NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] [dave@farber.net: [IP] re Google asks FCC to appoint it a "white space" database admin]
----- Forwarded message from Dave Farber <dave@farber.net> ----- Date: Wed, 6 Jan 2010 19:35:00 -0500 From: Dave Farber <dave@farber.net> Subject: [IP] re Google asks FCC to appoint it a "white space" database admin Reply-To: dave@farber.net To: ip <ip@v2.listbox.com> Begin forwarded message: > From: David Josephson <dlj@josephson.com> > Date: January 6, 2010 7:20:36 PM EST > To: dave@farber.net > Subject: Re: [IP] re Google asks FCC to appoint it a "white space" > database admin > > Dave, > > Having watched the "white space" proceedings as a microphone > manufacturer (although we don't make wireless mics) and chair of the > Audio Engineering Society standards working group on microphones, it > has amazed me that such a complex proposal actually got approved. > Frankston's and Weinstein's concerns are well taken. A more likely > scenario is that since the whitespace rules are so restrictive, no one > will deploy devices that even claim to be compliant with them. I know of > no device that has been approved by the FCC for production to date. It's > almost as if the broadcasters and wireless carriers wanted to be sure > there would be no one using this spectrum legally. > > I see nothing wrong with having Google be a whitespace database admin, > though, assuming that devices can actually be made that comply with the > rules. Being a big target for adverse PR is probably a stronger > incentive for them to behave fairly than anything that could be devised > to keep a smaller organization honest. Also, the FCC requirements for > the database pretty much ensure that it's demonstrated to afford equal > access. The actual operation of the whitespace database has not yet been > defined, so the jury is still out with regard to how it can be operated > fairly. > > The concern of *who* operates the database is less important than *how* > it operates -- and I've seen little coverage of that. Perhaps Google and > their cohorts in the "White Spaces Database Working Group" will be > forthcoming on that point. It's not going anywhere until someone reduces > it to workable practice. > > -- > David Josephson ------------------------------------------- Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/ Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com ----- End forwarded message -----