[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 77 (Thursday, April 21, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-9483]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: April 21, 1994]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 97

[PR Docket No. 93-85; FCC 94-76]

 

Amendment of Part 97 of the Commission's Rules Concerning Message 
Forwarding Systems in the Amateur Service

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

Action: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: This action amends the rules for the amateur service to enable 
contemporary message forwarding systems to operate at high speed while 
retaining the absolute minimum safeguards to prevent misuse. This 
amendment was necessary to resolve six petitions that asked for 
amendment of Sec. 97.103(a) of the Commission's Rules. To comply with 
the former rule, the control operator of every forwarding station was 
required to review each message for improper content prior to its 
retransmission. The Commission found this message content review was 
unnecessary and resulted in system delays. The intended effect of the 
final rule is to relieve control operators of intermediate forwarding 
stations, other than the first forwarding station, from accountability 
when their stations retransmit improper communications inadvertently.

EFFECTIVE DATE: June 1, 1994.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William T. Cross, Federal 
Communications Commission, Private Radio Bureau, Personal Radio Branch, 
Washington, DC 20554, (202) 632-4964.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Commission's Report 
and Order, adopted March 30, 1994, and released April 13, 1994. The 
complete text of this action is available for inspection and copying 
during normal business hours in the FCC Dockets Branch (room 239) 1919 
M Street, NW., Washington, DC. The complete text of this action, 
including the rule amendments, may also be purchased from the 
Commission's copy contractor, ITS, Inc., (202) 857-3800, 2100 M Street, 
NW., suite 140, Washington, DC 20037.

Summary of Report and Order

    1. The rules for the amateur service have been amended to 
accommodate the thousands of amateur operators who voluntarily link 
their individually-licensed very high frequency (VHF) stations together 
to form easily-accessible ad hoc message forwarding systems. Currently, 
the control operator of each station is held individually accountable 
for each message the station retransmits, thereby resulting in 
repetitive message content review and in system delays. This amendment 
will relieve the control operators of all but the originating and first 
forwarding station of the need to review the content of every message.
    2. The amateur service community stated that it generally desired 
relaxation of the present rules that apply to control operator 
responsibility to accommodate amateur stations operated in contemporary 
high speed message forwarding systems. We are amending the rules, 
therefore, to hold accountable only the licensee of the station 
originating a message and the license of the first station forwarding a 
message in a high speed message forwarding system. To comply with the 
revised rules, the licensee of the first forwarding station must either 
authenticate the identity of the station from which it accepts 
communications on behalf of the system, or accept accountability for 
the content of the message. The Commission specifically noted that 
there is no central supervisory authority in an ad hoc amateur service 
digital network, and that the vulnerability of an unsupervised system 
can make it an easy target for misuse by uncooperative operators and 
non-licensees. The Commission also observed that it can be difficult to 
establish after the fact that a particular VHF station originated a 
fleeting high speed digital transmission. For these reasons, it 
concluded there must be on-going oversight of these systems. It also 
found the control operators of the first forwarding stations are in the 
best position to provide such oversight because their stations accept, 
on behalf of the system, messages from originating stations.
    3. The rules are set forth at the end of this document.
    4. The rules contained herein have been analyzed with respect to 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq., and found 
to contain no new or modified form, information collection and/or 
record keeping, labeling, disclosure, or record retention requirements 
and will not increase or decrease burden hours imposed on the public.
    5. This Report and Order is issued under the authority of sections 
301, 303(l)(1) and (r) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 
47 U.S.C. 301, 303(l)(1) and (r).

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 97

    Communications equipment, Radio, Reporting and recording 
requirements.

Federal Communications Commission.
William F. Caton,
Acting Secretary.

Rule Changes

    Part 97 of chapter I of title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations 
is amended as follows:

Part 97--Amateur Radio Service

    1. The authority citation for Part 97 continues to read as follows:

    Authority citation: 48 Stat. 1066, 1082, as amended; 47 U.S.C. 
154, 303. Interpret or apply 48 Stat. 1064-1068, 1081-1105, as 
amended; 47 U.S.C. Secs. 151-155, 301-609, unless otherwise noted.

    2. Section 97.3 is amended by redesignating paragraphs (a)(28) 
through (a)(44) as paragraphs (a)(29) through (a)(45), respectively, 
adding a new paragraph (a)(28), and revising paragraph (a)(7) and 
redesignated paragraph (a)(36) to read as follows:


Sec. 97.3  Definitions.

    (a) * * *
    (7) Auxiliary station. An amateur station, other than in a message 
forwarding system, that is transmitting communications point-to-point 
within a system of cooperating amateur stations.
* * * * *
    (28) Message forwarding system. A group of amateur stations 
participating in a voluntary, cooperative, interactive arrangement 
where communications are sent from the control operator of an 
originating station to the control operator of one or more destination 
stations by one or more forwarding stations.
* * * * *
    (36) Repeater. An amateur station that simultaneously retransmits 
the transmission of another amateur station on a different channel or 
channels.
* * * * *
    3. Section 97.109(e) is revised to read as follows:


Sec. 97.109  Station control.

* * * * *
    (e) No station may be automatically controlled while transmitting 
third party communications, except a station participating as a 
forwarding station in a message forwarding system.
    4. Section 97.205 is amended by adding new paragraph (g) to read as 
follows:


Sec. 97.205  Repeater station.

* * * * *
    (g) The control operator of a repeater that retransmits 
inadvertently communications that violate the rules in this Part is not 
accountable for the violative communications.


Sec. 97.216  [Redesignated as Sec. 97.217]

    5. Section 97.216 is redesignated as Section 97.217.
    6. Section 97.219 is added to read as follows:


Sec. 97.219  Message forwarding system.

    (a) Any amateur station may participate in a message forwarding 
system, subject to the privileges of the class of operator license 
held.
    (b) For stations participating in a message forwarding system, the 
control operator of the station originating a message is primarily 
accountable for any violation of the rules in this Part contained in 
the message.
    (c) Except as noted in (d) of this section, for stations 
participating in a message forwarding system, the control operators of 
forwarding stations that retransmit inadvertently communications that 
violate the rules in this Part are not accountable for the violative 
communications. They are, however, responsible for discontinuing such 
communications once they become aware of their presence.
    (d) For stations participating in a message forwarding system, the 
control operator of the first forwarding station must:
    (1) Authenticate the identity of the station from which it accepts 
communications on behalf of the system; or
    (2) Accept accountability for any violation of the rules in this 
Part contained in messages it retransmits to the system.

[FR Doc. 94-9483 Filed 4-20-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-M