Tag Archives: Amateur

Update: Comment Deadlines Set in 76-81 GHz Proceeding

By FHH Law on March 6, 2015 Posted in Deadlines, Unlicensed Operations and Emerging Technologies

Dates are set for input on FCC proposals to relax the rules governing use of the upper reaches of the millimeter wave bands.… Continue Reading

On the 76-81 GHz Screen: More Radar, Less Amateur?

By Mitchell Lazarus on February 8, 2015 Posted in Unlicensed Operations and Emerging Technologies

Just a few years ago, technical constraints made it difficult to design equipment for the upper reaches of the millimeter wave bands. Since then, a corps of clever engineers have overcome the problems and applications have proliferated.… Continue Reading

Lawyer Responds to Amateur Radio

By Mitchell Lazarus on May 29, 2014 Posted in FHH, Unlicensed Operations and Emerging Technologies

A recent Reddit posting called me a "lawyer hostile to amateur radio." The charge of "hostility" is unwarranted and contrary to the facts.… Continue Reading

FCC Enforces Against Owner of a Well Pump

By Mitchell Lazarus on April 25, 2013 Posted in Enforcement, Unlicensed Operations and Emerging Technologies

A well pump? What makes the FCC think it has jurisdiction over pumps? Next, they'll be regulating the bathroom fixtures.… Continue Reading

FCC Reaffirms Broadband-over-Power-Line Rules

By Mitchell Lazarus on April 17, 2013 Posted in Unlicensed Operations and Emerging Technologies

We can hear you asking, "What, again?"… Continue Reading

Amateurs Challenge Broadband-over-Power-Line Rules

By Mitchell Lazarus on July 1, 2012 Posted in Deadlines, Internet, Unlicensed Operations and Emerging Technologies

You have to admire their persistence. The amateur radio association has yet again challenged the FCC's rules for Broadband-over-Power-Line, just as it has at every opportunity since 2003.… Continue Reading

Update: Effective Date of Revised BPL Rules Set

By FHH Law on November 21, 2011 Posted in Internet

The FCC's recent tweaks to its broadband-over-power-lines rules have made it into the Federal Register.… Continue Reading

FCC Fiddles with Rules for Broadband-over-Power-Line

By FHH Law on October 30, 2011 Posted in Internet, Unlicensed Operations and Emerging Technologies

The proceeding lurches on, Zombie-like, increasingly irrelevant in the real world. Yet nobody in Washington seems the least bit surprised.… Continue Reading

BPL Update: Comment Deadlines Established

By FHH Law on August 25, 2009 Posted in Unlicensed Operations and Emerging Technologies

The deadlines for comments on the Commission's latest inquiry in its efforts to finalize rules for Access Broadband-over-Power-Line (Access BPL) have now been set… Continue Reading

FCC Invites New Thinking on BPL Technical Issue

By FHH Law on July 21, 2009 Posted in Unlicensed Operations and Emerging Technologies

Once fired up, a regulatory dispute can stay active long after the underlying issues have ceased to matter. The BPL proceeding, even after six years, still has lots of life in it.… Continue Reading

Court to FCC: Not Bad, But Try Again

By FHH Law on May 6, 2008 Posted in Unlicensed Operations and Emerging Technologies

By Mitchell Lazarus
703-812-0440
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The day the D.C. Circuit decided ARRL v. FCC (the broadband-over-power-line case), I posted a brief summary of the decision.

The following is a more complete account, including background on past disagreements between the unlicensed-device industries and the amateur radio community.

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On April 25, an appeals court sent parts of the Broadband-over-Power-Line (BPL) rules back to the FCC for a second look. The challenged rules remain in force in the meantime.

So-called Access BPL, the form at issue here, is a technology for delivering broadband, including high-speed Internet, to homes and businesses over the electrical power lines. (Another kind, ...… Continue Reading

Court Questions BPL Rules

By FHH Law on April 25, 2008 Posted in Unlicensed Operations and Emerging Technologies

By Mitchell Lazarus
703-812-0440
email

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, responding to an appeal brought by the Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL), today sent parts of the Broadband-over-Power-Line (BPL) Rules back to the FCC for a second look. The challenged rules remain in force in the meantime.

The court was unhappy with two aspects of the FCC's decision-making process.

First: Among the many technical studies that played a part in the proceeding were five performed by the FCC itself. The FCC placed these in the public docket, but redacted some passages that it said were "preliminary or partial results ...… Continue Reading