Gift to

Th e Comm issio n s tated ,
" Lo ok hold er' s tra nsmission
cannot be treated the same as
wor ds spo ken In private, words
spoken in public, or printed
words . The Cou rts, Congress,
and the Commi ssion have recognized
that radio communication
s have special qualities
which di stinguish them from
other modes of communication
and expression ." (At this point,
the finding s cited various cas es
in which broa dcasters were involved,
inc luding the famed Pacifica
case involving radi o station
WBA I in New York.) Co ntinuing
. . . " Thus while the use of
certain expre ss ions such as (expletive
deleted) displayed in writing
in public may be protected
forms o f speech, neverthe ­
less , government may properly
act in many situati ons to prohibit
intrusion int o the privacy of
home of unwelcome views and
ideas wh ich ca nnot totall y be
barred from the public dialogue."
In essence, you can say
w hat you wa nt in publi c, but if
you do it on the radio , you can be
held responsibl e for your wo rds.
Maybe my inte rpretation is a bit
simp le, but I think it fits.
The finding went on: " The
Commissi on has det ermined
that the transmi ssi on of radio
communicat ions containing
ce rtain exp lic it wo rds (and
for ms thereof)... are paten tly
offe nsive to listeners, and that
radio communicat ions containing
such words fall wit hin the
prohib iti ons of 18 U.S.C. 1464.
Consequen tl y, these exp ressio
ns are prohibited by Section
97:119 of the Commission's
Rules. Because of the nature of
the Amateur Radio Service and
its broad band of frequenc ies instead
of limited channels, the
audience of 350,000 amateur radio
licensees and in add it ion
shor twa ve listeners and those
st udying for an amateur licen se
are constantly tuning in and out
of the radio bands and are subjected
to unexpected contents
of the communications. Like the
broadcast in Paci fica, Lookholder'e
tra nsmissio ns were uni quely
access ible to children and
could have enlarged a child's
vocabulary in an instant, unli ke
w ritt en messages."
Unles s I read so methi ng
wron g, in this fi ndi ng th e Commi
ssion not es that the public
has a right to be protected from
being forced to list en via electromagneti
c communicatio n to
anything it deems to be offensive,
and cites the case of Pacifica's
WBAI in which listeners
were " treated" to what some felt
was off ensive material. They
th en stated tha t the actions of
Lookho lder and those of Pac ifica
were one and the same, thus
cit ing action in ano ther service
as preced ence in the revocati on
of Lookhold er'e license.
" Moreover, Lookholder's repeated
tr ansm iss ion of o b­
scene, indecent, or profane language
and its lntentlo nal Interferen
ce with the tran smissi ons
of other amateur li censees
establishes a record of ors!nclln
atlon to comply with Commiss
ion rules. Thus revocation
is not only warranted , but essential."
I th ink that no comment is
necessary, as t hi s sec ti on
speaks for itself.
The anger of the amateur
communit y w as als o not ed:
" Look holder' s tr ansm issions
have ange red the ama teur community.
The amateur community
mus t be assured th at the
Co mmissio n is prepared to act
severely wh en its rules and regulati
ons are bla tantly disregarded
by amateur licensees, suc h
as Lookho lder." Her ein the
Commission wa s obv io us ly
mak ing reference to th e myriad
of comm u ni c ati ons se nt to
th em on th e matt er by amateurs
of thi s area who were more than
a bit upset by the situation. Obviously
I am not a lawyer, but I
sus pect that th is fin ding may
give crede nce to the viability of
suc h complaints as the basis for
invest joat tnq such instances as
this .
The rest of the ord er was the
necessary lega lese to invoke
the revocatio n of Lookholder's
li cense. However, a fo otn ot e
was added that is of extreme
significance in that it tie s togethe
r virtually all forms of radi o
transmission under the obscenity
ban. It reads as foll ows:
" The Commission's enunciation
that suc h words fell wit hin
the proh ib ition of 18 U.S.C. 1464
was within the context of Broadcas
t Radio Stations. Of particular
conce rn was the protecti
on of c hildren and unconsenting
adults who do not want such
language tra nsmi tt ed into their
homes. These consi derat io ns
are equally tru e of the Amateur
Radio Service where ther e are
no minimum age requirements
for licens ing (97.9), where there
are, as th is case reveals, co m­
plai nts aga inst suc h language
on amateur radio , and where the
potential recepti on of the tran s­
miss ion is widespread, as co n­
firmed by the fac t that Lookholder's
transmissions were on
fr eq uen ci e s w ith potential
worldwide propagation."
I have stated in this column
many times that it is my belie f
that an amate ur license is not a
li cens e to say anything yo u
want, when you wa nt, whet her
your language is welcome or
not. Your license is a permit
granted to you by our govern ­
ment to communicate through
the use of electro magnetic rad io
at ion on pre-determined spectrum
in exact accordance with
regulations as set fo rth by the
governing body, l.e., the FCC. If
you are a jammer or thi nking of
beco ming a jamme r, then I suqgest
you weigh the potential
conseq uences. By this act ion ,
the Commiss ion has set a long
needed precedent that can be
used against you. They can ta ke
your lice nse. They can take other
punitive action. You might
even w ind up in prison, or at
least have to pay a stiff fine
along wit h court costs.
Whe n Lookholder pled guilty
and was hence conv icted , many
amateurs were ange red that it
too k so long for the FCC to even
suspen d his license, let alone revoke
it. It was well over a year
and a half from the time of the
con viction unt il the time the
revocati on order took effect.
I'm looking fo r a used HF
linear amplifier . I'd pref er one
wit hout tubes. Condition not important,
price is! Please make
offers.
Dante Ventriere KA4JRE
17831 NW 81 Aye.
Hialeah FL 33015
I need inf orm ati on on hint s,
kinks, and mod ificat io ns for the
Kenwood TR-7400A, especially
for out-of-band ope ration. I also
need in formatio n on a squelch
ci rcu it fo r the Mot oro la Pagecom
low-band pager. I am w ill·
ing to pay a reasonable price for
inform ati on.
HAM HELP
Richard Mc Laughlin, Jr.
WB8TOE
4237 Dickman 38
Spring field MI49015
Many amate urs openly condemned
the Com miss io n for its
slow ness in acting on the matte
r, but with the publication of
this docum ent , it is apparent
that this time was well spent in
preparation. It is well thought
out, well prepa red, and, mo st import
ant, it seems to set the legal
precedent tha t the commrss torr
needed to act against such offenders.
Keep in mind that the
next time , the Commission need
onl y cite th is case as grounds
for a revocat ion action aga inst a
regulatory violator who f ills our
airwa ves wit h his or her profanity.
They obviou sly were looking
to set an air-tlqh t legal precedent,
and in my untrained but
optimistic view, I thin k the y
have. People versed in communications
law w ith whom I have
conversed tend to agree. The
FCC now has a weapon to use
aga inst the foul mouth, and let's
hope they go to it sw iftly.
There is only one thing I wo n­
der about. Does the real holder
of a callsign suc h as W6JAM
have any legal recour se again st
someo ne who has blasphemed
said ca ll and used it illegally?
That's one that some of you legal
typ es might wa nt to look into.
Meanwhile, sc ratc h one jam ­
mer. He jamm ed; he got caught;
he's no longer an amateur. The
b urea uc racy of Washi ngt on
may move slow ly, but once the
steam roller gets going, there is
seemingly no way to stop it.
I am in need of an operator's
ma nual fo r a Tempo One transceiver.
I al so need an ope rator's
manual f or a Hall icra ft er s
SR·15Otranscelver. I will be gl ad
to pay for postage and copying,
but please send a postcard first.
Than k you.
Claude Laroche KAIBNA
RFD 2, Georgia Road
SI. Albans VT 05478
J
If anyone has cur ed an ignition
nois e pro blem, on transmit,
in the KDK 2016A, I sure would
like to know abo ut it. Also, if
anyone knows of an RIT mod for
the Heath HW-101, please let me
know .
Jerry Lynn WB7WBW
3017 First Ave. No.
Great Falls MT 59401
73 Magazine . Oct obe r,1 980 241