Fw: Update On Mr. Hollingsworth (fwd)

[Frank Gentges]

Thought all the Tacos would be interested in what the FCC is doing on 
amatuer radio enforcement.

Frank

>
>FCC Official Meets Hams On Their Own Turf
>GETTYSBURG, PA, Jan 14, 1999--The FCC's Amateur Radio enforcer, Riley
>Hollingsworth, K4ZDH, turned up in an unexpected place January 13--75
>meters! In what could be an unprecedented move, Hollingsworth, legal
>advisor for amateur enforcement within the FCC's Compliance and
>Information Bureau, showed up at around 3894 kHz at around 10 PM Eastern
>to discuss enforcement and encourage compliance.
>"A couple of them were pretty shocked," he said. "This has never been
>tried before," Hollingsworth said this morning.
>Tom Hix, W4TH, who heard Hollingsworth on the air and posted the news on
>the Internet, agreed. "This was the first time I had ever heard an
>actual FCC enforcement officer address the ham radio community over the
>airways," he said "He had some very plain comments to make to the
>individuals who were engaged in a cuss fight."
>Hollingsworth says he thinks one key to compliance is just getting
>people to listen to what he has to say. "Most people, if you can just
>get to them on a one-to-one basis, they'll listen," he said, reflecting
>his overall enforcement approach to attempt to reason violators into
>voluntary compliance rather than writing them up. During his time on the
>air, Hollinsgworth confronted one individual he'd already been in touch
>with about on-air misbehavior.
>"My approach is, 'Guys, hear me out,'" Hollingsworth explained. Among
>other things, he told those on hand that noncompliance and inappropriate
>on-air behavior could even threaten the hobby's HF allocations.
>Hollingsworth advised hams to be more tolerant and patient and to avoid
>confrontation or retaliation. He said pressure to reallocate HF
>frequencies could come from other countries that might point to
>offensive on-air Amateur Radio antics to bolster their cases.
>"We all have to realize we're on a mission here--to save Amateur Radio,"
>he said today following his 75-meter appearance. "There are going to be
>licenses lost and fines owed, and I just don't want those with good
>intentions--who are trying to do enforcement themselves by
>retaliating--to be caught up in that group." The jammers already are
>well on their way to "hanging themselves" right now, he said.
>Even as he preached better behavior, Hollingsworth says he understood
>from the others on frequency that someone was attempting to jam his
>signal. "I hope the monitoring folks were on the frequency too," he
>said, referring to the FCC's monitoring facilities in Columbia,
>Maryland, which recently increased its vigilance on HF with a particular
>focus on various known "trouble spots."
>Hollingsworth advised the hams on 75 to contact him with enforcement
>problems, and he gave out his e-mail address and telephone number
>(rholling@fcc.gov; 717-338-2502). "I don't know what effect it will
>have," he said of his on-air adventure. Hollingsworth says he'll "do
>what it takes" to improve amateur compliance, and that could include
>future on-air visits with amateurs.
>"I've gotten a lot of feedback this morning by phone and e-mail asking
>me to do it more often," he said today. "We'll be listening more and
>asking to be allowed in QSOs more."
>Hix said he's among those hoping that Hollingsworth does an encore. "I,
>for one, would like to thank Mr. Hollingsworth for his efforts and
>encourage him to visit the bands more often," he said in a newsgroup
>posting.
>Hollingsworth, who's based in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, took over the
>FCC's most recent Amateur Radio enforcement initiative last September.
>Related Stories:
>FCC Fires Shots over the Bows of Alleged Major Amateur Offenders
>(January 12, 1999)
>FCC Acts in Alleged Exam, License Fraud Cases (December 15, 1998)
>FCC Enforcement Honcho Done "Taking Names" (December 10, 1998)
>
>
>Page last modified: 2:07 PM, 14 Jan 1999 ET
>Page author:
>awextra@arrl.org
>Copyright © 1999, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights
>Reserved.
>
>