[AMRadio] FCC to Require Email Addresses on Applications

[Donald Chester]

Something that bothers me about the FCC's decision to require an e-mail address when applying for a ham licence: on the one hand, there are still a lot of people who don't own a computer, have an internet account or internet access, or an e-mail account.  This would likely include some old-time AM operators who are well past retirement age. On the other hand, e-mail is already old hat to a lot of younger people, who never signed up for an account but communicate by texting and social media; for them e-mail is something of their parents' generation, about as cool as polka music.  According to the news release, failure to respond to an e-mail from the FCC will be like it is currently is for not responding to a letter (snail mail) from the FCC, and could result in suspension or revocation of one's licence.  What if the FCC letter gets diverted to the SPAM folder or just doesn't arrive?  It's not unusual for me to send someone an e-mail and have them say they never received it, and people have sent me e-mails  that I never received.  Or sometimes the in-box gets  stuffed so full of junk that it's easy to miss legitimate messages, and some people only occasionally check their e-mail folder.  Apparently this decision was the result of a previous NPRM to make the licence application all-electronic, but the e-mail requirement was never spelt out conspicuously. And what about those of us who have renewed before they required an e-mail address and still have  several years left on the current licence term?  Are we all supposed to submit our e-mail address to the FCC when this goes into effect?  I still  run into  hams who say they don't have a computer or don't bother with e-mail or the internet.

I did my last renewal electronically, so I'm pretty sure they have my e-mail address.

Don k4kyv