On Thu, 10 Nov 2005 19:40:27 -0800, an old friend wrote:


Dr CB Nomore wrote:
why do you hams bother with a license?
the Tenth Ammendment clearly allows anyone to operate any
radio without a license on any frequency at anytime or place.

The USA signed the ITU treaty thus we have internationally agreed to it's
requirements, one of which is to prove that anybody operating an Amateur
Radio Station meets the minimum proficiency requirements as outlined in
that treaty. The US congress ratified the the agreement, making it
official and legally binding, and they have delegated the authority to
enforce the treaty requirements to a federal agency, a.k.a FCC, by an act
of congress.

By requiring the operator to have a license shows they meet
the treaty minimum requirements by passing tests before they are issued
the license. The FCC can impose higher standards but the minimum is set by
the ITU treaty agreement. As any body who should have taken government
class in grade school the first thing you learn is the rights granted in
the Constitution are not absolute, i.e. they have bounds.

Regards,
Leland C. Scott
KC8LDO