[CQ-Contest] Legalities and ethics of international remote operation?

[Gerry Hull]

Hi Kevin,

When an operator is controlling a remote station in the US, that operator
IS the control operator, and is responsible.  It is not a repeater station,
and repeater rules don't apply.

>From the FCC's point of view, remote over the internet is "extending the
Mic or Key cable".    So, if a station is made available over the internet,
the owner of the hardware should ensure that users have the proper
licensing authorization.  This can be done with password protection or
other controls.

These concepts are not new.   www.remotehams.com has an ecosystem
of remote stations.  It had an authorization mechanism where the user who
wants to be able to transmit must upload a scanned image of the appropriate
license.  Then, station owners can look at this document, and make a
determination
as to allow TX operation or not.

Even with restrictions in place, a person can choose to ignore rules and
regulations
and operate illegally.   We need to stop these people.

They sky is not falling.  We have no proof the YO operated from a US remote
station.
If they did, they will eventually get caught, either bv the station owner
or the contest
organizers.

73 Gerry W1VE


On Wed, Dec 17, 2014 at 8:32 AM, Kevan Nason <knason00 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Haven't read the rules in detail (at work on break and not enough time!),
> but wouldn't there be some responsibility for the operator of the remote
> station (which is a transmitter here in the U.S. operating under FCC rules)
> to put in place some type of controls to ensure that people using his
> transmitter are doing so in accordance with Part 97?  As in ensuring
> foreign hams, and others, using his station are identifying correctly?
> Sounds pretty similar to repeater operation where the repeater licensee is
> responsible for what happens on his repeater. Control Operators are often
> (well, maybe sometimes?) assigned to monitor repeater transmissions for
> rules violations and take action to either correct the violators or shut
> down the transmitter.
>
> If an effective mechanism could be found to do that it would help cut down
> on both suspected pirates and cheating. It would also make Randy and
> company's job a bit easier.
>
> Kevan
> N4XL
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