Packet Radio Strike in Germany

dg5mgq writes "

In Germany the packet radio network has just about been shutdown in protest to a draft of the new regulation concerning automated amateur radio stations.





The following has been taken from 1409.org
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GERMAN PACKET NETWORK IN DANGER!

Hi,

We would like to inform you about the current situation
concerning the German paket-radio network.

As a sign for protest a lot of German packet radio
SysOps will cease operation for a couple of days
starting on November 24, 1900Z.

Major AX.25 nodes in Germany will shut down their
links with the execption of their local user access.
All additional supplementary services like BBS,
DX-Cluster, convers, TCP/IP etc. will be shut down
as well.

Therefore participating stations will not be routable
by their network interlinks. BBS message and bulletin
forwarding will be interrupted in most parts of Germany
during the protest. There are even some foreign nodes,
close to the German border, participating.

The reason for the SysOps' protest is a draft of a decree
("Amtsblattverfügung") by the German Regulatory Authority
for Telecommunications and Mail (RegTP). If this draft
will become reality, these rules will dictate explicite
procedures for almost any operational aspect of an automated
amateur radio station, including their supplementary services.

For the SysOps participating in this action, such pedantic
ruling is inacceptable. Most will rather shut down their
automatic stations, esp. the supplementary services than
accept these bureaucratic and completely unrealistic rules.
This protest is intended to demonstrate what might happen
if the intended decree will become reality.

Currently, the AX.25 packet Radio network in Germany is one
of the fastest and most efficient worldwide, although (or
rather: because) it does not rely on the internet, but on
high-speed radio interlinks on 1.2 GHz and above.

The users of the nodes are being informed about the reasons
for this protest and are kindly asked for their support.

The participating SysOps do not want to offend anyone and are
apologising for any inconvenience caused by this action to
the international packet radio community. However, they want
to make it clear that the situation is very serious and that
support is needed.

If you want to support us, please consider writing a polite
e-mail to the RegTP.


mailtooststelle@regtp.de
Subject: "Amateur radio service, draft for automated
remote-controlled stations".

You might ask not to deteriorate the existing liberal amateur
rules for automated stations by installing unnecessary
bureaucratic regulation.

You can reach the English language homepage of the German
Regulatory Authority for Telecommunications and Posts (RegTP)
at http://www.regtp.de/en/index.html
Thank you for your understanding and support.

73


Who we are

We are a group of radio amateurs interested in writing software,
chatting in the EU-Convers. We are not an official association
or a club. Just friends. Our focus is Linux and packet radio.
If you like to learn more about us, check our Who is Who Page.

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