LightSquared vs. The Rest of Us
I'd like to bring to everyone's attention an issue just as important as SOPA. Now, my understanding of the technological details are a bit vague, but here's the gist:
LightSquared is a company that is trying to get the FCC to grant them the rights to certain parts of the electromagnetic spectrum.
If they are granted access, it will interfere with many current GPS devices.
Basically, current GPS devices receive their signals from satellites which are powered by solar panels. The satellites broadcast a signal to Earth which is very faint by the time it arrives because there are 12,000 miles between them and Earth. These faint signals are then received and used by GPS devices.
LightSquared wants to use the electromagnetic band directly adjacent to the GPS band. They want to build 40,000 land-based stations. Because their stations would be located on the ground, the signals from them would be over a billion times more powerful than the GPS signals being received from satellites.
And because their band would be adjacent to the GPS band, in effect their signals would interfere and override the GPS signals, creating GPS "dead zones."
LightSquared denies this, but a lot of scientific studies disagree with them.
LightSquared has also made the amazing statement that GPS users have "no legal right" to the electromagnetic spectrum because they never paid for it. (Uhhhhhh . . .)
You can find out about more of the technical aspects here, at the Save Our GPS page. Who belongs to this organization? A lot of land surveyors, some cities, ESRI (the company that makes the most widely used GIS mapping software), Trimble (makes high-quality GPS devices), Southwest Airlines, FedEx, rental car associations, and many more. When I see so many companies who use GPS getting concerned, I'm concerned too.
Even if (like me) you are a little fuzzy on the technical aspects, please contact your Congressional reps and spread the word. Many Congressmen won't understand the technical bits either, but they'll understand their voters saying "WTF, man? WTF?"
LightSquared is a company that is trying to get the FCC to grant them the rights to certain parts of the electromagnetic spectrum.
If they are granted access, it will interfere with many current GPS devices.
Basically, current GPS devices receive their signals from satellites which are powered by solar panels. The satellites broadcast a signal to Earth which is very faint by the time it arrives because there are 12,000 miles between them and Earth. These faint signals are then received and used by GPS devices.
LightSquared wants to use the electromagnetic band directly adjacent to the GPS band. They want to build 40,000 land-based stations. Because their stations would be located on the ground, the signals from them would be over a billion times more powerful than the GPS signals being received from satellites.
And because their band would be adjacent to the GPS band, in effect their signals would interfere and override the GPS signals, creating GPS "dead zones."
LightSquared denies this, but a lot of scientific studies disagree with them.
LightSquared has also made the amazing statement that GPS users have "no legal right" to the electromagnetic spectrum because they never paid for it. (Uhhhhhh . . .)
You can find out about more of the technical aspects here, at the Save Our GPS page. Who belongs to this organization? A lot of land surveyors, some cities, ESRI (the company that makes the most widely used GIS mapping software), Trimble (makes high-quality GPS devices), Southwest Airlines, FedEx, rental car associations, and many more. When I see so many companies who use GPS getting concerned, I'm concerned too.
Even if (like me) you are a little fuzzy on the technical aspects, please contact your Congressional reps and spread the word. Many Congressmen won't understand the technical bits either, but they'll understand their voters saying "WTF, man? WTF?"