No Code International response to Swatch
Carl R. Stevenson, WA6VSE, of No Code International sent me the following is a protest message sent to Swatch by his organization. As this protest message to Swatch states, they have lodged formal protests with the appropriate government agencies, both US and in the countries involved, Switzerland and Russia, as well as contacting other amateur organizations and asking them to join in. Take a look at the articles and links on the NCI web site, including the contact information which I've referenced in the ITU Contact Information page on this site.
No Code International response to Swatch
No Code International
c/o Carl R. Stevenson - WA6VSE
270 West Chestnut Street
Macungie, PA 18062-1042 USA
The Swatch Group Ltd.
Biel, Switzerland
Attn: Ms. Beatrice Howald, PR and Press Responsible
April 6, 1999
Dear Ms. Howald,
On behalf of the members and Board of Directors of No Code International, an international Amateur Radio organization with members in 36 nations at present, I wish to relay our formal message of protest of your firm's widely-publicized intention to, in effect, commandeer what was supposed to be an Amateur Radio educational satellite and pervert it to your own selfish, commercial purposes in violation of international regulations regarding the use of frequencies allocated to the Amateur Satellite Service.
The following is our official Statement of Protest, as published on our World-Wide Web site at http:/www.nocode.org/articles:
No-Code International is an organization that works for the elimination of Morse Code tests for Radio Amateur licensing. We work for this goal because we think it is necessary to preserve the Amateur Radio service for future generations.
The issue of Frequency Defense is a critical one, and just as important to the future preservation of the Amateur Service as the elimination of Morse Code testing. Thus, we feel a moral obligation to comment in support of Amateur Radio Frequency Defense.
Recently, the "Swatch" watch company (The Swatch Group, Ltd.) contracted with the Russian space agency to have one of the mini-Sputnik satellites broadcast voice and data messages promoting a Swatch product. This broadcast is to take place in the satellite portion of the two-meter Amateur band. The International Telecommunications Union treaty prohibits such operation on several grounds, including its prohibitions on international third-party communication for remuneration, and on commercial use of the Amateur Radio Service. Switzerland (where "Swatch" is based) and the CIS (of which Russia is a part) are signatory to this treaty, as are the United States and most other countries.
No-Code International protests the planned commercial use of Amateur Radio frequencies by the "Swatch" company, and urges other organizations such as the ARRL, the IARU, and other national and international Amateur Radio societies to also make efforts to halt this operation.
We are contacting officials of our Federal Communications Commission, the US State Department, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the radio regulatory agencies of both Switzerland and Russia, and numbers other Amateur Radio organizations around the world to protest your firm's illegal and inappropriate proposed actions.
We sincerely hope that you will reconsider your ill-advised attempts to misuse an Amateur satellite and frequencies allocated to the Amateur Satellite Service. Considering that there are several millions of licensed Amateur Radio Operators worldwide, and they collectively have much larger circles of friends, family, and business associates, we believe that if you proceed that you will likely suffer far more in lost good will, sales, and international reputation than you could possibly stand to gain from employing such inappropriate attempts to advertise your firm's products and services.
It is our sincere hope that you will realize that you've made a serious mistake immediately and publicly announce your cancellation of any and all plans to use Amateur satellites and/or frequencies allocated to the Amateur Radio Service and/or the Amateur Satellite Service.
Sincerely,
Carl R. Stevenson - WA6VSE
Director, No Code International