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The $10 Billion Poker Game Begins
Hugh Pickens writes "Monday was the deadline for potential bidders to file with the Federal Communications Commission over the auction of the 700-megahertz band, a useful swath of the electromagnetic spectrum that is being freed up by the move to digital television. Once bidders file they become subject to strict 'anticollusion' rules that in effect prohibit participants from discussing any aspect of their bidding until the auction is over. The next official word will be late December or mid-January, when the FCC announces who has been approved to bid. The auction will start on January 24. Participants will use an Internet system to enter bids on any of 1,099 separate licenses that are being offered (pdf). Most coveted seems to be the C block, 12 regional licenses that can be combined to create a national wireless network. This is the spectrum Google is presumed to be most interested in. The bidding will be conducted in a series of rounds (pdf)."
How many times does this need to be asked?
The government owns the airwaves.
Whether or not you like it, it's true.
You SHOULD like it, though, because it ensures things WORK.
It keeps people from stepping on each other's toes, and it keeps our communications working.
But hey - lets open up the spectrum. Information wants to be free. It's working great for the internet.
Can you imagine what would happen if airwaves were open?
People would set up towers in their yards and rent the bandwidth to advertisers.
You'll be getting spam on every tv channel, radio station, and phone call.
Your existing devices will cease to function.
Air traffic control will be screwed.
Fire and Police departments will essentially be DOSd.
The military will have HUGE problems.
Legally, it tends to fall under interstate commerce.
Practically, it tends to fall under really freaking important.
People who say we should open it up and just use multiplexing / packeting / encryption really don't understand what they're talking about. If you allow people to openly use these frequencies, they will openly compete by cranking up the power. No amount of tricky signal manipulation will save you from some jerk with a bigger tower than you. If you want to send something from A to B, and someone builds a tower right in the middle, you're screwed.
And worse than that is the fact that, when they're money involved, people will crack encryption and circumvent other controls. Just imagine being able to hijack a TV broadcast during the commercials. You can replace the ads broadcast by the tv station with ads you broadcast, supplied by the same sleazy scum sending spam.