[lug] IP: FCC forces Ham radio operators to use Windows (fwd from: dave at farber.net)

Mon Apr 1 17:56:51 MST 2002

p.s. CORES is used for everything from Ham to Commercial Broadcast to
Satellite operators, to goodness only knows what... Hams are a very small
part of the wireless licensing branch.

Evelyn Mitchell wrote:

> ----- Forwarded message from Dave Farber <dave at farber.net> -----
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> Date: Mon, 01 Apr 2002 18:20:12 -0500
> Subject: IP: FCC forces Ham radio operators to use Windows
> From: Dave Farber <dave at farber.net>
> To: ip <ip-sub-1 at majordomo.pobox.com>
> In-Reply-To: <3CA8E5BD.E23A1B5A at ultradevices.com>
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> ------ Forwarded Message
> From: "Robert J. Berger" <rberger at ultradevices.com>
> Organization: UltraDevices, Inc
> Date: Mon, 01 Apr 2002 14:57:01 -0800
> To: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne at warpspeed.com>, Dave Farber
> <farber at cis.upenn.edu>
> Subject: FCC forces Ham radio operators to use Windows
>
> FCC forces Ham radio operators to use Windows
> http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=659653
>
> Applying for or renewing an amateur radio license? If you ain't using
> Microsoft Windows, fugetaboutit.
>
> Summary
> 'Linux? Step to the back of the bus, please. This section is reserved
> for Windows users only.' That's the message everyone but Microsoft
> Windows users get when they wish to do more than browse the FCC's Web
> site. Ironic that an agency bearing the name 'communications' does
> such a lousy job of it. (1,200 words)
>
> By Joe Barr
>
> (LinuxWorld) -- Early in January, I sent e-mail to each of the four
> FCC commissioners: Michael Powell, Kathleen Abernathy, Michael Copps,
> and Kevin Martin.  Their names are displayed prominently on the FCC
> homepage (see Resources for the URL) so it seemed completely natural
> and fitting that I contact them about a problem on the FCC Web
> site. My complaint was that certain functionality on the site is not
> available to me because I use Linux instead of Windows. I never
> received a response from any commissioner.
>
> I first became aware of the problem last year when a friend of mine, a
> lawyer and Linux aficionado, sent me a copy of a letter he had mailed
> to FCC Chairman Michael Powell. The letter asked that the FCC stop the
> "wholly unnecessary and entirely unconscionable" practice of providing
> online license renewals for amateur radio licenses only to users of
> Windows. Like me, my friend never received a reply.
>
> Then I pretty much forgot about the issue. After all, it did not
> affect my daily life. Recently I began studying for a ham license. I
> mentioned that to another friend who happens to be a licensed amateur
> radio operator. That reminded her that she needed to report a recent
> change of address to the FCC. When she tried to do so from my desktop
> computer, the following pop-up window appeared in the browser:
>
> Ugly, isn't it? Not just the popup. Not just the message. I mean the
> fact that the FCC is helping Microsoft in its illegal practices to
> maintain its monopoly. Intentional or not, that's the result
> here. Moreover, it appears to have been in place since the ULS first
> went online. I found a newsgroup post from August of 1999 that said "I
> did notice one of the other FCC Web page popped up with a window
> saying 'This plug-in is only available for Windows 95/98'. I have no
> clue what the plug-in did."
>
> Whoever wrote the ULS applications, and thus far, I haven't been able
> to learn where it came from, or who currently maintains it, used
> JavaScript for the task. There is huge irony in this because
> JavaScript, like Java itself, was designed to provide interoperability
> across different platforms. To fashion a Windows-only JavaScript
> application requires either deliberate intent or myopic programmers. I
> asked some JavaScript experts how to create Windows-only code. Most
> opined it is the result of using Microsoft's ActiveX. If they are
> right, it means this site's functionality not only flies in the face
> of interoperability and open access to all, it's fundamentally
> insecure as well.
>
> In my e-mail to the commissioners I wrote, "The problem as reported to
> me -- and as confirmed by a friend this past weekend -- is that
> certain functionality on the FCC Web site is available only to Windows
> users.  Specifically, the JavaScript or CGI used to allow Ham radio
> operators to update their licensing information online. This leaves
> Hams using Macintosh, Linux, OS/2, FreeBSD, OpenBSD and other
> operating systems out in the cold."
>
> I also asked the obvious question, "As the Internet, HTML, and Java
> are all about the interoperability of different types of computers and
> software platforms, how does it come about that a governmental agency
> implements a solution available only to a single platform?" I noted
> that since JavaScript works on many different platforms, making a
> JavaScript application "Windows only" seems to require deliberate
> intent.
>
> Mr. Barr calls Washington After a week, and not a word in reply from
> any of the FCC commissioners, I took it to the next level: I picked up
> the phone and called the FCC. When I asked to speak to their media
> relations people, the operator asked what my call was about. When I
> said it was about functionality on the FCC Web site, they directed my
> call not to public relations, but to David Kitzmiller, the FCC
> Webmaster.
>
> Kitzmiller knew which corner of the bureaucracy to look in for
> answers, even though it didn't fall directly under his purview. He
> copied me on a portion of the e-mail he sent to the Wireless
> Telecommunications Bureau (WTB), who evidently is responsible for
> relations with the contractor providing the ULS services.
>
> His e-mail appeared to be aimed at the right people, asking that they
> do the right things to fix the problem.  In addition, he asked that
> they update the site's help and support pages to explain the
> situation. He concluded it by saying "let me know what happens with
> this, since we get quite a few e-mails to webmaster at fcc.gov on this
> subject." That was January 15, 2002.
>
> For several weeks afterwards, I would query Kitzmiller for the latest
> status on the fix. Finally, I exhausted his patience. He told me on
> February 22 that he had been told by someone or something called
> "TPTB" at the WTB that the problem was bigger than they first
> thought. However, he went on to say that it would still be fixed. He
> quoted TPTB saying, "The FCC is in the process of revising the
> software and the revised software will work with Linux. The first
> application to be revised will be License Search later this month.
> Other ULS applications will follow."
>
> Here we are a month beyond the promised date for implementing the
> first fix, and it still isn't in place.  Neither have the help/support
> pages been updated as Kitzmiller requested.
>
> Some active Ham friends of mine have suggested that the FCC site is in
> violation of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, §1194.22, which
> defines access requirements for government Web sites among other
> things. I've asked the GSA this question directly, but have yet to
> receive a reply.
>
> Time for the soapbox I can almost understand the buffoonery of the FCC
> commissioners. Colin Powell's son Michael and the others have other
> things to do than be concerned about ordinary citizens trying to avail
> themselves of ordinary services on their Web site. They certainly
> can't be held accountable if the FCC's Web site is "accidentally"
> helping Microsoft maintain its malignant monopoly. In fact, they can't
> even be counted on to answer their mail: paper or electronic. They are
> busy with other things. They have bigger fish to fry.
>
> Bigger fish like making sure the cable companies are unfettered by the
> regulations that bind their broadband competition at the Baby
> Bells. And defending themselves from the rash of lawsuits that action
> has spawned.
>
> Some of their bigger fish don't live in the corporate pond, but in the
> pond of public morality. Like the integrity (or lack thereof) of
> individual amateur radio operators. Like Kevin Mitnick, for
> example. Mitnick has held and used his Ham license for 25 years. The
> FCC blocked his recent application for renewal, and not on the basis
> of any misuse of the license, but because he was convicted of computer
> crime.
>
> Sagging as they must be under the weight of those awesome
> responsibilities, it's easy to see why I was pointed away from them
> and towards Kitzmiller. Speaking of Kitzmiller, I just received an
> update from him this morning. (Ed. Barr wrote this Friday, March 28,
> 2002.) Kitzmiller wrote that the License Search application is now
> "available." When I raced to the Web site to try it, the new "Linux
> friendly" version had yet to appear. It does sound as if it is on the
> way, however. Maybe folks who don't do Windows won't have to ride in
> the back of this bus for too much longer.
>
> About the author
> Joe Barr is a freelance journalist covering Linux, open source, and
> network security. His 'Open Source' column has been a regular feature
> of LinuxWorld.com since its inception. As far as we know, he is the
> only living journalist whose works have appeared both in phrack, the
> legendary underground zine, and IBM Personal Systems Magazine.
>
> --
> Robert J. Berger
> UltraDevices, Inc.
> 257 Castro Street, Suite 223 Mt. View CA. 94041
> Email: rberger at ultradevices.com http://www.ultradevices.com
> Voice: 650-237-0334 Fax: 408-490-2868
>
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> --
> Regards,                    tummy.com, ltd
> Evelyn Mitchell             Linux Consulting since 1995
> efm at tummy.com               Senior System and Network Administrators
>                             http://www.tummy.com/
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