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Re: [colorforth] /. and the new bios

"Samuel A. Falvo II" <kc5tja@xxxxxxxx> writes:

> On Sunday 20 June 2004 07:22 am, Kurt B. Kaiser wrote:
>> becomes illegal for ISPs of any stripe to pass uncertified packets,
>> then the only solution is an entirely separate wireless net, or go
>> back to dailup BB :-(
>
> And there is something wrong with this?  Aside from speed issues, there 
> was a distinctly higher sense of community back in the BBS days.  The 
> wild success of things like Yahoo! Groups and competitors clearly 
> suggests the need for BBSes aren't over.  

You're right about that....although I prefer email lists like this
over BB (so long as they have archives).

> They merely became somewhat easier to access.

Well, given the software systems I use and develop on a daily basis,
it would be a pain to go back to 52Kbit downloads.  It's not unusual
to download 100 MB for an update.

Loss of high speed access would make efficient software much more
attractive.  Also, there were comments on this list some months back 
regarding a more efficient Forth-based net not using TCP/IP.  It's
not clear to me that great improvements in efficiency are actually
possible on non-switched channels, though.

People have gotten used to downloading large amounts of data off the
web.  Once you get used to that, it's hard to go back.

>> a real problem.  The spectrum will continue to be used, but illegally,
>> and with today's surveillance capabilities you could expect continuous
>> enforcement and strife.  The RF spectrum has been locked up since the
>> 20's and it's only recently that shared, unlicensed spectrum has been
>> permitted.
>
> As an amateur radio licensee, I am closely involved with FCC happenings.  
> The FCC has supported "part 15" devices since at least before I was 
> born.  It had to, in fact, because all electronic gear produces some 
> form of radio wave emissions.  Part 15 "devices" are merely pieces of 
> equipment that exploit part 15 power level limitations to achieve "space 
> division multiplexing", which permits more units to be sold and not 
> interfere with each other.  It also completely circumvents expensive FCC 
> type approval processes (they get it approved for part 15 only, instead 
> of part 15 + whatever other FCC parts they normally would require).  

Is it practical to use Part 15 devices for a communication net?

> It will be nearly impossible to regulate the illegal use of 802.11b
> however.  The frequencies are so high that point-to-point antennae
> with high gain characteristics can fit in a briefcase.  The
> point-to-point nature of such a link makes RFDF (Radio Frequency
> Direction Finding) incredibly difficult, if even possible.  Multipath
> may result in multiple dead-ends.

I hope you are correct.  But it can still be illegal, with significant
penalties, and that would have a major chilling effect.

>> If usage becomes problematic in the eyes of government,
>> you can expect additional regulation.  Look at the situation with
>> satellite tv reception, or micropower FM stations.
>
> There are no laws preventing satellite TV reception.  Where did you get 
> this idea from?  What happened was that the TV broadcasters started 
> encoding their video streams using more and more complex scrambling 
> methods.  

I thought it was illegal to descramble a commercial satellite broadcast.

[...]

> Also, the FCC has fairly recently opened up for comments a notice
> for proposed rulemaking that would re-enable "community FM" stations.
> I don't know what happened since, as I'm not really a participant in
> that community.

I believe they were being lenient for awhile, then clamped down following
complaints from the majors.  I hope you're right about the new rule-making,
I haven't been subscribed to QST for a couple of years.  It certainly
seems to me that the community FM stations don't cause objectionable 
interference and do serve community interests.

-- 
KBK

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