Amateur Radio Enforcement "The Riley Way" Marks Five Years

In his Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, office, Hollingsworth wields a Wouff Hong. [Robin Hewitt Photo] Hollingsworth (right) takes questions from visitors to the Richmond, Virginia, Frostfest earlier this year after addressing a forum. [Gary Pearce, KN4AQ, Photo] Hollingsworth at home in Gettysburg in his well-equipped ham shack, which includes a combination of vintage and modern gear. [Rick Lindquist, N1RL, Photo] Hollingsworth and his wife, Pat, visit the ARRL booth at Hamvention 2002. [ARRL Photo]

NEWINGTON, CT, Sep 25, 2003--Close to 1000 Amateur Radio enforcement cases have crossed his desk since Riley Hollingsworth was tapped five years ago to resurrect the FCC's Amateur Radio enforcement efforts. That doesn't include countless ham radio "situations" he's resolved through informal counseling on the telephone or through an exchange of e-mails. At the time he took the job in the fall of 1998, Hollingsworth--whose official title is Special Counsel for Enforcement--called it "a new day for Amateur Radio" after years of amateur enforcement neglect on the Commission's part. As he sees things today, rules compliance and on-air behavior have improved since the new sheriff rode into town, but there's still lots to do.

"I'm fairly satisfied with the progress that we've made in five years," Hollingsworth said in modest acknowledgment of the milestone, "but I think we need at least five more years of this type--of this level--of enforcement, because the bands have quite a long way to go. It's no time to rest."

Five years ago, Hollingsworth began with a "top-10" list of alleged high-profile Amateur Radio offenders. By and large, he's slowly--and most would say successfully--worked his way to the point that many of today's cases appear comparatively mundane. But they get the same level of attention.

"The biggest problem we have now, I think, stems from conduct-type problems--lack of courtesy, taking serious offense and reacting to what is perceived as deliberate interference," Hollingsworth said this week. "Ninety percent of the interference that's reported to me is not deliberate." The remaining 10 percent of the complaints are "serious," as he regards all enforcement cases.

"I think a lot of the 'radio rage' has subsided, but I wish that people would be a little more aware of just how valuable Amateur Radio is and how they sound on the air," said Hollingsworth. That's a message he's repeated often on the hamfest circuit.

"Maintenance mode" is a goal he'd like to see enforcement achieve. Hollingsworth explained that's when the number of enforcement cases is perceived to be in balance with the number of licensees. "I don't think we're there yet in the Amateur Service, but I think that we can get there." Hollingsworth credits the amateur community's desire for strong, even stern, enforcement for his program's success.

"Probably 99 percent of the reason it's worked is everybody wants it," he said. "In this service they plead for enforcement. In every other service, they don't want to see you coming."

This attitude, he believes, stems from a sincere desire by licensees to keep the Amateur Radio a self-policing service. In past years, Hollingsworth acknowledged, it was fear of the FCC kept licensees in line. "The last thing you ever wanted to get was that knock on the door," he said. Nowadays, the bulk of his caseload stems from complaints generated by other amateurs, although the FCC still does "a good deal of monitoring" to assess the condition of the amateur bands.

"We try to respond to everything and take a look at it," he said.

Currying a change in attitude toward FCC enforcement within the amateur community has been among his top achievements to date. "The major accomplishment, I think, has been keeping the support of the amateur community," he said. "If we didn't have that, we could have 50 people doing enforcement and we'd still be way outnumbered. It would be like the CB Service."

Since assuming the amateur enforcement helm, Hollingsworth has crisscrossed the US to evangelize--Hollingsworth would say "educate"--on behalf of Amateur Radio and especially to preach a gospel of mutual respect and cooperation among amateurs coupled with a feeling of pride in the Amateur Service (see "Good Amateur Practice Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry").

"The thing I'm most grateful for is how responsive the service is to enforcement," the soon-to-be-57-year-old attorney said, "and by that I mean how well they support it and how well 90 percent of the subjects of enforcement cooperate." This also means he can be creative in designing enforcement actions and tailoring his responses to suit the case rather than always coming down with a heavy hand through fines and revocation hearings.

An amateur operator since the age of 13 when he was growing up in South Carolina, Hollingsworth said that while Amateur Radio was at least partially responsible for his career choices, he never dreamed he would be in a position to give something back to the hobby.

In the early going and even occasionally today, he concedes, the workload seems overwhelming, but almost every time he reaches that point, "something good happens to make up for that," he said, in terms of solving a case or being able to resolve a situation through cooperation of the amateur community.

Looking out on the Amateur Radio enforcement horizon in the near term, Hollingsworth said he'll "keep pedaling" and chipping away at the enforcement workload. He'll also continue to look to the assistance and cooperation of his fellow radio amateurs. "They're just good people," he said.

Hollingsworth said he remains concerned about threats to the service as well as compliance. That includes intrusions to the amateur bands, including unlicensed activity on 10 and sometimes 12 meters. In addition, he acknowledged, ham radio faces the specter of technology deployment such as Broadband over Power Line (BPL).

Amateurs "have got to stick together and cooperate and stay away from the infighting because they've got some very serious external threats," Hollingsworth said. "To the extent that they're not rowing together, it makes those threats more dangerous."

In his many public appearances--including several at Hamvention--Hollingsworth has stayed "on message" over the five years of his amateur enforcement tenure. "I just want everyone to realize what they have," he said. "We have incredible frequencies, power, modes, and so forth." He said a realization of the value of Amateur Radio itself is a deterrent to potential rule breakers. "It's a great service, and my personal goal for it is to be a permanent fixture on the telecommunications landscape."

He also believes Amateur Radio enforcement will remain a permanent part of the FCC's efforts in the future. "It's permanently ensconced," Hollingsworth said. As for the past five years, Hollingsworth said those have been the highlight of his 30-year FCC career.

"My greatest satisfaction is thinking that I may have paid back a debt," Hollingsworth said. He pointed out that while he's had some very interesting assignments and enjoyed nearly every day of his tenure with the FCC, "if I had to look at the single most interesting thing it would be these five years in the amateur area. It's the most rewarding thing I've ever done with the Commission."

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