[CW] Ain't it awful?

[Donald Chester]

...when they started playing with the licensing requirements,
> > > and Incentive Licensing, which was botched by the ARRL by not
> > > making adequate grandfathering provisions, began the NCTA and the
> > > ultimate Balkanization of the ARS we experience now.

Actually, Incentive Licensing was botched by the FCC.  The original ARRL 
proposal was to return to something similar the Class A - Class B licence 
structure that existed from before WWII until about 1951. It was the FCC 
that concocted the present-day "compromise" that chopped up our bands into a 
ridiculously complicated subband structure. If they had followed through 
with the original plan and in addition had grandfathered existing General 
class and above licensees, Incentive Licensing might have had a positive 
effect on ham radio.

The tragedy is that Incentive Licensing was a dismal failure in terms of its 
intended purpose, to enhance the technical and operating expertise of the 
amateur community.  Despite this obvious failure, neither the League nor the 
FCC are willing to fully admit they made a mistake, so there seems little 
liklihood that Incentive Licensing will be rescinded in the foreseeable 
future.  Following the recent restructuring, what purpose does Incentive 
Licensing continue to serve?

Don K4KYV

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