There is a new sheriff in town. The FCC appoints Laura Smith to take Riley's job.

That's very commendable.
Problem is - she isn't a Ham.
That's the issue - really.
My brother is an excellent criminal defense attorney; doesn't mean that I would want him to run the jail.
Oh well, I'm sorry I upset you.

 

Be that as it may, you have to wonder about an attorney who spent a lot of her career in private practice and then gives it up for a position as a government attorney, especially if she had made partner at Shulman Rogers. I suspect her income is about to take a drastic hit. Or maybe not, depending on how good of an attorney she was or if she had made partner (I suspect not, and that might be why she left). Maybe we'll find out eventually.

On edit, I see that the ARRL article says she was "of counsel" at Shulman Rogers. This means she was associated with them essentially on an ad hoc basis and probably had her own separate practice. Attorneys who leave private practice for government positions generally do so because their private practices are not doing very well, or they have political ambitions. It's doubtful that a position as an FCC lawyer would be a path to a political career so that leaves the first option.

Also, you have to wonder about something else: she's now in the position to issue and enforce (or not issue and not enforce) citations against the people she used to represent. Can you say, "conflict of interest?" Not that there will be any but, in politics, you try to avoid not only conflicts of interest but the appearance of them.

I certainly hope you're right but right now I wouldn't bet the ranch on it.

 

I agree here......Maybe the YL will hear this trash and do something about it and maybe some of the trash on 75M also......

 

Here is something important to keep in mind:

 

Crazy

This chick isn't even a ham! Oh I am sure this will work out great. Keystone Cops are at it again.

 

Doesn't matter if she's a ham or not if she can send a Notice of Apparent Liability for 7,500-10,000 dollars. Ham or not, that will certainly get one's attention!

 

COULD NOT AGREE MORE

When you start taking money from people they somehow start to listen. I think just because she is not a ham she can be a fine "enforcer". Before we get off to bashing her lets give her a chance. From what I read she has a pretty impressive background. As one of the other posters stated it is not just Ham Radio she will be enforcing. Maybe like someone else stated by her not being a ham could be a good thing. That way she is not biased toward a certain club, ham, corp or others. I mentioned the idiot's on 275 as an example. But there are plenty others. Yes I know I can tune the dial but that is not the point. There are plenty here in the US that are as bad or worse. There are plenty of LIDS on the others bands as well. Ham Radio is suppose to be a family hobby for all ages. It is sad when you have a young person over that is interested and he or she is spinning the dial and they hear pleasure yourself, profanity and all the other CRAP.

I think some of us could agree that we came to Ham Radio to get away from that stuff on the Chicken Band. Or at least that is the reason why I got my license in the first place.

So again I think the only way we will ever stop "Some" of this is to work together. If you hear something that is not right-Report it. Don't try to jam or talk-over the rude station because then you become a LID yourself. Just as I do ignore them and move on. But ignoring the problem will not make it go away. As one person stated the DX stations dont always know that the freq they are one is the National LID Freq. Also 80 meters is full of them as well. Something I dont understand is most of the hams that cause problems on 80 meters have been hams longer than I have been alive.

We will always have problems but when you start placing huge fines and possibly jail time I bet the idiots will decrease. There will always be idiots as well as good operators. So anyways lets see what will happen. Hopefully it will be a great outcome. Before we start casting stones at her give her a chance. So lets get on the radio and have fun. Afterall that is the reason most of us got our license..Right? CUL



73'
Troy

 

K7DAA, GOOD ADVISE

I AM GOING TO MIRROR K7DAA's thoughts, and just have fun. I usually spin past 14.275 where all the ignoramus folks hang out.
Some of you folks in Tennessee should not be hams, and ashamed of yourselves for getting on the air.
You know who you are.

 

Here is the problem:

"Huge fines" have been levied and "license suspensions" have been issued by Riley during his involvement with the Enforcement Bureau, yet the on-air 'problems' still exist.

If anything, look for the FCC's current obscenity and indecency guidelines to be relaxed a bit with the new liberal administration.

I wouldn't hold my breath in regards to this person swooping in on angelic wings to pluck amateur radio from heathenous fire. Ain't gonna happen. Enforcement actions will continue to be complaint-driven...the "white vans" won't be showing up in anyone's neighborhood again unless they're investigating a case.

 

1) We need a real picture of her

2) As I have said before my VFO goes from 14.272 then skips to 14.278. It was a special mod that Icom came out with The only time it causes problems it when there is real DX on 14.275


Tom - AB3FL

 

DC

When I was assigned the job of instruction to the CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) I had to meet with the commissioners: two token women and three token males. None of them Knew Squat. We were discussing how to label antennas as stupid CB users had been sticking antennas into power lines and getting themselves killed. One of the commissioners, a woman, had such a poor grasp of what she was getting ready to rule upon that she just kept calling antennas "these things". She had no clue as to what was going on.

Women in DC are mostly stooges, not to be confused with a lot of the males who are the same. It is not a surprise that the FCC, especially under Obama, would pick a female. Her "job" is actually a political payoff for working for the party. None of these people need be qualified, competent nor do they need to understand the job. If they did not exist, we would be better off (as with the CPSC, spending billions with no result in forty years).

 

It's at least as likely for an attorney to make the decision to improve his or her quality of life and spend more time with the family. I recently made a similar desicion for this reason. And my practice was doing quite well.

There are ethics rules devoted precisely to this situation, allowing attorneys to transfer from industry to government employment and vice versa, with apporopriate restrictions on activity when actual--not imagined--conflicts arise.

And as far as her amateur radio focus is concerned, I would be surprised if there will be an actual conflict with her past representation.

 

You'd think this hobby was dominated by old codgers who can do nothing but complain..

I'd have preferred to see someone with a ham license get appointed, but regardless.. I wish her all the best in her new job, hopefully she'll do us proud.

 

Possibly, but not likely in this case. I'm not an attorney nor would I ever consider playing one on TV. But it goes without saying that it's a heluva lot harder to make it in the competitive world of private practice than it is to "make it" (such as that is) as a government employee. The article didn't give her age but it might be that she wanted to retire early (or, as we say in industry, RIP - retire in place). Government "service" is a great place to do that for some people, especially good-looking females. We haven't seen a pic of her yet but I suspect she is a lot more photogenic than Riley.

Rules that are not enforced mean nothing, and there are mechanisms to create exemptions. What is an obvious conflict of interest becomes perfectly OK when an exemption is granted.

You're assuming that she will have an Amateur Radio focus. Rather than rehash my earlier posts on that subject let me just say this: they had an open slot to fill in the enforcement division for an attorney. Being a ham wasn't a BFOQ (bona fide occupational qualification) for the position. Unless something at the Commission has changed, there is no such official position as "Special Counsel for Amateur Radio Enforcement," there is only "Special Counsel for Enforcement."

 

I've filed a a complaint about your post not because it does not make sense (it does not) but because you are slamming people based on gender rather than their level of competence for the task at hand.