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Does OSS Make The FCC Irrelevant?

Posted by Zonk on from the not-irrelevant-if-uncle-sam-doesn't-want-it-to-be dept.

JordanL writes "Daniel Fisher over at Forbes.com wonders whether or not OSS makes the FCC irrelevant. From the article: 'The agency might have made sense in the 1920s, Moglen says, when it was formed to assign specific frequencies to broadcasters so they wouldnt try to drown each other out by cranking up the transmitter power. But a new generation of intelligent radios, combined with equally clever computer networks, is making it possible for anybody to use the airwaves without interfering with anybody else.'"

3 of 256 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Idiot. by theJML · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yeah, I mean, if we didn't have the FCC, who would fine TV stations for showing bare asses and hot cheerleaders during football games?

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    -=JML=-
  2. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 3, Funny

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  3. 'broadcasting is unconstitutional' by digitaldc · · Score: 3, Funny

    "...GNU Radio is developing a new generation of radios and TV receivers that use software for just about everything except the antenna and the power source. The FCC can prohibit manufacturers from selling radios that transmit on illegal frequencies, but it would have trouble shutting down a Web site distributing software that does the same thing."

    Look dude, I just got a brand GNU radio!

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    He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson