Change My Mind - I Don't Need Permission to Use Your Repeater

[marcspaz]

 

I Don't Need Permission to Use Your Repeater - Change My Mind

 

This isn't an attack on anyone... just meant to stimulate conversation. I am 100% open to hearing dissenting opinions. Lets chat.

So, this happened to a friend of mine recently.  He used a repeater that the owner did not expressly say he was approved to use.  The repeater owner/manager sought him out off the air, told him that he isn't authorized and to not use it again.    

Here are some facts, that are not open for debate...  In some states, a person is not criminally trespassing on realty unless a person has been notified by the realty owner either verbally, with signs, etc., followed by a complaint filed with the courts, a judge agrees with the realty owner and issues a court order for that person to stay off the property, AND THEN that person returns to the property.  There is no other private trespass beyond unauthorized access to private real property.  

Also, the FCC has already published an opinion that they will not modify the rules requiring operators to gain permission to use another licensee's repeater.  Literally every license holder has equal right to use every frequency, every tone, every code, etc.  If your repeater receives my signal and re-transmits my signal, that is not my problem.  As the repeater owner and licensee, by FCC rule, YOU are responsible for what is transmitted by your radio.  It is up to you to manage things accordingly, including intentional or unintentional transmitting of another radio's signal.

Here is the opinion... if I need a judge to agree with me that someone shouldn't be on my property and issue a court order to keep them out of my house, and the FCC said they aren't requiring permission, why should I ask for permission to use a repeater?  Maybe as a courtesy?  Why else?

I mean, as a repeater owner, part of me thinks it would be nice to be able to have some teeth behind efforts to stop a troublemaker from using my repeater.  Another part of me thinks, I sure as heck don't want to try to track and manage potentially hundreds or even thousands of operators on my repeater.  I am way too busy for that.  Not to mention I am not spending thousands and thousands of dollars to have the systems sit there and not be used.  That would be such as waste.

 

If the FCC says I don't need permission and it's up to the owner to use technology to manage access, and state laws have set precedent on what trespass is through State Code and Tort Law (which is limited to real property), then I don't need permission to use your repeater... change my mind!

[LeoG]

Maybe I might come and hunt you down because I'm a crazy MFer

 

Is that the chance you want to take?

The airwaves are free to listen to.  In most cases they are not free to transmit on legally.  Using someone else's property without permission isn't right.  Like borrowing someone's car without permission.  You are using their hardware.  If I recall all you have to do is address the problem of someone abusing your repeater and then after that it's not really your issue with the FCC.  At best you can shut it down but that's usually reserved for a malfunction, not a crazy person trespassing on your hardware.

There is literally nothing you can do to prevent them from using your equipment other than my opening statement.  Switching frequencies and/or tones will only delay someone hell bent on using it.

[OffRoaderX]

10 minutes ago, LeoG said:

Is that the chance you want to take?

yes

[LeoG]

Well, travel the 3300 miles and bring it on

[WRUU653]

(1) Shall determine specifically which individuals, including family members, are allowed to operate (i.e., exercise operational control over) its GMRS station(s) (see paragraph (c) of this section);
3) May disallow the use of its GMRS repeater by specific persons as may be necessary to carry out its responsibilities under this section.
 

40 minutes ago, marcspaz said:

the FCC said they aren't requiring permission,

Kind of seems like they are. That’s my take on it for whatever good it may do.

[OffRoaderX]

8 minutes ago, WRUU653 said:

Kind of seems like they are.

The fact that the FCC has not enforced it in the last 15 years says otherwise.

[SteveShannon]

2 hours ago, OffRoaderX said:

The fact that the FCC has not enforced it in the last 15 years says otherwise.

Has anyone complained to the FCC about prohibited persons using their repeater?  If we don’t know of any such complaints then we don’t know if FCC would enforce the rule. Someone has to complain before the FCC will respond and their first response is required to be a letter usually. But I agree that the FCC has not enforced the rule.

[marcspaz]

2 hours ago, WRUU653 said:

(1) Shall determine specifically which individuals, including family members, are allowed to operate (i.e., exercise operational control over) its GMRS station(s) (see paragraph (c) of this section);
3) May disallow the use of its GMRS repeater by specific persons as may be necessary to carry out its responsibilities under this section.
 

Kind of seems like they are. That’s my take on it for whatever good it may do.

 

This section confirms my opinion, putting the responsibility of stopping undesired access on the owner. It doesn't say other licensees need permission.

[marcspaz]

15 minutes ago, SteveShannon said:

Has anyone complained to the FCC about prohibited persons using their repeater?  If we don’t know of any such complaints then we don’t know if FCC would enforce the rule. Someone has to complain before the FCC will respond and their first response is required to be a letter usually. But I agree that the FCC has not enforced the rule.

I personally filed a complaint a few years ago. They told me it wasn't a rule violation unless the person was transmitting in such a way that they were causing harmful interference. No such harmful interference was occurring, so the FCC opted not to take any action. They told me that it was up to me to resolve any access control issues. That's the very reason why the two repeaters located at my house are always off unless I plan on using them specifically. I got tired of a troublemaker causing problems for me.

[SteveShannon]

32 minutes ago, marcspaz said:

I personally filed a complaint a few years ago. They told me it wasn't a rule violation unless the person was transmitting in such a way that they were causing harmful interference. No such harmful interference was occurring, so the FCC opted not to take any action. They told me that it was up to me to resolve any access control issues. That's the very reason why the two repeaters located at my house are always off unless I plan on using them specifically. I got tired of a troublemaker causing problems for me.

Then it seems like you already had the official answer to this question.  The FCC does not require a person to seek permission before using a repeater.

[WRTC928]

With radios capable of scanning for and picking up tones, there's literally no way to keep someone off your repeater unless you just keep it a secret. I can't imagine FCC or anyone else would consider you responsible if you've taken appropriate steps to notify someone they're not allowed to use it.

[WRYZ926]

One way to keep others from using your repeater is to use different input and output tones. Radios will only scan the output tones of other repeaters/radios. But even that is not fool proof.

We all know you can't stop someone from using a frequency/channel as no one owns them. Using different tones and/or shutting your repeaters down when you are not using them helps keep others from using your repeater.

Our club has sent out cease and desist letters in the past. Knock on wood, those letters has kept most ID10T's from using our repeaters. One particular ID10T has been told to stay off just about every area 2m and 70cm repeater in the area. He has received letters from at least 3 repeater owners. Again this is not fool proof either.

A person would have to aggressively cause interference/jamming your repeaters before the FCC will even think about looking into the issue. And good luck getting the FCC to actually do anything about it.

[LeoG]

4 hours ago, SteveShannon said:

Has anyone complained to the FCC about prohibited persons using their repeater?  If we don’t know of any such complaints then we don’t know if FCC would enforce the rule. Someone has to complain before the FCC will respond and their first response is required to be a letter usually. But I agree that the FCC has not enforced the rule.

Pretty sure they won't.  Seems they are interested in the big boyz such as commercial broadcast and emergency use radio being abused by people not allowed on those frequencies. Otherwise they'd be one hell of a busy agency cracking down on all sorts of things like non use of IDing, wrong use of part ?? radios on part ?? use only bands etc.

[LeoG]

4 hours ago, marcspaz said:

 

This section confirms my opinion, putting the responsibility of stopping undesired access on the owner. It doesn't say other licensees need permission.

Yes, all you need to do is disallow them use and you are done.  After that the illegality is on the person who shouldn't be using the repeater.  Maybe not illegality but regulatory, less harsh a word.

[WRTC928]

I've never had it happen, but I only just now posted my repeater as "open" so it's possible. I've been listening to all the repeaters in my area for months, though, and I haven't heard anyone being abusive, so I decided to risk it.