PDXPLT
join:2003-12-04
Banks, OR
1 edit | reply to Camelot One
Re: I call bullshit said by Camelot One:And the FCC is able to sell spectrum, because? The FCC doesn't "sell spectrum". Under U.S. Law, the electromagnetic spectrum (the portion considered radio, anyway) is owned by the American people, period. The FCC, as first authorized by the Communications Act of 1934, grants licenses to portions of that spectrum under various terms and conditions, sometimes for a fee, and also permits certain unlicensed operation.
The spectrum is a commonly-owned resource, i.e., an owner of real property in the U.S. does not have any ownership of the electromagnetic spectrum in the volume of space above his property.
Of course this is the case for the United States. The story is about a Canadian Tribe, so the FCC and U.S. law is irrelevant. Whether they have a case under Canadian law, I have no idea.
BTW, the comment as to "England controlling signals from France", the coordination of spectrum use between nations is governed by multinational treaty; namely, the Convention and the Constitution of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). For example, the FCC follows slightly different rules in allocating TV and radio station licenses in areas close to the Canadian and Mexican borders, in order to coordinate with those governments. Although as far as the ITU is concerned, this would be an internal Canadian matter. |
