Re: Telecommunications Act (Lack of) Coverage

[Shawn Mamros <mamros@MIT.EDU>]

>[...]  I'd be surprised if most of
>Congress even knew that they were voting many small-time radio
>operators out of business.  [...]

For all of the evils of the Telecomm Act - and please feel free to
correct me if I'm wrong - I don't believe that it actually took
away the licenses of any existing radio operators, "small-time"
or otherwise.  Rather, a lot of "small-time" operators sold their
operations - many of them for a tidy profit, at that - to the
"big-time" operators.

Consolidation could never have occurred if the "small-time" guys
hadn't sold out.  Making them sound as if they were all blameless
victims hides the fact that many of them profited quite handsomely
from all of the consolidation that occurred.

-Shawn Mamros (playing devil's advocate again)
E-mail to: mamros@mit.edu