QRZ! Ham Radio 3/QRZ Ham Radio Callsign Database - Volume 3.iso/digests/policy/930509.txt

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Date: Fri,  3 Dec 93 04:30:14 PST
From: Ham-Policy Mailing List and Newsgroup <[e-mail]>
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Subject: Ham-Policy Digest V93 #509
To: Ham-Policy


Ham-Policy Digest           Fri,  3 Dec 93       Volume 93 : Issue  509

Today's Topics:
                         Ethics and Ham Radio
                      Welcome to rec.radio.info!
                 WHOA! Beavis, this SUCKS!!! (2 msgs)

Send Replies or notes for publication to: <[e-mail]>
Send subscription requests to: <[e-mail]>
Problems you can't solve otherwise to [e-mail].

Archives of past issues of the Ham-Policy Digest are available
(by FTP only) from UCSD.Edu in directory "mailarchives/ham-policy".

We trust that readers are intelligent enough to realize that all text
herein consists of personal comments and does not represent the official
policies or positions of any party.  Your mileage may vary.  So there.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1993 23:55:54 GMT
From: mdisea!mothost!lmpsbbs![e-mail]
Subject: Ethics and Ham Radio
To: [e-mail]

Following is a note by Norm, W2JUP, internet address
[e-mail], that he placed in hamnet on
C-$erve.  It generated some interesting comments so I've
reposted it here for "all".  73, Bob, N4CU
--------------------------------------------------------

There seems to be some misunderstanding about the use of amateur
radio in regard to the discussion of copying and distributing
certain types of computer software

We'd like to assist newcomers to better understand certain
terminology.  We'd also like to expose possible consequences of
openly discussing copying of certain types of software over
voice repeaters.

Here is a brief explanation of three general types of computer
software programs, and what types of programs can and cannot be
copied and given to fellow hams.

1.  PUBLIC DOMAIN SOFTWARE

    Software programs for which the author has made an open and
    visible statement to the effect that he or she has "placed
    this program in the Public Domain."  Such Public Domain
    programs can be openly copied and freely distributed at no
    charge by anyone to anyone else.  The statement that the
    program is in the Public Domain is usually visible on the
    program's opening screen, and is also usually embedded in
    ASCII somewhere in the program's binary files.  Usually the
    author offers no support or documentation, and disclaims any
    and all responsibility and does not in any way warranty the
    Public Domain program to do anything.

2.  SHAREWARE SOFTWARE

    Software programs that can be freely copied and distributed.
    These shareware programs have the specific understanding that
    after some specific time period of use, the user will register
    the program with the author.  In most cases the author requires
    some relatively small payment for the rights to use the program
    and for any documentation that may be available.  Some shareware
    programs have a form of limited life or limitation on available
    functions.  These limitations, should they exist, are removed
    when the user registers and pays for the use of the program.

3.  COPYRIGHTED SOFTWARE

    These programs cannot - repeat - CANNOT be legally copied and
    given to another person.  Such actions as copying this type
    of software and distributing it to anyone constitute serious
    violations of federal law and can result in significant fines
    and in some cases inprisonment in a federal penitentiary.

The use of any amateur radio facility to openly discuss copying
of copyrighted software questions the ethics of the people who
hold these discussions.  As well as revealing their lack of a
sense of ethics, people who openly discuss copying of
copyrighted software over amateur radio are openly admitting
that they are committing infractions of federal laws against the
copying and distribution of copyrighted software.

Such public admissions could be used as evidence of commission
of a federal offense in a court of law.

Amateur radio has traditionally been "self-policing".  Finding
someone operating illegally and taking appropriate action has
long been a practice in amateur radio.  Finding someone on a
local voice repeater or packet radio, in the midst of discussing
copying of copyrighted software, should also be cause for the
concerned amateur radio operator to notify the individual(s)
that they are violating federal laws.

Let's keep some sense of proper behavior in this hobby of ours.
Your ethics are your own - your behavior reflects on the entire
community of amateur radio.

  Sunrise, Florida
  11/18/93

  - Norm, W2JUP
  - Barb, N2RSH

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1993 21:01:46 MST
From: tribune.usask.ca!kakwa.ucs.ualberta.ca!alberta!nebulus!ve6mgs!bohica![e-mail]
Subject: Welcome to rec.radio.info!
To: [e-mail]

Archive-name: radio/rec-radio-info/welcome
Last-modified: $Date: 1993/05/16 21:57 $
Version: $Revision: 1.05 $

*** Welcome to rec.radio.info! ***

Welcome to rec.radio.info, a group that aims to provide a noise-free source
of information and news for the entire rec.radio hierarchy.

Two introductory articles about rec.radio.info are posted to the group and
to news.answers every two weeks. You are now reading the first article, which
explains what rec.radio.info is, and answers some Frequently Asked Questions.
The second article is titled "Submission Guidelines", and you only need to
read it if you want to submit an article to rec.radio.info.

You can skip to the next section of this article by searching for the next
" -- " string. The sections available are:
 - What is the purpose of rec.radio.info?
 - Why are messages almost always cross posted to rec.radio.info?
 - What is a 'follow-up', and what does 'moderated' mean?
 - OK, so now I know what 'moderated' means. Tell me more.
 - What type of material is considered inappropriate?
 - I do not have access to news, how can I get the information posted to
   rec.radio.info?
 - Will the material appearing in rec.radio.info be archived somewhere?
 - I have a regular posting with timely information, is there a way to
   speed up it's delivery, or automate for more convenience?

 -- What is the purpose of rec.radio.info?

The purpose or charter of rec.radio.info is to provide the Usenet community with
a resource for information, news, and facts about any and all things radio.

All the other rec.radio groups are intended for discussions and general chit
chat about radio.  Rec.radio.info will contain informational, factual articles
only. Follow-ups are redirected to an appropriate other group, and further
discussion (if any) will not take place in rec.radio.info.

In order to ensure that rec.radio.info contains only appropriate articles, it
was decided to create the group as a moderated newsgroup.

 -- Why are messages almost always cross posted to rec.radio.info?

It provides a "tag" for each article to be assembled into a filtered
presentation in rec.radio.info (even with cross-posting, only one message, with
a unique Message-ID, is propogated across the net).  This tag also facilitates
a pre-existing method of dropping or cancelling the articles locally within the
discussion groups if you don't want to see them.  This accommodates individuals
who want to separate the bulletins from the discussions, discussions from the
bulletins, as well as those who are adamant about not reading another
newsgroup and wanted to see everything all in one basket.

With the total size of Usenet (in number of newsgroups and total traffic)
doubling every year or so, this is no insignificant contribution to reducing
information noise and chaos.  Making the discussion groups a catch-all, and
making extra newsgroups filters on that catch-all, is also the most realistic
way to implement such a scheme (It's not intuitively obvious what the charter,
contents, and general appropriate topics for each and every newsgroup are.
Seeing FAQ's and charter/intro postings in the home newsgroup is beneficial
for new readers).

By cross-posting one only is adding a few tens of bytes to each bulletin (to
specify the extra group on the Newsgroups line), but are adding the capability
for very powerful filtering features available on most news servers,
listservers and readers.  Your local news guru could probably explain these
features in more detail.

In rn, for example, according to Leanne Phillips in her rn kill-file FAQ, add
a line of the form:
 /Newsgroups:.*[ ,]rec\.radio\.info/h:j
either in ~/News/KILL (if you don't want to see rec.radio.info articles
anywhere) or ~/News/rec/radio/amateur/misc/KILL (if you don't want to see them
just in rec.radio.amateur.misc).  The latter method means your kill file will
only be consulted during rec.radio.amateur.misc (and hence runs more
efficiently), and will probably work for most people.

In nn, according to Bill Wohler in his nn FAQ, add a line of the form:
 rec.radio.info:!s/:^
in ~/.nn/kill (if you don't want to see rec.radio.info articles anywhere), or
put the following lines:
 sequence
 rec.radio.info
 rec.radio.
at the end of ~/.nn/init in order to see all the rec.radio.info bulletins first,
then read the remaining rec.radio.* without the bulletins.

 -- What is a 'follow-up', and what does 'moderated' mean?

If you are new to Usenet and are not familiar with the terminology, you might
want to read the general introductory articles found in the newsgroup
news.announce.newusers. Doing so will make your life on the net much easier,
and will probably save you from making silly beginner's mistakes.

If you think that at this moment you are reading an echo, a conference, or
a bulletin board, I'd also strongly suggest a trip over to
news.announce.newusers.

For the rest of this article, I will assume you have a basic knowledge of
Usenet terminology and mechanics.

A moderated group means that any article that needs to be posted to the group
has to be accepted by the moderator of the group. Since we need to ensure that
followups to an article (discussion) do not show up in the rec.radio.info
newsgroup, the `Followup-To:' header line contains a newsgroup that is
appropriate for disussions about the specific article.

 -- OK, so now I know what 'moderated' means. Tell me more.

Rec.radio.info is a moderated newsgroup, which means that all articles
submitted to the group will have to be approved by the moderator first.

The current moderator of the group is Mark Salyzyn.  Submissions to
rec.radio.info can be posted, or e-mailed to:

  [e-mail]

Comments, criticisms, suggestions or questions about the group can be e-mailed
to:
  [e-mail]

But before you do so, please be sure to check out the "Submission Guidelines"
article.

The influence of the moderator should be minimal and of an administrative
nature, consisting chiefly of weeding out obviously inappropriate articles,
while making sure correct headers etc. are used for the appropriate ones.

 -- What type of material is considered inappropriate?

There are three broad categories of articles which will be rejected by the
moderator:

1) Requests for information: rec.radio.info is strictly a one-way street.  I
   receive information in my mailbox; I then post it to rec.radio.info.
   Requests for specific information belong in the normal discussion newsgroups.
   If your request gets answered, you might consider passing the answer on to
   rec.radio.info, though. Especially if you can edit it into a informational,
   rather than a discussion, format.

2) Obvious discussion articles, or articles that appear unsubstantiated.

3) Commercial stuff: a relatively unbiased test of a radio product would be
   accepted, but any hint of for-profit might be reason for rejection. For three
   reasons: This is not the purpose of the list, for-profit is a controversial
   topic, and this list may be passed onto Amateur Packet Radio (where
   for-profit is prohibited except under certain provisos).

   rec.radio.swap (or possibly comp.newprod) may be more deserving of the
   posting in any matter.

   Similarly, copyrighted material generally cannot be used.  If it's TRULY
   worthwhile to the net, I would recommend obtaining permission from the
   copyright holder.  Please note the source, and if permission was given.  I
   reserve the right to make the final decision concerning appropriateness in
   all situations.  In most cases, a brief summary of, or pointer to, the
   copyrighted information may be all I can allow.

 -- I do not have access to news, how can I get the information posted to
    rec.radio.info?

[e-mail] (Brian Kantor) has kindly supplied a mail list server for
rec.radio.info. Non of the articles will be digested, due to their size, so
you will receive individual mailings for every article posted to the group.

Mail sent to [e-mail] will be forwarded to the moderator and
thus is an alias to [e-mail]

To subscribe and unsubscribe via the listserver; the format for that is

 sub address radio-info
 unsub address radio-info

where 'address' is your full mailing address. Send this request to

 [e-mail]

Note that the server will automatically delete any address that bounces mail.
If you leave the address portion blank, it will try to deduce your address
from the mail headers. This may not work if you are on bitnet, milnet or
some other non-Unix host, so it is recommended to put your return address
in any case. For example:

 sub [e-mail] radio-info
or
 sub [e-mail] radio-info

or something like that.

 -- Will the material appearing in rec.radio.info be archived somewhere?

Yes. Still firming up details at the moment but here is a preliminary list:
 - unbc.edu as maintained by Lyndon Nerenberg <[e-mail]>
 - nic.funet.fi maintained by Risto Kotalampi <[e-mail]>
  saved to /pub/dx/text/rec.radio.info currently stored as
  numbered files.

Effectively this means that anything you post to rec.radio.info will be
permanently stored, so your work will not be lost.

 -- I have a regular posting with timely information, is there a way to
    speed up it's delivery, or automate for more convenience?

Yes, there is! It may take a bit of chatter with the moderator, but we are
willing to take responsible people and provide them the means of posting the
articles directly from their site. We will try everything we can as we fully
realize that DX (distant signal) and astronomical data can be somewhat
transitory. We are also willing to allow regular posters of information the
same courtesy, even if the information is not as time critical.

We refer to this as self-moderation, which is partly based on the model for
news.answer. This requires co-operation and good will to be beneficial to
the community in the rec.radio hierarchy.

I suggest reading the posting guidelines for more information. I am open to
suggestions.

I thank the following individuals for their input into this article:
 rec.music.info moderator Leo Breebaart [e-mail]
 rec.radio.broadcasting moderator Bill Pfeiffer [e-mail]
 Paul W. Schleck, KD3FU [e-mail]
 Ian Kluft, KD6EUI [e-mail]

--
Mark Salyzyn -- Moderator rec.radio.info
Submissions to: [e-mail]
Administrivia to: [e-mail]
* Requests for information do *not* belong in rec.radio.info *

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 1 Dec 1993 07:59:55 GMT
From: brunix!doorknob![e-mail]
Subject: WHOA! Beavis, this SUCKS!!!
To: [e-mail]

>   Then the local school administration is really paranoid.  Access to
>   a weekday test session held in a school can certainly include a sign-in
>   process at the school administration office before the potential
>   test taker is allowed to go to the room where the test would be
>   administered.

I am not trying to start a flamewar here, but many schools got a lot
more nervous about letting "anyone" into their schools for
non-official business (at least in my home area) after a woman named
Laurie Dann walked into a public school, pulled out an automatic
weapon, and opened fire.

The incident rocked the Chicago metro area (well, okay -- it was on
all the news channels, lots of people were talking about it, and I as
an elementary school student remember people being very concerned).

My high school, which is actually more in the "public light" due to
its slightly unusual academic structure, has a very strict policy
about people being able to pass the front desk -- and they have a
small but significant (non-armed) staff to back up this policy.

What does this have to do with radio?  Nothing! Oops, sorry to
pontificate.  Filibuster ends here.  (Any sites that picked up my
empty post -- gnus can be annoying; I apologize.  'Specially to you,
Robert the Intolerant ;)

  Scott
  [e-mail]  -  n9sat

------------------------------

Date: 1 Dec 93 15:31:18 GMT
From: att-out!cbnewsl![e-mail]
Subject: WHOA! Beavis, this SUCKS!!!
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Michael P. Deignan) writes:
>[e-mail] (r l taylor) writes:

>> How about having a VE session at the school, either after-hours or on
>> a weekend?

>The problem we've found is that many schools in the local area have
>very strict policies regarding non-school-related access to the
>facilities, due to various liability clauses written into their
>insurance contracts.

How about a Civic Center?  Library?  Legion Hall?  Fire Hall?  First Aid
Squad Building?  Hopefully there's some sort of facility you could use,
which would be accessible to the students.

>The specific case I am referring to is a 45-minute science class. I know
>several general-class-and-above hams, such as myself, who would gladly take
>time out of work to go and give a test during this time period. Of course,
>we can't anymore...

>> No more so than if you're a 12-year old kid who lives in the middle of
>> Arizona and can't find 2 General class hams to give him/her the test.

>The probability of finding two general-class hams is larger than
>finding a VE session.

Probably, but...It seems like you and your friends are prepared to give
the exam, but, in general, I've found that most non-VE hams don't have the
materials on hand.  So, once you've found a couple of willing hams, they
still need to create (or obtain) the tests.  And (usually) brush up on
how to fill out a 610.  On the other hand, (at least with the VE team I
work with) we're willing and able to throw together a session on less than
a week's notice.  More than once, we've held extra sessions because one
person was about to lose credit for something they had passed almost a year
ago.  Or there's a class going, and the instructors think the students are
ready to test *now*.  Etc...

Obviously, I don't know the VE's in your area.  I would hope they would
be more than happy to accomodate a bunch of youngsters with an interest
in ham radio.  Have you tried talking to them?  Or, if that fails, get
some obliging folks together and get accredited.  General class licensees
can be accredited now, for Novice exams only.  Put together your own team!
Find a building you can use for a couple of hours, and hold a session.  Or
work with the team already in your area.  One of the main reasons there
aren't more sessions is that there often aren't enough VE's available.

>I don't fault you for the inherent inefficiencies in the VEC program, nor
>do I blame any other VE. I think its wonderful that you give your time to

Thanks!

>help new hams get in the hobby. Despite that, however, I still condemn the
>VEC system for the bureaucratic monolith that it is.

Well, it may not be perfect, but I still think it's a big improvement over
the old system.  It would have taken me forever to upgrade if I had to go to
NYC or Philadelphia to take the exams.  And, like it or not, the way things
are right now, Novice testing must be done through VE's.  So let's pull
together and look for ways to make VE testing as available and efficient as
possible, shall we?

Roberta Taylor,  AA2KZ
AT&T Bell Laboratories
Murray Hill, NJ
[e-mail]

------------------------------

End of Ham-Policy Digest V93 #509
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