The ARRL says a petition
for declaratory ruling about encoded messages on the ham bands should be
dismissed. As we reported last month, New York University asked the FCC to
issue a declaratory ruling clarifying that its rule prohibiting hams from
transmitting "messages in codes or ciphers intended to obscure the meaning
thereof" also applies to "effectively encrypted or encoded
messages" that "cannot be readily decoded over the air for true
meaning." The focus of the petition is Winlink, along with PACTOR and similar
modes, in which transmissions can only be decoded by a single linked station.
NYU says this makes it difficult for amateurs to self-police.
The ARRL response,
according to the ARRL Letter, is that
the requested ruling would make clear language vague and could actually weaken
the current prohibition on "messages encoded for the purpose of obscuring
their meaning." The League pointed out that Morse code transmissions are
"effectively encoded" even though there is no intent to obscure the
meaning of the message, and argues that adopting the proposed changes would
hobble "vibrant experimentation with digital techniques."
