Carmine5 said:
rbrucecarter5 said:
Yeah - right - they never did send me the form. I think they ignored people, put off sending the forms, made the comment period short - so that they could SILENCE any dissenting opinion.
... a month is not as much time for comments as the FCC has allotted for other petitions. Obviously, they want to fast track a decision on this matter. And given their recent favorable response for using unlicensed devices in white spaces, I think it's safe to assume that the Commission will approve the power increase.
Please let me try to disabuse you of several misconceptions.
First, the comment period
is still open. The deadline for
comments, which should have concerned points raised in the Notice, was December 5. The deadline for
reply comments, which should be responsive to what was said in the comments, is January 12, 2009. You can add your reasoned agreement or disagreement.
Second, comments are not a public opinion poll. If all you want to say is that you agree or disagree with something, you're free to do so but it will have very little weight. Comments (and reply comments) are primarily a means to gather information so that the agency has a basis for a good decision. You contribute the most value by providing facts (authenticated, please) and logic.
Third, no "form" is required. You submit comments via the web to the Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS). The ECFS has a dual purpose: it collects comments from the public, and it allows you to read comments already filed. In fact, the ECFS contains the history of items on the rulemaking docket -- not only comments, but notices, motions, ex parte presentations, and decisions as well.
There are two ways to file comments in the ECFS. The simpler method, used primarily by people who just want to give an opinion, is ECFS Express, at
http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs/Upload/. The ways the pros do it is to create a document using their normal word processor, and upload it. ECFS (
http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/) will accept filings in the following formats: MS Word 6.0 and higher, MS Excel 4.0 and higher, Word Perfect 5.1 and higher, ASCII Text, and Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF). For more information, please refer to the online User Manual at
http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/ecfsmanual.html. (I personally recommend converting to PDF to avoid font problems, to make the document readable by the most people, and to ensure that you aren't uploaded deleted text that Word files may keep around.) The link to upload is
http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/upload_v2.cgi.
Since we are in the reply comment phase now for the power increase proposal, you should be responsive to the comments already filed. To see what they are, go to
http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/comsrch_v2.cgi, enter 99-325 in Box 1, and click on "Retrieve Document List." Since the documents are in reverse chronological order, the ones appearing first concern the most recent matter, the power increase proposal. (You don't have to go back further than October 2008.) (If you want to see how reply comments respond to comments, look at Proceeding 08-172, which just closed for reply comments. This was the one about possibly mandating IBOC and SDARS features on the same receivers.)
Finally, if you read the comments, you'll see that the center of gravity is
against approving a blanket 10 db increase in subcarrier power. Several leading comments refer to ongoing negotiations that would lead to a subsequent, more parameterized proposal. (Your reply comments may include your own analysis of the consensus of the comments.)
- Jonathan
