The National Association for Amateur Radio (ARRL) reports that the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is expected to enact an exemption from its foreign adversary reporting requirements for amateur radio operators.
According to an article posted in mid-January on the ARRL website, the FCC will soon vote to adopt a Report and Order that will exempt from those reporting requirements amateur radio operators who are “subject to the jurisdiction or direction of a foreign adversary.” The Report and Order specifies foreign adversaries, a list that includes China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and the Russian Federation.
The ARRL says that the FCC’s decision to exempt amateur radio operators from the reporting requirements was the direct result of ARRL’s communications with the FCC. Specifically, ARRL reminded the Commission that “amateur radio licensees not only do not sell or provide any communications service, network, or equipment to the public, but in fact they are prohibited from doing so by both international and domestic law.” Therefore, “the risk to national security of Foreign Adversary Control over these licenses is minimal due to the lack of connection to any of the nation’s communications networks used by the public.”
The ARRL article on the pending FCC action on foreign adversary reporting requirements is available at https://www.arrl.org/news/fcc-poised-to-exempt-amateurs-from-foreign-adversary-reporting-requirements.