It’s no secret that broadcast media effects us every day. We wake up to it, listen to it in the car, and watch it after dinner. However, almost every one of these waves is controlled by private ownership or regulated by a government agency. Although the public consumes broadcast information ravenously, the public actually has almost no access to control them. The technology, intellectual property, and airwaves are owned and legislated in a code that is difficult to understand, expensive, and socially inaccessible. Airwave space is limited and as a public resourse it needs organization and regulation, however current procedure has turned a public space into the eqivalent of luxury prime real estate.

So what if there were a way that the public, each individually, could reclaim this space? What if radio stations were a public resource, like a park or a library? What if this could be done right now, while following the law, respecting the rights of private ownership, but still allowing individuals to organize into collectives larger than themselves? People could share ideas, share music, have conversations, make dialogue, and compare facts. These ideas could all be part of the public domain, popping up everywhere at the same time. They could be questioned, altered, and passed along with the power of technology but without restrictions of ownership. In fact there might be a way, and RHZ Amateur Radio Network is trying to make it happen….

The FCC, who regulates broadcast media in the United States, allows individuals to operate a 100 milliwatt radio transmitter, AM or FM. This is a phenomenon commonly known as amateur micro-radio, and it is perfectly legal as it is FCC’s allowance of public access to radio. You can buy AM radio kits from hobby stores for $30 or you can buy a prefabricated one for a $400. Depending on what transmitter you use, and how you install it you could have a transmission distance from 1/4 mile to 2 miles. You don’t have unlimited use though. Licensed radio stations have rights, your unlicensed station is a privilege. Your transmitter must not interfere with any licensed broadcasters or TV reception. And you also have to adhere to various technical and operational parameters, such as antenna length and intermittent station identification.

So if every one is allowed this use, why can’t we work together? Well there seems to be no law against it, as long as each transmitter is compliant with the legal and technical specifications. One person could not do it alone, as the FCC limits an individual to own and operate up to five micro-transmitters. However, a group of people could assemble “electromagnetically”, and have 100 independently owned and operated radio stations in a city all on the same unused radio frequency, like AM 1680 in the Los Angeles area. Each one would have it’s own pocket of the city, and all together it could fill a singular frequency all over the city.

But if everyone has got their own station all across the city, how do we get the same content to all the different stations so that people can find programs, know when to listen, and go from one neighborhood to another? This is where the internet comes in. Streaming audio, or internet radio, can get information anywhere there is a computer with an internet connection almost instantaneously. With a streaming source hooked to your computer, all you have to do is plug in your micro-radio into your headset jack and everyone listening in your pocket of the city is hearing the network on AM Radio. So the internet can work like a giant common root system with transmitters popping up like different stalks to a singular plant. Yes, like a rhizome. It’s not called RHZ for nothing.

But unfortunately the internet isn’t really as free as we may think it is. Most all of the software was made by private companies, and has specific use limitations. Improper use of software may incur fines or a cease and desist order (or both!) Now streaming audio software, like Quicktime, Real Audio Player, and Windows Media Player are free to download and use privately, but not for public broadcast or streaming to large audiences. So to really have a legal amateur radio network, one would have to use open source software. What’s open source? It is software that is made in the spirit of scientific and technological research, not in product development. Programmers give it away, so that the public and other programmers can use it, improve it, or make something new, better or different. And while it may always be attributed to the creative work of an individual or group, it is as public as a park or library.

Well now we have everyone freely distributing information on open source software on legal micro-transmitters, what are we going to play? Unfortunately, not anything you want. Legislative changes in 1976 and 1988, creative works are now automatically copyrighted at the moment of their making- even without the permission of the artist. While this does allow allows certain individuals to live off their creative work, it also can be used to limits the distribution of work though bureaucracy and legal intimidation. And if I am a DJ, and I decide I want to play Britney Spears latest hits on RHZ, everyone in the radio network could be liable for broadcast and streaming fees! Or maybe she won’t care, or maybe she will. You get the idea. So in order to be free and legal, all information on the network would have to be original content, protected under a Creative Commons clause so that permission to redistribute is already granted. So if you recorded yourself singing in the shower or taped a reading of your most recent manifesto, Creative Commons allows you to share it, keep authorship, and allow others to enjoy your work, like open source, like a park.

So that’s a lot of limitations right? Well, we do live in a society primarily determined by private ownership. We have to keep ownership to make a living, and we have to make a living to allow us to own needed things. But sometimes you give things away, discover things, or express ideas for the love if it. The word amateur comes from the French for love. So the RHZ Amateur Radio Network is a proposition, an experiment, and a challenge. Anyone can join the network, and once the open source software is fully functioning anyone in the network can contribute public domain content. RHZ aims to grow into a shape that uses all the rights and privileges allowed without breaking the law or infringing on others rights. It is designed to be redeployable, to sprout up in other cities, to other AM frequencies, and to other FM frequencies. It is designed to practically serve small communities, but still grow as large as each participant will make it. Can a free radio network exist? Technically? Legally? Socially? Is it possible? Is it wanted?
Now this is when things are really going to get interesting….