[opendtv] Re: FCC Opens TV Spectrum for Broadband Use
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 9 Dec 2010 07:00:18 -0500
At 3:00 PM -0600 12/8/10, Manfredi, Albert E wrote:
The fact that this behavior is similar to an isolated case in New
London (involving redevelopment of some land) does not mean that we
should hope for the government to operate this way all the time,
Craig. Just as you object about that land dispute in New London, you
should also object about a notion that had the FCC yanking away FOTA
spectrum to hand it over to those who would give the government more
revenues with the latest fashionable trend.
The New London case was not isolated; it went to the U.S. Supreme
Court and has become a precedent that has allowed local governments
to do the same all over the country.
And NO, I do not support this!
Our forefathers fought a revolution to free the colonies from a
government that did things like this. We created a Constitution that
purposely limited the size and powers of the Federal Government, a
Constitution that says our rights are inalienable and ARE NOT granted
to us by politicians.
And now we have exactly what our forefathers were trying to prevent.
One can rightfully question whether the government should have any
control over the spectrum. The issue that somebody needs to manage
the use of the spectrum is a separate question. Governments around
the world quickly assumed this power when the politicians began to
grasp the tremendous opportunity to use the spectrum to control
speech and promote their agendas.
Here in the U.S. we let the situation with broadcasting spin out of control.
We made a deal with broadcasters to use the spectrum for essentially
nothing, in return for the provision of a regulated public service.
These licenses allowed for basic spectrum management, and to limit
the number of voices that could use this precious resource.
For a time broadcasting was a tremendously powerful and economically
lucrative use of this spectrum. Unfortunately, this is where the
government screwed up. They allowed broadcasters to create a market
for broadcast licenses...to SELL spectrum which they were being
loaned. The government DID NOT participate in the sale of these
licenses other than to approve the transfers; it did not receive a
dime of the proceeds.
Herein lies the problem we face today. Stations have huge book values
based on the prices - that some of them - paid for their licenses.
The government cannot yank away the FOTA spectrum from the current
licensees, as this would be considered the "taking of property, even
though this property technically belongs to the government, or more
accurately the people.
I DO object to the government auctioning the spectrum. This is
nothing more than indirect taxation.
I also object to allowing a very large chunk of spectrum to be wasted
for a service that few Americans use. I will temper this by saying
that proper management of this spectrum could produce a broadcast
system that would do two things:
1. Provide a service that the vast majority of Americans WOULD use.
2. Provide ongoing revenues to the government for the use of this resource.
But this is not currently possible because Government supported
oligopolies collaborate with the politicians to protect their little
empires, and maximize the amount of money they can extract from the
citizens via regulatory manipulation.
We can do much better!
Regards
Craig
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