Such a Tragedy, he should be hung and beat with a cat-o-nine-tails.
Just another example of a bunch of loser dinosaurs that run a overbearing Government agency wasting our money trying to enforce "rules" ( not even Laws ) that are ancient, outdated, and ( as we have seen before) unenforceable.
To start off, if you go back years ago when the united states district attorney tried and failed to stop ranger from importing these dangerous radios into our country, the judge ruled that the Actus reus was "Mala prohibita" (refers to offenses that do not have wrongfulness associated with them.) Parking in a restricted area, driving the wrong way down a one-way street, jaywalking or unlicensed fishing are examples of acts that are prohibited by statute, but without which are not considered wrong. Mala prohibita statutes are usually imposed strictly, as there does not need to be mens rea component for punishment under those offenses, just the act itself. For this reason, it can be argued that offenses that are mala prohibita are not really crimes at all, and not "Mala in se" (meaning crimes that are thought to be inherently evil or morally wrong, and thus will be widely regarded as crimes regardless of jurisdiction.) Mala in se offenses are felonies, property crimes, immoral acts and corrupt acts by public officials.
Ya I am going to lose a lot of sleep knowing someone is communicating on a frequency declared "illegal" by a bunch of FCC field agents who don't have the training to operate a FRS radio.
Just My humble opinion of course.
73
Jeff
Well said, Jeff.
Seems appropriate at this time for me to say some things about those who are supposed to watch over us in regard to freeband use. But take this all with a grain of salt; or accept it for what it is. Nevertheless; it is all true to the best of my knowledge and it is my public rebuttal for FCC actions taken out of turn. Let me make this point clear.
I received a letter via registered mail last month from our friends at the FCC. It was - of course - a letter of
warning and not a
citation. For those who are not aware, the FCC gives a warning letter which must be complied to, or further legal action is taken on any breech of federal law concerning radio use in general. If you receive a
citation; then it is a mandatory court appearance in federal court and fines can be levied.
The letter was signed by Laura L. Smith of the Enforcement Bureau of the FCC.
She claimed that I had already received 'several OO cards'; and thus the warning letter.
I never received one card - at all.
Again for those who do not know, 'OO cards' are sent from 'Official Observers'; Hams that are watching the Ham bands (as well as other freq's) that send cards as a warning to radio operators (Hams and non-Hams) for illegal operations - prior to FCC actions. The OO program is run by the ARRL, and Hams first must take written tests and understand federal law in these matters and then be approved by the ARRL. The ARRL OO program is an important, mandatory, and integral part of the warning process for Ham operators.
This process had apparently been violated in my case, as well as for others.
I immediately contacted a friend of mine that is the local OO coordinator, asking him to look into this matter and see if any cards had been sent to my callsign. He checked the database online and found out that that no such cards were issued or ever sent to me - whatsoever.
I can be left with no other conclusion that either those that run the ARRL OO program do not know how to handle their responsibility, or that the FCC
lied in order to speed up the bureaucratic process. Someone lied; that is only all to apparent. I know the OO coordinator in my area; and I consider him a friend and a fine Ham operator. I doubt very much that the ARRL bypassed their own process. So I can only conclude that the FCC lied and bypassed the legitimate process of OO's in order to issue warnings. Making null and void the reputation of the warning process and and those ARRL/OO's involved in it. Doesn't bode well for Laura Smith, unless she comes clean. At the very least, she should find who lied to her to clear her name and post.
AS far as I am aware of, only Ham operators have been targeted. I was not the only one to have been sent the 'letter.' If the FCC wanted to stop freeband use; then their plan is entirely ill-conceived. So what is left; what was their real motive? Keeping the freeband clear? Even IF they stopped all of the US freebanders; they cannot ever stop the multitude of other countries that use the freeband when radio skip conditions are occurring.
Enforcing the laws is the job of the FCC. Granted. I believe that some of these laws need to be reviewed and changed; but that is another kettle of fish. I complied to the FCC request to stop. But these recent FCC actions throw the warning process in disrepute and have made Laura Smith look like a joke. I can only reason that some yet unknown OO pulled her chain (lol) and coerced her into acting out of turn. IMO, that is the person that must answer for this. If this person is a ARRL/OO acting outside of the official sanction of position; then he must be asked to step down or be summarily dismissed.
...End rant