Usenet NEWS vs. Bittorrent

[Oren Beck]

On Sat, Jul 5, 2008 at 3:19 PM, Jon Pruente <jdpruente at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> Isn't that only analog over-the-air broadcasting? ;)  Notice how all
> the commercials about it very specifically mention air signals, and
> how the change won't effect satellite and cable systems.  The whole
> change is only to free up the big ol' chunk of radio spectrum
> currently being eaten up by a few TV staitons in a given market, so
> the govt can auction it off and reap in more money for license fees.
>
> Jon.
> _______________________________________________

Let me contribute some technical and social overview to de-FUD this a
bit quicker.
Then we might all have a bit more understanding of how the tech issues
interlace with the social ones-or not. The goal for me is to have this
situation at least understood as-is.  Which is that if all goes
according to plan- on scheduled date all previous century era TV will
go off the air for good and the only OTA TV will be digital mode/s
on frequencies starting at the present Ch 2 thru the present UHF Ch
51. With the obsoleted spectrum slated for several sorts of reuse.
That is pretty much accepted as frozen by FCC et all.

The financial aspects are like counting chicks from unlaid as yet
eggs. We could go VERY wrong in presuming to know what reality
intersecting with Fiat Law as such spectrum auctions operate under
will produce! Let's just say Linux being inherently more flexible in
frequency management for SDR will be poised for big wins if sanity
prevails.


Ok- on the points of NTSC Analog OTA being mandated to stop
transmitting -that's a bit more complex than FUD or supposed possible
motivations would cover.

1: The "Spectrum Density" of ATSC Vs NTSC alone seals the situation.

2: The placement IN the range of frequencies used was/is not optimal
for utility overall.

Taking those two points as bedrock we hang everything else on the
"What's Next?" point/s of  evaluation First my bland estimation of
truth. Then the "Brasil" path to fear.

The Truth is parts of this will go like Y2K- much gnash but little
fireworks. Oh, there WILL be some learning curve and last minute
flapping. The overall scene will be that grumble and few bangs.There
might be some really entertaining scenes of the deranged TV addicts
running amok in places. We may even have some Faux Legal posturing
from the lunatic fringe over economic whingings. Other than the
sideshows it sums up as being a non-notable event for 99% of our world
till the after effects gaming begins. THEN it might well prove some
things deprecated as FUD were tragic underestimations. Which will in
one scenario go apparently unreported as centrally controlled media
only reports what it's allowed to. Never forget that an ability to
censor  Vs an inability to censor has determined nation's fates. Thus
I have reservations over the wisdom exhibited by FCC and Megacorps
being trusted to act socially responsible.

The part where the DTV concept frankly scares the obscenity deleted
out of many folks who grasp the implications is called "Inherent
disenfranchisement" Yep. DTV  has an ugly underside where the "Bar" of
market entry for independents is RAISED instead of lowered. Think of
it as if Palladium the software concept becomes applied to TV the
medium. Not only is there a hurdle of getting an RF signal to an
audience, Their digital RF to Audio/Video hardware just might not be
allowed to decode unapproved content!
Let that sink in a second folks. No "digital Imprimatur's" stamp and
you might not even know you were being censored.  Of course such
things never would happen in a free republic.

"In a time of potential digital oppression - open software may be our
only defense"
-- 
Oren Beck

816.729.3645