I think it's also because ham radio is supposed to be shared experimentation. Part of this is hearing someone trying something out and replying. If everyone st

I think it's also because ham radio is supposed to be shared experimentation. Part of this is hearing someone trying something out and replying. If everyone starts chatting with their friends on encrypted channels, we don't really have a community anymore. It was never meant to be a private chatbox. I think it should be a bit less rigid in this day and age though. For example it should be allowed to use encryption for authentication purposes IMO. It's too easy now on digital modes to fake someone's callsign. Brandmeister has built some cool stuff with one time password but more complex authentication mechanisms aren't allowed. Apparently the FCC allows an exception for this but not every country does.