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Spectrum Wars
Reason contributor and Technology Daily scribe Drew Clark tells the tale of the "spectrum wars" here.
From the beginning, the key combatant has been the National Association of Broadcasters, which organized itself into a lobby in the 1920s, even before the Federal Communications Commission was formed in 1934. For more than 75 years, the NAB has been fighting to help the broadcasting industry hold on to its slice of the spectrum -- the frequencies TV and radio stations use for their broadcasts -- in the face of demands from competing technologies and rival industries, and even public safety concerns.
Whole thing here.
A few months back, Drew, Reason Managing Editor Jesse Walker, and I interviewed outgoing FCC chair Michael Powell. Read that here.
Update: Jesse Walker points out that he had blogged Drew Clark's col some weeks back. Apologies for the duplication.
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|2.28.05 @ 10:46AM|#
FCC did have a predecessor, the Federal radio Commission. It started in 1927, which means that NAB is still older, having been founded in 1923.
http://www.nab.org/about/timeline.asp
The Feds had been regulating radio even earlier.
From 1911 to 1927, responsibility for enforcement of United States radio laws and regulations was assigned to the Commerce Department's Bureau of Navigation.
http://earlyradiohistory.us/sec023.htm
During WWI, all radio operators were essentially commandeered by the Navy Department.
`Course, you could all read Jesse Walker's excellent book. :)
Kevin