HRN 342: It Ain't Parity Until We Say It's Parity

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The Amateur Radio Parity Act drew plenty of critics — and plenty of supporters — in its original form (HR 1301, the early days). The supporters celebrated the language that took away the HOA's 'Just Say No' antenna veto. Critics opposed the idea of the federal government interfering with what they saw as a private contract.

The bill was stalled in the House until the ARRL and the CAI (Community Associations Institute) arrived at compromise language. Then the US House of Representatives was happy (and passed it), but ham critics accused the ARRL of 'selling out'. The bill is awaiting action in the Senate that may or may not ever come.

More recently, several hams, prominent lawyers in the amateur radio community, crafted their own considerably more thoughtful arguments about to why the compromise bill (now HR-555 and S-1534) is not good for Amateur Radio.

Two of them, former FCC attorney Jim Talens N3JT, and well-known antenna law attorney, author (and contester) Fred Hopengarten K1VR, join David and Gary to make their case. Former ARRL Vice-Director Marty Woll N6VI also contributed his expertise.

If you want an explanation of what's in the Bill, pre- and post-compromise, check out HamRadioNow Episode 259 (Click-bait titled PokeHAM GOta). The link will take you to the spot Gary starts his review. And here's a link to HRN 213: Parity in the Senate, Gary's discussion with Chris Imlay W3KD, ARRL's General Council, and Mike Lisenco N2YBB, Hudson Division Director, on the original HR 1301.

Here are links to the documents that Fred, Jim and Marty published, and the ARRL's FAQ rebuttal:

And our previous programs on the Amateur Radio Parity Act

Audiophiles... this episode has some text of the bills in the video, but we're pretty careful to read everything out loud. So we'll give it a Radio Rating of B+.