Posted on 01/30/2008 9:06:30 AM PST by ideablitz
Computerworld — After the third day of the auction, bidding reached a total of $6.1 billion for 1,099 licenses in the Federal Communications Commission auction of 700-MHz wireless spectrum.
Where did the idea of govt selling airwaves come from and is this good?
Why doesn't the government institute vision tax. so, if you have a resort and it happens to be in a nice place, govt. charges vision tax for seeing pretty landscape.
Can someone enlighten me the provision of govt charging airwaves?
Thanks in advance..
Actually, there is a “vision tax”—they factor view into property assessments and then they tax you on that value.
The only thing that counts is power!
Naked, merciless power!
And don’t forget ‘corner lots’.
They factor that in too because your property fronts two roads that ‘have to be maintained’..
Ask me how I know.
Because if it were unregulated, NOBODY would be able to use the airwaves, it would be total chaos. Millions of different frequencies and all that.
Therefore, since they regulate it, they can sell it.
lol, ok: how do you know? :)
They should charge more. I want the MSM to pay up the nose for the privlege of spreading their propaganda.
The commerce clause. Look at it.
They have the force of arms to utterly crush anyone who says they can’t.
Any questions, Citizen?
“You are a slave Neo... Born into a life of bondage that you cannot see, taste or smell...”
Bandwidth is money, pure and simple. If you "own" a frequency in a big city, you can make lots of money on it, and no one else can touch it.
I don't know who gets the $6 billion. But the radio and TV stations that buy the frequencies will make billions.
Yeah, it's basically part of the New Deal.
I don’t know. I think it is wrong, as an amateur radio operator, I know the radio spectrum is a very limited resource. OK, so is land, but there is a whole buttload of land out there for anyone to buy but the radio spectrum is different. Depending on what frequency you use, each has it’s own characteristics that make it desireable to use. 700 Megacycles is a huge chunk to sell off and I think it is a big mistake. Come to think of it, that’s why we have the push for HDTV, so we can free up the VHF-TV spectrum for sale.
Airwaves move across state borders, hence it is under the regulation of the Commerce Clause.
It will soon be illegal to fart across state lines without a EPA carbon credit purchase.
Actually, several communications acts, the International Telecommunications Union, and tacitly ignoring this issue is what gives them the right.
The radio spectrum is a renewable natural resource. That is, it doesn’t go away if you use it, but because any slice of it can only be used by one transmitter at a time, in a given region or area (depending on frequencies) there has to be some sort of regulation on how it is used.
UNFORTUNATELY, over the years the use of the spectrum has become crowded and certain services are there TO STAY for a LONG time to come, thus need that spectrum.
That means they are now selling it
As an Amateur Radio Operator I can’t “own” a particular frequency but can USE any of those within my allocated spectrum any time I wish, as long as someone else isn’t already there using it. We do fine... but they’ve taken some of our spectrum and given it away as well (or sold it).
So, what gives them the RIGHT to do it? Nothing, really, but try using something used by someone else and see how fast you get your butt kicked by major FINES.
not exactly. the market drives property assessments. if a ocean view drives prices greater than an interior lot, then prices will go up.
(Government mandated sarcasm warning label!)
Because they’re the government and YOU’RE NOT!!
Get it now???
The government's right to regulate the radio spectrum was established in laws like the Radio Act of 1927, the Communications Act of 1934, etc.
The $6 billion target was set by Congress. The funds raised in the spectrum auction go the the U.S. Treasury.
I know Bob Torricelli still gets a piece of every dollar that runs through the federal government. I'm sure many other politicos have similiarly structured secret deals.
'Cause I think the government would come to answer your question, as soon as they could find you.
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