Fw: Re: Broadband Internet/Top of Obama's Plan!!!!

--- On Mon, 12/15/08, Libby Kelley <[hidden email]> wrote:

From: Libby Kelley <[hidden email]>
Subject: Re: Broadband Internet/Top of Obama's Plan!!!!
To: [hidden email], [hidden email], [hidden email], [hidden email], "George Post" <[hidden email]>
Date: Monday, December 15, 2008, 2:04 PM






Loni et al,
 
I have some additional information. U.S. House Commerce and Energy is investigating the FCC for a number of irregularities under the current administration. One of the allegations is that BPL data may have been falsified. Even though Obama is being lobbied hard on BPL, it may not be technically feasible. This is what engineers have always maintained and the American Amateur Relay League does not want if as "hammies" may experience signal interference. 
 
regards,
 
Libby Kelley
 
 
==> CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE MEMBERS RELEASE REPORT LAMBASTING FCC
CHAIRMAN KEVIN MARTIN

On Tuesday, December 9, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce --
the congressional committee that oversees the Federal Communications
Commission -- released its majority staff report "on the bipartisan
investigation of the FCC's regulatory processes and management
practices." The report -- "Deception and Distrust: The Federal
Communications Commission under Chairman Kevin J. Martin" -- stated that
the investigation was prompted "by allegations to the effect that [FCC]
Chairman Kevin J. Martin has abused FCC procedures by manipulating or
suppressing reports, data and information"
<http://www.arrl.org/news/files/FCC_Report120908.pdf>.

"Our investigation confirmed a number of troubling allegations raised by
individuals in and outside the FCC," said Representative Bart Stupak
(D-MI), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.
"The Committee staff report details some of the most egregious abuses of
power, suppression of information and manipulation of data under
Chairman Martin's leadership. It is my hope that this report will serve
as a roadmap for a fair, open and efficient FCC under new leadership in
the next administration."

Representative John D. Dingell (D-MI), Chairman of the Committee on
Energy and Commerce echoed Stupak's concerns: "Any of these findings,
individually, are cause for concern. Together, the findings suggest
that, in recent years, the FCC has operated in a dysfunctional manner
and Commission business has suffered as a result. It is my hope that the
new FCC Chairman will find this report instructive and that it will
prove useful in helping the Commission avoid making the same mistakes."

The report said that "in an investigation of this nature," the Committee
would usually hold hearings "to receive testimony from witnesses and to
further examine the issues." But due to what the Committee called "the
climate of fear that currently pervades the FCC," the report said the
Committee found that key witnesses "were unwilling to testify or even
have their names become known." For that reason, they issued a report in
place of a hearing "to protect the many honest people who came forward
under a promise of protection or anonymity." Chairman Martin was invited
to meet with the Committee to discuss matters addressed by the
investigation, but the report said he "ignored [the Committee's]
invitation," as did his Chief of Staff Daniel Gonzalez and Chief of
Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau Derek Poarch.

In its 110-page report, the Committee described 12 allegations, ranging
from retaliation against FCC employees who differed with the Chairman's
policies to enhanced 911 wireless services to broadband over power lines
(BPL). To go along with the 12 allegations, 22 exhibits were attached to
the report, such as internal e-mails, e-mails from FCC commissioners to
their staff, statements made by FCC commissioners and letters to and
from commissioners (including Chairman Martin). Not all 12 allegations
were substantiated by the Committee.

* Broadband over Power Lines

Concerning BPL, the report alleges that FCC officials "ignored
complaints of radio frequency interference caused by BPL high-speed
Internet technology, delayed an enforcement investigation for two years
and improperly withheld engineering data regarding BPL from the public."

The report found that in October 2004, as then-Chairman Michael Powell
issued his final rule "defining BPL access and setting technical and
administrative requirements to protect licensed radio operators from
harmful interference," the FCC "withheld from the public certain
engineering reports on which it relied in promulgating the rule" from
the final rule and order.

Even though the BPL rules were adopted during Powell's tenure, the
report found that "it was under Chairman Martin that the Enforcement
Bureau and the General Counsel continued to withhold the redacted
engineering reports and insisted on doing so in the course of the
ensuing litigation [with the ARRL]"
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2008/04/25/10064/>.

The report goes on to say that on April 25, 2008, the US Court of
Appeals for the DC Circuit found that the FCC, in the case filed by the
ARRL, "violated the Administrative Procedure Act when it played 'hide
and seek' with engineering data used in its support of the order and
'cherry-picked' a study on which it had relied"
<http://pacer.cadc.uscourts.gov/common/opinions/200804/06-1343-1112979.p
df>.

"The fact that the FCC withheld the required engineering reports in this
matter," the report concluded, "indicates poor judgment and an attempt
to hide critical weaknesses in its decision. Ironically, the FCC's
attempts to hide this information only served to provoke suspicion and
its handmaiden, litigation. This case [filed by the ARRL] illustrates
the extent to which a culture of secrecy has developed at the FCC that
is as counterproductive as it is unnecessary." The report states that
this "particular situation" has been corrected by the courts and
technological issues arising from BPL have been "rendered largely moot
over time due to improvements" in BPL technology.

"It is distressing, but unfortunately not surprising," said ARRL Chief
Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, "to read that the FCC's
mishandling of the BPL issue was simply a part of a broad pattern of
dysfunction at the Commission. This is a relatively recent development
and is unprecedented in the ARRL's long experience with the FCC -- an
association that dates back to the very creation of the agency, 20 years
after the founding of the ARRL. While the marketplace failure of BPL and
the steps taken voluntarily by the few companies that have deployed BPL
systems have combined to minimize interference, the regulatory issue is
by no means moot. The rules remain inadequate."

Sumner continued: "More than seven months after the Court remand, the
FCC has done nothing to correct its errors, nor has it complied with the
very specific instructions from the United States Court of Appeals.
These instructions included the disclosure of the studies that it
intentionally withheld from the public, but upon which it relied in
adopting its rules. Indeed, the only step the Commission has taken since
the Court's remand order is to mount an unsuccessful effort to oppose
our claim for reimbursement of the printing costs for the briefs in the
case -- a small fraction of the expenses incurred by the ARRL in our
appeal -- expenses that would not have been necessary had the Commission
followed the law in the first place" <http://www.arrl.org/?artid=8338>.

* Other Findings by the Committee

The report also showed instances of where Chairman Martin "manipulated,
withheld or suppressed data, reports and information," and said Martin's
"manipulation [of another report] may have damaged the credibility of
the Commission, and certainly undermined the integrity of the staff.
Moreover, it was done with the purpose of affecting the congressional
decision-making, in that it was issued as a report to Congress."

Saying that FCC matters have not been handled in an "open or transparent
manner," the report said the FCC "rais[ed] suspicions both inside and
outside the Commission that some parties and issues are not being
treated fairly." The report stated that the Committee's impressions were
"confirmed" when it discovered that Chairman Martin made a "preemptory
reversal" of [a report's] conclusions and that Martin did not seek
"further public comment or conduct further studies" thus giving the
impression "that the issue was not handled fairly or openly."

The report also found that Chairman Martin's "heavy-handed, opaque and
non-collegial management style has created distrust, suspicion and
turmoil among the five current Commissioners." The report states that
Martin does not afford his fellow Commissioners "direct and unfettered
access to the Commission staff and their expert advice, thereby
hindering the ability of other Commissioners to carry out the duties of
their offices and the work of the Commission."

The report also found that Commission staff have not been "effectively
managed." When Martin first became Chairman, he "imposed a major
reshuffling of FCC staff throughout the agency." While the report said
that a "certain amount of reorganization is not unprecedented" when a
new Chairman begins his term, the reorganization "was highly unusual in
both its breadth (nearly every senior position at the agency changed
hands) and its depth (even a number on non-management line staffers
found themselves inexplicably reassigned)." Calling it a "waste of
resources, the report pointed out that senior employees with "extensive
experience and expertise" were reassigned to junior-level positions; as
a result, "it appears that some important Commission proceedings were
delayed."

* Committee Methodology

Over the course of its investigation, the Committee staff reviewed
"several hundred thousand documents, including 95 boxes of paper
documents; conducted 73 interviews of current and former FCC employees
and individuals associated with the telecommunications industry;
solicited and received e-mails from FCC employees and contractors at a
secure e-mail address established for this purpose, and reviewed dozens
of allegations." The report pointed out that since the investigation,
Chairman Martin has taken "some small steps" to address some of the
problems outlined in the report.

The Committee also emphasized that not everything they found is included
in its report: "A few allegations were received so recently that they
have not been investigated and are not included [in the report]. We have
also excluded matters that seemed trivial per se. Still, other
allegations have not been adequately investigated because the FCC has
not yet produced all of the records requested by the Committee."


----- Original Message -----
From: Loni
To: [hidden email] ; [hidden email] ; [hidden email] ; Libbey Kelley ; George Post
Sent: Monday, December 15, 2008 1:24 PM
Subject: Broadband Internet/Top of Obama's Plan!!!!












 
Sun Dec  14,  2008 12:14  pm (PST)

Two days ago on CNN news they showed a list of Obama's top 3 plans to bringthe economy back up. The 3rd one was to get Broadband internet on the power lines. This is something that George W. Bush was pushing hard during his 1st term and then the issue seemed to go away.

When broadband is run on the power lines it is an unshielded signal. As I understand it the signal comes into your home on the power line and turns every electrical outlet into a internet link up. The wiring in your home all carries the signal and turns your home into an antenna. It will be a nightmare for all that are sensitive individuals. The articles I read at that time said that even if your own home didn't have the signal that if anyone within 2 blocks of your home did, the sensitive would still have reactions to it.

If you read anything more in the news about this, I hope you will share it with the group so we can do what we can to stop this nightmare before it starts. In the early Bush years, I read an article about a town in Japan thattested broadband over power lines and it was a health nightmare. I can't find that article now.

Anyway, heads up on this subject coming back into the news. Let's try to keep on top of it.









     

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