What is Net Neutrality?
What is net neutrality? What is the future of the Internet?
Tonight: an informative conversation with Josh Silver, co-founder of FreePress.net on these questions and how they connect to media consolidation and the latest FCC move to approve the unlicensed use of "white spaces" (empty airwaves between television channels) to provide high-speed Internet access nationwide. . . find out tonight what all this will mean for you.
And, have your chance to weigh-in on the topic. 866 – 303 – 2270 IS THE NUMBER TO CALL-IN FOR YOU LISTENERS OUT THERE.
Also, I'll be hosting The Rachel Maddow Show (starting at 6pm ET) talking about the Fairness Doctrine, so tune in early and stick around for The Ron Reagan Show at 8 pm ET!
- FILED UNDER: Host Posts, net neutrality
- November 18, 2008








White Space Issue
While it is probably true that some white space can be used as proposed, there is an issue not being covered by your conversations. There is great potential for interference caused by these radio transmitters. Radio waves are not just magic spells flying through the air. There is physics behind them and it requires a great deal of engineering to design systems that do not cause inference with each other. The people pushing to open the RF white space for their use do not care it what they implement causes interference with other radio services. They just do not care. We have the same problem with the broadband over power line people. Their systems wipe out radio communications over huge swaths of land, but they do not care. RF is complex. I am responsible for a repeater system that is having problems. There is a police frequency and a fire response frequency that when they both come on the air at the same time they wipe out the repeater I run. RF interference is a big and complex problem. But, again I will repeat, the people wanting the RF white space do not care if they wipe out other radio services.
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By LDCNovember 18, 2008 - 8:59pm