4 ms·

It could be argued that when all you had were AM/CW receivers, plain old SSB would have been an encryption scheme, if the definition of encryption is "there's s

It could be argued that when all you had were AM/CW receivers, plain old SSB would have been an encryption scheme, if the definition of encryption is "there's someone who cannot demodulate it with the equipment they have".

jimktrains2 7y ago
Part 97 (http://www.arrl.org/part-97-text http://www.arrl.org/part-97-text) does not even contain "encryption" . The rule is: > §97.113(4) Music using a phone emission except as specifically provided elsewhere in this section; communications intended to facilitate a criminal act; messages encoded for the purpose of obscuring their meaning, except as otherwise provided herein; obscene or indecent words or language; or false or deceptive messages, signals or identification. The "messages encoded for the purpose of obscuring their meaning, except as otherwise provided herein" being the key part and the "except as otherwise provided herein" basically boiling down to remote control (incl for satellites!) It's also tricky because the FCC allows proprietary voice codecs on the mature bands. They are not considered as "obscuring" the meaning because even though they're not an "open" standard, anyone with the appropriate decoded, can decode the voice stream. I guess because it's a globally shared secret and not a shared secret only between the sender and receiver, they allow it under the rules. Even experimental digital modes on the amateur bands don't fall afoul of this rule. You can experiment with a new digital mode that no one but you has the ability to decode. However, if push came to shove you'd need to release at least a functional description of your mode or forfeit your license. It's not an encryption or cryptography ban -- signed messages are perfectly fine -- it's really an extension of the whole idea that these bands and your license exist for the purpose of shared, non-commercial communication of a personal nature in a public space.

jimktrains2 7y ago

Part 97 (http://www.arrl.org/part-97-text http://www.arrl.org/part-97-text) does not even contain "encryption" . The rule is: > §97.113(4) Music using a phone emission except as specifically provided elsewhere in this section; communications intended to facilitate a criminal act; messages encoded for the purpose of obscuring their meaning, except as otherwise provided herein; obscene or indecent words or language; or false or deceptive messages, signals or identification. The "messages encoded for the purpose of obscuring their meaning, except as otherwise provided herein" being the key part and the "except as otherwise provided herein" basically boiling down to remote control (incl for satellites!) It's also tricky because the FCC allows proprietary voice codecs on the mature bands. They are not considered as "obscuring" the meaning because even though they're not an "open" standard, anyone with the appropriate decoded, can decode the voice stream. I guess because it's a globally shared secret and not a shared secret only between the sender and receiver, they allow it under the rules. Even experimental digital modes on the amateur bands don't fall afoul of this rule. You can experiment with a new digital mode that no one but you has the ability to decode. However, if push came to shove you'd need to release at least a functional description of your mode or forfeit your license. It's not an encryption or cryptography ban -- signed messages are perfectly fine -- it's really an extension of the whole idea that these bands and your license exist for the purpose of shared, non-commercial communication of a personal nature in a public space.