The Associated Press has received a lawsuit regarding wireless microphones.

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.aspx?feed=AP&date=20080717&id=8903947

Say what? First time I've ever heard of such a thing.

My thoughts exactly!

It is worth reading the article.

I thought we did not need a license for most wireless microphones.

Many of them are under 100 mw.

So 100mw is the magic dividing line between legal user and illegal spectrum abusing rebel? I need to find the paperwork on my Sony's and see if I'm about to be taken up the river.

3 cheers for regulatory commissions.

It used to be that certain wireless devices, those under 100 mw, could be certified under Part 15 of the FCC's rules.

I do not mean to say that these rules apply to our wireless transmitters.

However, I am shocked that these low-power wireless transmitters would have to be licensed. Usually if a device has to be licensed, there is a notice included with the device.

I'm beginning to suspect this is solely is response to the reallocation of the bandwidth to the For-Profit sector which could be held legally liable for disruptions to service by "nuisance" users of the formerly "semi-open" airwaves, such as ourselves.

I will be holding off on a planned purchase of a news wireless system until I can get a straight answer of what exactly I can use with impunity under the redistributed DTV frequencies.

Thanks for sharing!

B&H has a white paper on white spaces:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/find/newsLetter/White-Spaces.jsp

Sennheiser avoids the issue on their site, as near as I can tell.

Looks like block C mics are in trouble, but it sure is hard to tell.

Wonderful. All of my wireless mics are Senn block C...

From the article: They also want the FCC to require microphone manufacturers to replace the older devices.

That's ridiculous! There's no way the wireless microphone manufacturers could afford to replace everyone's "illegal" transmitters. If the FCC's got a problem with something they KNOW has been happening for years, then they should foot the bill of either replacing or reprogramming all the affected systems.