FCC considering delay of white space vote at NAB's request
By Donald Melanson 
posted October 20th 2008 7:11PM
posted October 20th 2008 7:11PM
In a series of events that's becoming all too reminiscent of the National Association of Broadcasters' attempts to stifle the XM / Sirius merger, the FCC now says that it is considering the NAB's recent last-minute request to delay the forthcoming November 4 vote on authorizing unlicensed white space devices (or WSDs). According to Ars Technica, however, while the FCC is considering the proposal, it's hardly enthused about it, with agency spokesperson Rob Kenny saying that it is "important to note that this proceeding has been open for several years and recently included multiple rounds of testing in the lab and field, which were open to the public and provided all interested parties with ample opportunities to comment and provide input." For its part, the NAB and a consortium of other broadcasters say that the FCC is relying on a "a flawed reading of the OET test results," and that if the vote passses, "WSDs will be let into the broadcast band without the protections that are necessary to prevent widespread interference to television and cable reception." As you might expect, the FCC hasn't yet tipped its hand as to when it might rule on the NAB's request, but if it does get its way, the vote would be delayed 70 days for a public comment cycle, or conceivably longer if the NAB finds another wrench to throw into the works.[Via CNET News]
Smells of racism to me!....I wonder how it would be if it was called black space instead of white!
Fifteen words too long. You were doing good too.
Check out the brains on rita. Hi rita, Oh, I'm sorry. Did you say something?
F*** the NAB. Two ginormous companies (microsoft and google) wanting me to have basiclly free internet and these douche bags want to stop it, things like this hit a nerve. This plus the Pandora BS they tried to pull should be illegal
The FCC should nab their power.
Good! If you read the OET report, you find the WSDs tested failed the wireless mic test. One device decided that every channel had a mic on it, the other found open channels that actually had mics on them.
On top of that, it caused interference to cable, which could only be fixed by replacing all the coax with "laboratory grade" cable. I don't know who would pay for all that coax to be replaced, as I imagine a lot of installations are done by consumers or by contractors, not by the cable company. I doubt the non-techie person would be terribly happy with having to have all the coax in their walls ripped out and replaced with new, more expensive cabling.
Kevin Martin seems hell-bent on forcing WSDs through before he leaves, but he's ignoring all the actual technical evidence in the process. As nice as another ISP would be, I think the need for wireless mics and cable TV outweigh that consideration.
@Khris
Its not just the NAB talking. Try going to a concert and instead of hearing an epic guitar solo or singer, all you hear is weird fuzz and other interference as a few audience members try to check email or some other shit.
I like the concept, but it needs more R&D
It's up to all Americans to apply pressure on the FCC.
At absolute lazy minimum, send out the canned EFF email (but try to do more/spread the word):
http://action.eff.org/site/Advocacy?id=407
I agree with Trip and Lazerface. Their definitely needs to be more R&D. And what's with all the NAB bashing. Without the NAB we wouldn't have all the wonderful media that we currently enjoy.