From: whs70@dancer.cc.bellcore.com (sohl,william h)
Subject: Re: Closed repeaters (FCC wants them open)
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ
Date: Sun, 24 Jan 93 01:25:57 GMT

In article <1993Jan21.160243.1@ttd.teradyne.com> rice@ttd.teradyne.com writes:
>In article <1993Jan20.150617.3024@porthos.cc.bellcore.com>, whs70@dancer.cc.bellcore.com (sohl,william h) writes:
>> 
>> And if the FCC does change the FEDERAL law (applicable Part 97), just
>> who is going to sue whom over what.  If the FCC changes part 97,
>> surely you don't expect any repeater owner to prevail in a local court where
>> the coordinator is just applying the FCC regs as proscribed?  Just
>> what do you even mean when you say "massive" lawsuits?  I'm simply
>> tired of seeing that threat tossed out as if it is supported by
>> existing case law, etc.  I've yet to see anyone post an example of
>> a coordinator being sued which might have resulted in anything more
>> than the frequency assignment issue being changed, etc.  No one has
>> yet to post any example of a financial penalty (monetary damages)
>> ever being assessed against a coordinator.
>
>Ahhh, but "who Bells the Cat" ? 
>
>Even if the FCC "changes the rules", someone still has to perform the
>co-ordination. If the FCC does not take on that role, then chaos will rule.
>Every closed repeater that's asked to "open up" because the mythical percentage
>of "closed systems" is too high will (rightly) say "Why Me". Some of the users
>of these closed systems have access to far more resources (read $$$) than a
>co-ordination group and will go to court in a heartbeat.
>
>And you apprently haven't read any of the published stories about the Texas
>VHF Society and their legal problems.

Actually I just did and though I acknowledge that there are people
with the bucks that can sue, the case involved a liable claim 
against the society for publishing a report of what happened.
If that report was even reasonably accurate, any fresh out of
law school attorney should have been able to defend it without a
problem.  You can never liable anyone if what you print is the
truth.  Infact, if what was printed was belived to be the truth at the 
time, the society would not have been guilty of liable, even if what
was printed turned out to be false.
Seems to me the society should have just "waited the guy out,"
rather than settle.  Anyway, if that's the best (only) example
of a case related to the coordinator issue it sure doesn't warrant
being paranoid about the FCC possibly changing things in the future.

By the way, someone previously asked if I'd ever been sued before.  Yes
I have, as an elected official in my home town I've been "served" with
such initial actions in several cases.  From what I've learned, the
initial act of "suing" is usually just a scare tactic on the hopes
of forcing the "defendent" to capitulate on whatever the issue/position
is.  You should have seen the panic look in my wife's face the first
time I got served with a lawsuit claiming multi-million dollar
damages/claims.

Standard Disclaimer- Any opinions, etc. are mine and NOT my employer's.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Bill Sohl (K2UNK) BELLCORE (Bell Communications Research, Inc.)
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