[TowerTalk] Antenna Compendium Vol 6

[Jim Lux]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jerry K3BZ" <k3bz at arrl.net>
To: "Jim Lux" <jimlux at earthlink.net>; <towertalk at contesting.com>
Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2005 8:39 PM
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Antenna Compendium Vol 6


> An occasional copy made for a friend without profit is very like the tree
> falling in the forest. Who knows? Who cares? We all bend rules every day.
> Free adults can determine for themselves the potential risks and
> consequences.
> 73, Jerry K3BZ
>
Since you responded to the list, here's my philosophical reply:

It's a sad day when ethical decisions get made on the basis of utilitaritian
arguments: "Don't do it because of the consequences" rather than an
assessment of the fundamental fairness. Such arguments are what leads to
debacles like Enron and Watergate (if you don't get caught, it's ok).  With
such arguments, the solution to rising health care costs is to euthanize
sick people as rapidly as possible (sort of like the tobacco industry
arguing that they helped reduce social security costs because they reduced
the average life span of workers).

Presumably, you operate your radio transmitter within the stated limits,
even though the odds of getting caught if you don't are vanishingly small,
and the odds of a successful FCC enforcement are even smaller.

I'd hardly say that I never violate any laws or rules or ethical precepts,
however, I'd like to think that if I do, it's out of ignorance or after
contemplation of the basis for the rules, and hopefully, what I do complies
with the "spirit of the law, if not the letter."

So, in response to "who knows, who cares"... you know, and you should care.
As you say, though, we're all adults, and we can freely make the moral
choice.