14 Jun
2024
14 Jun
'24
1:40 p.m.
On Fri, Jun 14, 2024 at 3:30 AM Chris via 44net <44net(a)mailman.ampr.org> wrote:
[snip]
2. In relation to point 1. How do we vet the person requesting access to use an
organisation’s call sign? This is really only an issue for US based clubs as the call sign
has a trustee listed on the ULS database, but it would seem, that person is not always
able/willing/interested in creating an account on the portal to have the call sign
verified. This certainly needs more thought.
The ideal situation would be for the trustee to create an account on the portal, verify
the call sign, then hand it off to another member in the organisation, i.e. once setup
they do not have to be the POC for the call sign - is this really asking too much of
someone who has already agreed to be the trustee, which arguably comes with such
responsibilities?
This will, of course, be case dependent. In some cases, yes, it really
is asking too much. In other cases, no. Should the trustee be involved
at all? I would say that yes, they should. Some sort of proactive
means for them to acknowledge delegation seems reasonable. But there
ought to be a minimally invasive way for them to be, probably one that
doesn't involve the portal. Taking a step back and trying to examine
it from a holistic standpoint, it's about striking a balance between
validating the authority of using the call to prevent abuse, and the
bureaucratic hassle involved for the users/trustees.
Merely being a trustee requires very little administrative burden. As
I understand it, in the US, it can all be handled via mail through the
US postal service; occasionally one sends the equivalent of a postcard
to the FCC. That's it. This can obviously be done by nearly anyone,
including by folks who are not technical, don't use computers, etc. As
has been mentioned, e.g. by AE0JE, such people certainly exist.
And even where folks have the technical expertise to do this, they may
have neither the time nor the desire. As I mentioned earlier, I'm
pretty much the only one in my club pushing to make use of AMPRNet. No
one else particularly cares---I hope they will once they see how some
of the cool stuff one can do with it, but we're not there yet. Forcing
our callsign trustee to create an account on the portal, presumably
going through his own verification process (requiring tickets and so
on) all just for him to say, "yes, Dan can use the club's callsign to
request an allocation" sounds like a good way to make the project
stall indefinitely.
Being the trustee for a callsign does not really confer any additional
status on the person; among many clubs it's a minor chore taken on by
whatever member who agrees to do it, but the responsibility can be
passed around between different people over time. For instance,
consider what happens if the trustee moves and leaves the club, or
loses interest in radio, or (sadly) becomes an SK? The club doesn't
necessarily cease to exist, and the callsign is still perfectly valid,
but the trustee responsibility necessarily moves to someone else. This
must be accounted for in some way in whatever policy emerges around
this.
- Dan C.