Re: [Discuss-gnuradio] "a bad idea"? FCC interest

[John Gilmore]

> "The software radio is a really bad idea," Brodersen concluded.

Boy, our stuff is barely working yet, and already it's being dissed.

There are places in the market for everything.  It remains to be seen
whether software radios' flexibility will find niches that value it
more than longer battery life (in battery operated stuff), etc.

I've appended another perspective, from the FCC.

        John

Forwarded-by: Will Doherty <address@hidden>
Subject: FCC Commissioner Martin on Copy Protection
...

FCC Commissioner Martin Addresses Spectrum Management
2/1. FCC Commissioner Kevin Martin gave a speech to the
Federal Communications Bar Association in Washington DC. Among the issues
which he addressed were spectrum management and copy protection.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Spectrum Management. He stated that "recent technological
changes allow us to take sharing to new levels. Satellite and terrestrial
sharing scenarios, once believed impossible, are now becoming more
realistic. Sophisticated ultrawideband technology -- promising to deliver
data at faster speeds and lower power -- can potentially co-exist with
spectrum users in any frequency. Software defined radios allow quick
modification to transmit and receive on any frequency and in any desired
transmission format. Priority access capability allows for flexibility for a
higher valued use some of the time, without having to dedicate specific
frequencies to those uses all of the time. And DoD's "XG" program -- which
focuses on Next Generation communications devices to support military
deployment -- seeks to produce even further advances in spectrum sharing
technology through dynamic assignment of frequency, time and space."
--------------------------------------------------------------
Martin continued that "Our spectrum management objective
should be to create incentives for the efficient utilization of this
valuable resource at every given point in time, by both established users
and new entrants. What the Commission can do now to further these goals is
set policies that make sharing easier, and even desirable. For example, a
robust secondary market for spectrum and flexible allocations can create
strong incentives for making use of excess capacity."
--------------------------------------------------------------
Copy Protection. Marting stated that "The movie studios,
broadcasters, cable industry, and consumer electronics industry need to
reach an agreement on how digital content will be protected, and what rights
consumers will retain to make personal recordings. With Ken Ferree and Rick
Chessen's leadership, we've had several industry wide meetings on this issue
that I understand brought the sides closer together. But they're not there
yet, and the lack of progress is seriously impeding the availability of
digital content -- and thwarting any progress in the transition. If further
progress is not made soon, the Commission may need to become more directly
involved."