JM>  MS> outlawed?  Any cell-phone user who believes so and 
JM>  MS> says anything he wants secret is stupid!
JM>   
JM> The whole thing is connived to fool the general public into thinking 
JM> that 
JM> cell phone calls are secure,, and to allow a few pockets to be lined 
JM> with 
JM> the cash that should be re-invested into digital technologies.
    It's not even that simple.  PCS-based mobile phone service is _already_ 
digital, impossible to scan, and it's available in every small town near an 
Interstate in this state.
    "Reinvesting in digital technology" would leave the _customers_ out in 
the cold, having to buy new phones (and have them installed if they are car 
models).  It would probably drive many to non-800 MHz services such as PCS, 
which is price-competitive or better already.  Anything forcing existing 
800-MHz cellular users to buy new phones would be the last straw that drove 
hordes to PCS, where the bills are less, the service secure, Caller ID free, 
and voice mail free.
JM> read the first op-ed section of this months QST. the threat to the 
JM> radio 
JM> hobby is very real. The governments solution? Legislate it away!
    Don't believe everything out of ARRL.  They have their own agenda, and 
many hams don't believe in it.  All you have to do to get deluged by their 
"only we can save the hobby from Washington" crap is get a ham license.  I 
got deluged with the-sky-is-falling fundraising appeals a decade ago, and 
it's been the case of the boy that cried wolf.
--- Simplex BBS (v1.07.00Beta [DOS])
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