4 ms·

>The tale of channel 37 reflects one thing: Without resistance, a commercial use case will usurp a noncommercial use case for a given resource. Capitalism need

>The tale of channel 37 reflects one thing: Without resistance, a commercial use case will usurp a noncommercial use case for a given resource. Capitalism needs a check in the form of a strong government because without one, it will consume every available resource in service of privatizing and charging for resources that used to be available to all, like an economic plague. The joke can of "Perri-Air" from Spaceballs will be our actual future if we don't stop it.

is-ought 6y ago
If only people would put on their masks and smell the fresh air, right friend!
eminence32 6y ago
Is a "strong government enough"? To quote the article: > The FCC’s attempt to balance science and commerce was not well-accepted by said scientists, who took their story to the media. This suggests to me that the government had enough strength to make an enforceable ruling, but very nearly made a ruling that would have not prioritized science in the way that the radio astronomers would have wanted. It took something else (public attention, persistent outreach by scientists, etc) for the FCC to come to the ruling that it ultimately came to.
- Spooky23 6y ago
  That’s why democratic government is so powerful. If the VP for Channel Allocation at Marconi made that decision, you would have no recourse at all.
  - jschwartzi 6y ago
    Or the pale imitation of recourse that is a boycott. Try boycotting the company that sells your water.
- hcknwscommenter 6y ago
  I would suggest that strong government is necessary, but not sufficient.
causality0 6y ago
You could think of it that way. You could also think of it as denying hundreds of thousands of Spanish-speaking New Jersey residents programming in their native language in exchange for the discovery of one new type of Active Galactic Nucleus and two supernova remnants, from a telescope that only operated for ten years and which the scientific community cared so little about they didn't even bother fixing it when it eroded away in 1970.
- somehnguy 6y ago
  That seems like a particularly inflammatory way of looking at it.. Why couldn’t they use one of the other channels? Was there no demand for such programming? Who was denying those options, if anybody?
  - causality0 6y ago
    Because of FCC rules and limitations elsewhere, the city of Paterson had no other options to bring a TV station on air other than channel 37. The fun part about this is that McVittie, who helped to set the wheels in motion for the blanket ban of channel 37 in the U.S., never learned exactly why the FCC made the decision to flip its mindset on this issue. Racism? Against Latinos in 1963? Nah, couldn't be.
    - Jtsummers 6y ago
      The ban was precipitated by a case that happened to be a Spanish language channel, but not all channel 37s would have been in Spanish. The result was that a channel was barred across the entire country. It's a big leap to say that the official rationale is bogus and go to "FCC is racist against Latinos and decided to bar the channel for everyone".
- quink 6y ago
  No one is bothering to fix Arecibo...
  - causality0 6y ago
1MachineElf 6y ago
>it will consume every available resource in service of privatizing and charging for resources that used to be available to all Minor nit-pick: I don't think the story is a good example of your concept here. The radio telescope, regardless of what it did for scientists, served fewer people than what commercial use of channel 37 would have.
- Pet_Ant 6y ago
  > The radio telescope, regardless of what it did for scientists, served fewer people than what commercial use of channel 37 would have. ...because the results of science never end up benefit normal people? Science is forever whereas a television broadcast is temporary.

is-ought 6y ago

If only people would put on their masks and smell the fresh air, right friend!

eminence32 6y ago

Is a "strong government enough"? To quote the article: > The FCC’s attempt to balance science and commerce was not well-accepted by said scientists, who took their story to the media. This suggests to me that the government had enough strength to make an enforceable ruling, but very nearly made a ruling that would have not prioritized science in the way that the radio astronomers would have wanted. It took something else (public attention, persistent outreach by scientists, etc) for the FCC to come to the ruling that it ultimately came to.

Spooky23 6y ago
That’s why democratic government is so powerful. If the VP for Channel Allocation at Marconi made that decision, you would have no recourse at all.
- jschwartzi 6y ago
  Or the pale imitation of recourse that is a boycott. Try boycotting the company that sells your water.
hcknwscommenter 6y ago
I would suggest that strong government is necessary, but not sufficient.

causality0 6y ago

You could think of it that way. You could also think of it as denying hundreds of thousands of Spanish-speaking New Jersey residents programming in their native language in exchange for the discovery of one new type of Active Galactic Nucleus and two supernova remnants, from a telescope that only operated for ten years and which the scientific community cared so little about they didn't even bother fixing it when it eroded away in 1970.

somehnguy 6y ago
That seems like a particularly inflammatory way of looking at it.. Why couldn’t they use one of the other channels? Was there no demand for such programming? Who was denying those options, if anybody?
- causality0 6y ago
  Because of FCC rules and limitations elsewhere, the city of Paterson had no other options to bring a TV station on air other than channel 37. The fun part about this is that McVittie, who helped to set the wheels in motion for the blanket ban of channel 37 in the U.S., never learned exactly why the FCC made the decision to flip its mindset on this issue. Racism? Against Latinos in 1963? Nah, couldn't be.
  - Jtsummers 6y ago
    The ban was precipitated by a case that happened to be a Spanish language channel, but not all channel 37s would have been in Spanish. The result was that a channel was barred across the entire country. It's a big leap to say that the official rationale is bogus and go to "FCC is racist against Latinos and decided to bar the channel for everyone".
quink 6y ago
No one is bothering to fix Arecibo...
- causality0 6y ago

1MachineElf 6y ago

>it will consume every available resource in service of privatizing and charging for resources that used to be available to all Minor nit-pick: I don't think the story is a good example of your concept here. The radio telescope, regardless of what it did for scientists, served fewer people than what commercial use of channel 37 would have.

Pet_Ant 6y ago
> The radio telescope, regardless of what it did for scientists, served fewer people than what commercial use of channel 37 would have. ...because the results of science never end up benefit normal people? Science is forever whereas a television broadcast is temporary.