Today in the white spaces

I spent a lot of energy writing this past summer about how important to experimentation unlicensed uses of the “white spaces” are. And if you search on this blog using “white spaces” you’ll see a number of breathless posts about how key this entire endeavor is.

Now I know I’m right, because today the broadcast industry is marching on Capitol Hill, flags waving, guns booming, to make sure that no one ever gets to use these unused frequencies except them. Their battle cry (invented by me): “If we allow unlicensed, portable uses of these white spaces, broadcast television as we know it will come to an end.” (With thanks to Joel Brinkley’s wonderful book, “Defining Vision.”) If these guys are this worried, something important must be going on.

Great headline in Broadcasting & Cable: TV Industry Storms Hill, FCC Over White Spaces. And this press release from the National Association of Broadcasters: Broadcasters, Sports Leagues, TV Set Makers Unite in Opposition to “White Space” Interference Zones. Hear that coinage? “Interference zones.” These aren’t vacant places, these unused frequencies - they’re places of great danger to all-American television, the thing that gets the words of the elected legislator across to his/her people, the thing we all grew up with. “Hot zones.” “Interference zones.” Get it? Toxic! Destructive!

There’s another side to this battle. The softer-voiced people (who know what they are talking about) at the New America Foundation will calmly tell you (if you are willing to listen) that in fact there are plenty of ways that new portable devices can avoid interfering with your television set. Let’s hope that someone’s listening. This is a central battle for innovation, and surely empirical evidence should carry some weight.

September 11, 2007 | Filed Under main page, white spaces 

Comments

One Response to “Today in the white spaces”

  1. Anonymous on September 12th, 2007 12:50 pm

    Speaking of WhiteSpaces…
    As a so-called ICANN/IANA Director (unelected and planted by Esther Dyson and others) can you point to the Open and Transparent Policies and Processes for obtaining a /8 from the “WhiteSpaces” below ?
    000/8 Sep 81 IANA - Reserved
    001/8 Sep 81 IANA - Reserved
    002/8 Sep 81 IANA - Reserved
    003/8 May 94 General Electric Company
    004/8 Dec 92 Level 3 Communications, Inc. (Updated - Apr 07)
    005/8 Jul 95 IANA - Reserved
    006/8 Feb 94 Army Information Systems Center
    007/8 Apr 95 IANA - Reserved
    008/8 Dec 92 Level 3 Communications, Inc. (Updated - Apr 07)
    009/8 Aug 92 IBM
    010/8 Jun 95 IANA - Private Use See [RFC1918]
    011/8 May 93 DoD Intel Information Systems
    012/8 Jun 95 AT&T Bell Laboratories
    013/8 Sep 91 Xerox Corporation
    014/8 Jun 91 IANA - Public Data Network
    015/8 Jul 94 Hewlett-Packard Company
    016/8 Nov 94 Digital Equipment Corporation
    017/8 Jul 92 Apple Computer Inc.
    018/8 Jan 94 MIT
    019/8 May 95 Ford Motor Company
    020/8 Oct 94 Computer Sciences Corporation
    021/8 Jul 91 DDN-RVN
    022/8 May 93 Defense Information Systems Agency
    023/8 Jul 95 IANA - Reserved
    024/8 May 01 ARIN - Cable Block (Formerly IANA - Jul 95)
    025/8 Jan 95 UK Ministry of Defense (Updated - Jan 06)
    026/8 May 95 Defense Information Systems Agency
    027/8 Apr 95 IANA - Reserved
    028/8 Jul 92 DSI-North
    029/8 Jul 91 Defense Information Systems Agency
    030/8 Jul 91 Defense Information Systems Agency
    031/8 Apr 99 IANA - Reserved
    032/8 Jun 94 AT&T Global Network Services (Updated - Aug 07)
    033/8 Jan 91 DLA Systems Automation Center
    034/8 Mar 93 Halliburton Company
    035/8 Apr 94 MERIT Computer Network
    036/8 Jul 00 IANA - Reserved (Formerly Stanford University - Apr 93)
    037/8 Apr 95 IANA - Reserved
    038/8 Sep 94 Performance Systems International
    039/8 Apr 95 IANA - Reserved
    040/8 Jun 94 Eli Lily and Company
    041/8 Apr 05 AfriNIC (whois.afrinic.net)
    042/8 Jul 95 IANA - Reserved
    043/8 Jan 91 Japan Inet
    044/8 Jul 92 Amateur Radio Digital Communications
    045/8 Jan 95 Interop Show Network
    046/8 Dec 92 IANA - Reserved (Updated - Apr 07)
    047/8 Jan 91 Bell-Northern Research
    048/8 May 95 Prudential Securities Inc.
    049/8 Mar 98 IANA - Reserved (Updated - May 07)
    050/8 Mar 98 IANA - Reserved (Updated - May 07)
    051/8 Aug 94 Deparment of Social Security of UK
    052/8 Dec 91 E.I. duPont de Nemours and Co., Inc.
    053/8 Oct 93 Cap Debis CCS
    054/8 Mar 92 Merck and Co., Inc.
    055/8 Apr 95 DoD Network Information Center (Updated - Feb 07)
    056/8 Jun 94 U.S. Postal Service
    057/8 May 95 SITA

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