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FCC: Only We Can Regulate Unlicensed Spectrum
rfc1394 writes "In an article in ComputerWeekly, it was announced that the FCC has ruled that it has final jurisdiction over unlicensed wireless space, meaning that an airport authority can't force airlines to (pay to) use its wireless network and they may set up and use their own. This bodes well for the development of wireless networks in various areas as it means that you have the right to set up your own network even if your landlord would want you to use theirs."
This makes it clear... anybody has the right to operate a WiFi device within the FCC-set limits, and if it bothers your WiFi device then well tough. It's unlicensed, but not unregulated.
Why abolish the FCC? They stick up for the little guys, too.
Does this mean colleges can't prevent their students from setting up their own wireless networks?
Suppose you are an exhibitor at an expo.
Can the management of the expo say that you cannot hook up a Wi-Fi router to the network that they have a monopoly over in the convention center?
Outside of Manhattan, you could just go find someplace else to live. Yay capitalism!
Manhattan OTOH is hell for both renters _and_ landlords.. Boo WWII emergency rent control!
(Less'n you can pay $4k/mo for 2br... Or move to the outer boroughs like any rational techie would since broadband became available..)
By extention, this basically says that users are allowed to operate any Part 15 compliant devices anywhere they're allowed to physically possess them... and anybody who wants to resolve conflicts in a high-traffic area must go through the FCC if they want anything more binding than handshakes.
When the FCC gives bandwidth space to the people, it belongs to the people.
Opti-Fi Networks has been affected by this a few times. Several port authorities have demanded that we remove our AP's pending their approval, effectively removing competition in these markets. On the other hand, when the port authority runs things, the wireless networks tend to be more designed with the "total package" in mind -- the whole airport is usually wired then, and not just Airtran (In the case of Opti-Fi) gates.
Freqency division multiplexing (ie. dividing the spectrum into frequency bands) is the old way of doing things. In the 21st century, radio transmission will be done using spatial, frequency and temporal coding (and maybe others).
Using only frequency division multiplexing is like living in a one dimensional world, not realising that the world has at least three dimensions which you can move around in. Correspondingly, in a multidimensional world, it is possible to avoid collisions that would otherwise occur in a one dimensional world. In other words, combining spatial, temporal and frequency coding allows many more users to use the electromagnetic spectrum.
A consequence of such a move is that it is no longer possible to just talk about radio frequencies. It become a more generalised mish-mash involving frequency, time of transmission and location of transmission. Any of these can be used to differentiate a user. A 'code' is a generalised multidimensional version of a frequency.
Welcome flatlanders, to the multidimensional world.
The FCC has jurisdiction as determined by Congress, as delineated by the Communications Act of 1934 (and subsequent amendments), which is codified as Title 47, United States Code (47 USC).
The FCC Rules and Regulations, which are the implementation of the authority granted through Title 47, United States Code, are delineated in Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations (47 CFR). The 'unlicensed' stuff is spelled out in Part 15 of the FCC Rules and Regulations (47 CFR 15).
The important points are:
1.) The FCC determines how the non-government frequency spectrum is to be divvied up.
2.) Just because something is not licensed per se does not mean it's not under FCC authority. The various broadcast stations (AM, FM, and TV), two-way land mobile (taxis, trucking companies, state/county/municipal emergency services, etc.), as well as amateur radio, are all _licensed_ services - stations are assigned callsigns, are given individual authorizations to operate, etc.
Certain other activities, such as Wi-Fi and CB radio, are not _licensed_ as such, but are _permitted_ under FCC R&R. If you insist on breaking the rules, be prepared to shell out upwards of $11,000 per day per violation - dozens of pirate FM broadcasters have already found that out the hard way.
3.) Congress reiterated this delineation of authority in Conference Report 97-765, where it declared:
The Conference Substitute is further intended to clarify the resolution to the Federal Communications Commission over matters involving RFI. Such matters shall not be regulated by local or state law, nor shall radio transmitting be subject to local or state regulation, as part of any effort to resolve an RFI complaint.
(HR Report No. 765, 97th Cong., 2 Sess 33 (1982), reprinted at 1982 US Code Cong & Ad News 2277).
IANAL, but have been an FCC licensee for over 35 years. The various appendices in the ARRL FCC Rule Book go into much further detail.
You know, I always hear about the Port Authority (mostly of New York, but now of MA). What exactly do they do? Jump on every boat that comes into harbor and obtain duty taxes?
Just wait for the DMCA-related exceptions to start rolling in, late 2005. Once **AA realizes people are setting up unregulated spontaneous exchanges of data, they start trying to find ways to restrict it. Of course, you can always help keep them at bay by supporting the EFF...
So... Only the FCC can regulate the use of the RF spectrum. Okay, clear enough...
What implications does this have for the ubiquitous banning of cell phone use on airplanes (in favor of the much more expensive payphones they have available for passengers who really need to make a call)?
Personally, I've always considered the cell phone ban during flights as nothing short of offensive. Yeah, suuuuure it interferes with their navigation. Hey, guess what, if cell phones interfered with airplane navigation, the very fact that your phone can get a signal (from huge many-megawatt transmitting cell towers) would cause far more problems than the RF output of your sad little portable transmitter (aka "phone").
Any thoughts, from someone who might really know the answer to this? Cell phones now kosher, or no? How about WAPs (ie, networked games between two people with 802.11 on their laptops on the same flight)? How about VOIP, if you can get a signal?
Here's a question point: If I have an FCC-approved wireless networking device (say, a cellphone), and I take it to work, can my employer prohibit me from using it?
I'll bet you anything the answer is "yes" if my employer's the NSA. :)
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I wouldn't get too excited. The FCC has authority derived from the interstate commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution. Technically they have no authority to govern intrastate radio emissions. This has had little challenge in the federal courts up to now, because nobody gave a crap. There was no significant money to be made or lost one way or the other. However, this situation is different. There is significant money at stake. Look for challenges to FCC jurisdiction to spring up. Who knows, maybe a case will make it to the Supreme Court and put the FCC in their place with regards to this issue and similar issues.
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What about the courts that just ruled against the new FCC rules? If the FCC is the only one who has final authority to regulate the spectrum, then doesn't the court's ruling become moot? I wonder what they would have to say about that...
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building a structure with metal walls.
The building that I own, live in, and run my business in was originally built in 1946. It's built like a blockhouse -- 16" concrete walls, small windows with steel bars behind them, and so on. Cellphones don't work worth a damn in here. That doesn't hurt my feelings at all because my business is a movie theatre.
On the negative side, AM and FM radio signals aren't worth listening to here either, so to get around this I have a car radio with an outdoor antenna set up in my kitchen so I can listen to the news.
If you're a zombie and you know it, bite your friend!
A homeowner's association is a private body, not a governmnent agency. As such, it can require through the contract and restrictive covenants certain requirements a government agency could not, such as prohibiting you from, say, painting your house a certain color or having a stained-glass window of Jesus or painting a cross or Star of David on your house.
The lessons of history teach us - if they teach us anything - that nobody learns the lessons that history teaches us.
Otherwise I suppose he'd even be able to say that your PC emits spurious radio emissions and your not allowed to use it in the apt. that your renting from him . . . even though the FCC says that the computer is adequately shielded and what little emissions come from your PC are irrelevant.