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Sharing the Airwaves: Spread-Spectrum Broadcasting
NaDrew writes "From the SFGate: Hal Plotkin writes about how Spread-Spectrum broadcasting technology could revolutionize the way we listen to the radio, and make it incredibly easy for neo-broadcasters to start their own services. Sadly, he writes, the "often technically inept U.S. Congress has complicated the situation in recent years by shortsightedly instructing the FCC to sell or lease additional bands of spectrum that had been reserved for other uses." Not to mention "the media conglomerates that own most of the nation's TV and radio stations have a vested interest in the status quo and won't easily give up their hammerlock on what, in the end, are public airwaves." A fascinating article that also includes some history of Spread-Spectrum technology (did you know it was patented by Hedy Lamarr?)." A good primer to spread spectrum if you're new to the issue.
(did you know it was patented by Hedy Lamarr?)
That's Hedly!
*** Where are we going? And what's with this handbasket?
No! You don't say! What an obscure piece of historical trivia. Wherever did you discover that?
I suppose next you're going to bust out with the news that Milton Berle was hung like a horse.
Edith Keeler Must Die
RIAA: What, a new way to distribute music? Kill it quick, before we figure out that it could make us a boatload of money!!
US Military: That's our bandwidth! We need all the spectrum we can get to bomb an Afghan hut!
Steve Case: Did the military say bandwidth?? We should buy that up and meter it.