Pirates of the Highway Patrol

Jesse Walker | May 21, 2003

In Nevada, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that the Highway Patrol "has been using its new $14 million communications system for several years, despite the fact that no one at the agency ever applied for or received approval from the federal agency that regulates radio frequencies." This was apparently a clerical blunder, and it could cost the cops a ton in FCC fines. Left unanswered: Did the unlicensed equipment cause any actual harm? Not counting the harm to hapless speeders, of course.

Comments

Hank|5.21.03 @ 1:06AM|#

Simply designate certain frequencies deemed necessary for government use to maintain infrastructure and security and hold person using those frequencies personally liable.

The rest should be left to the free market without any government oversite. Just like domain names.

|5.21.03 @ 6:26AM|#

Or the harm to hapless taxpayers!

|5.21.03 @ 9:06AM|#

Ayn Rand wrote a great article about FCC deregulation in her Capitalism book. Sorry to bring up the A word.

Lonewacko|5.21.03 @ 10:51AM|#

[OFF-TOPIC] From the same paper, a libertarian changes his mind about open borders.

Steve in CO|5.21.03 @ 12:38PM|#

Here's my intelectual stab at it: The FCC sucks.

Why is it that we here in the good old US of A have the "freedom of speech," but a government agency can regularly ban expression over the airwaves? How is the electromatic spectrum fundamentally different then the sound waves produced when I flap my gums?

Ted|5.21.03 @ 12:56PM|#

ummm...
Air Traffic Control would be a good example of why it is a necessary evil

Jim|5.22.03 @ 12:11PM|#

It seems to me that who will end up paying for this 'screw up' which apparently didn't cause any real problems will be the taxpayers in that locality that will be getting increased millages or fewer cops to pay the fines. Normally I'd not be one to let the cops evade the law just because they're cops, but in this case the crime was an unitentional technical violation by one government agency of a relatively abstract regulation created by a different agency. Just let 'em file the paperwork and be done with it.