-brained enthusiasm for BPL is misplaced.  The ARRL is correct; the FCC wants BPL and is hell-bent to make it happen.  In my opinion, the whole comment process will do little to protect us from interference because the FCC engineers will find a way to tell their bosses what they want to hear.  To do other than that could be career limiting.  

This whole process is just another manifestation of how corporate intersts have captured this government.  There is little to distinguish the two major political parties in this matter. They both have endorsed cheap broadband for the masses. The FCC has told their political bosses that BPL is the answer for the rural areas, which also happen to characterize many of the swing states in the coming federal election. I do not expect a regime change in November, unlikely as that may be, to affect any FCC rulings in October.  So beating the bushes to get the data will do little for our cause. (Pun intended.)


~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,
Joe Buch
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