[SFDXA] FCC PROPOSES TAX ON 40 & 75 METERS RANTS

[JACK HARTLEY]

It’s a little early for April‘s fools jokes, isn’t it?

> On Mar 18, 2024, at 3:35 PM, The Romagni's <eromagni at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> FCC PROPOSES TAX ON 40 & 75 METERS RANTS
> By WD0SRI
> The FCC is constantly working to make the amateur operators on the ham bands
> more efficient and able to support themselves financially. Here’s one idea being
> kicked around the FCC offices and has been leaked out of D.C.:
> Proposed Rulemaking: Enact a Tax for use of the airwaves. Like over the road
> trucks pay for road use. The FCC has Nicknamed it the “Hot Air Tax.”
> Considering the number of hams who spend countless hours on 40 and 80 meter SSB,
> talking about senseless things like politics, the weather, sports, guns, deer
> hunting, personal grudges, hog prices, fishing, coon hunting, trailers, bigfoot
> sightings, beer, bird dogs, tractors, best overalls, hog prices, country
> music(Spefically: Should Toby Keith’s Birthday become a national holiday?),
> agricultural progress( How’s the corn doing?), Historical discussions (How did
> Deepwater, MO, get named Deepwater?) SEC football, Should the Ozarks become a
> separate DXCC entinity because of shared cultural backgrounds?, and all Redneck
> things not mentioned above.
> The proposed Hot Air Tax has been leaked out of the D.C. headquarters and a
> Redneck Freedom of Speech League has been formed to combat the proposed Rule
> Making actions by the FCC.
> The Hot Air Tax suggest giving hams One rant a day on 75 and/or 40 SSB
> meters of no more than 15 minutes. Rants on 20 meters would be limited to 10
> minutes a day. Other bands would not be affected.
> If hams exceed more than one rant a day on the designated bands, an excise
> tax would be charged them by the FCC. However, the FCC has not mentioned how the
> tax would be collected or how the general enforcement of the Hot Air Tax would be
> accomplished. One method floating around D.C. is that it would be left to self
> policing of the bands by hams themselves. If this is true, there would be a run
> on cassette recorders in the antique stores and flea markets. Another method of
> monitoring the rants on the bands has suggested that the FCC will be using AI to
> monitor the bands and report on hams who can’t follow the new Rant limits. Even
> though this sounds possible, expert programing of Ozark slang or Redneck English
> would have to programed into the FCC computers. Several hams from Arkansas and
> Missouri with ties to the ARRL have volunteered to help establish a good data
> base for key phrases and words that can be linked to Redneck English language.
> Our own W0DR has been contacted for input on Redneck terminology.
> Keep your eyes and ears open on this new proposed Rule Making! Several KCDXC
> members could have the Hot Air Tax charged on them. One local club member has
> suggested that my columns in the newsletter could be subject to the Hot Air Tax?
> Anyway, Ya’ll be careful and keep your rants short!
> “Speed Limits on CW” will be examined in my next column. -WD0SRI
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