[NLRS] From IARU Web

[Scott L.]

Here it is in a nutshell, quoted from the IARU web site.
http://www.iaru.org/rel030703att3.html



73,

Scott, KB0NLY



Morse Code

The old regulation that Morse was a requirement for the operators of amateur
stations below 30 MHz was found in a provision that read as follows:


Any person seeking a licence to operate the apparatus of an amateur station
shall prove that he is able to send correctly by hand and to receive
correctly by ear texts in Morse code signals. The administrations concerned
may, however, waive this requirement in the case of stations making use
exclusively of frequencies above 30 MHz.


That was replaced with a provision giving each administration the right to
decide whether or not Morse is a required qualification as follows:


25.5 Administrations shall determine whether or not a person seeking a
licence to operate an amateur station shall demonstrate the ability to send
and receive texts in Morse code signals.


The alternative of simply deleting the old provision was rejected because a
number of administrations thought that the matter was so important that a
positive decision not to require Morse as a qualification was appropriate.
The effect is actually the same: Morse code is no longer an internationally
required qualification for an amateur licence, though an administration may
still require it.