About Swatch
Benjamin, OH3BK, notes that Swatch Group also owns Oscilloquartz, a well-known manufacturer of high precision oscillators that are used in communications equipment. Hams have a lot of decision power when manufacturers purchase parts e.g. for their cellular base stations.
An AOL user, JedL@aol.com (I couldn't find a name or callsign in the note) writes, "Many of you have been posting comments regarding Beatnick and the unfortunate Swatch marketing campaign to the www.swatch.com site. The Swatch name represents only a small portion of the very large company known as the Swatch Group. Swatch Group employs over 18,000 people worldwide. They sell their products under a long list of brands, including such names as Swatch, Omega, Blankpain, Calvin Klein, Hamilton,Rado, and many more. They also have divisions involved in electronic components, real estate, etc. The company's main web site is www.swatchgroup.com . (This is very slow to access from the US. It is also graphics and java intensive, which may make it slow when viewed from anywhere.) "
He also informed me of something that I didn't know: Swatch has already registered the domain of www.swatch-beatnik.com. The administrators of that domain are james.aschberger@swatchgroup.com and daniel.toggweiler@swatchgroup.com.
Contacting Swatch directly
Ron Hashiro, AH6RH, received a response from the ITU regarding a request to intervene relative to the upcoming Amateur Space activity by SWATCH onboard the Beatnik / Sputnik-99 / RS-1 9 satellite. The ITU requested that as a FIRST STEP, that the matter be brought to the attention of "the Administration responsible for Telecommunication matters in your country". In t he US, this would be the FCC.
Since Swatch has been unreceptive and unresponsive to comments from amateur radio operators, I suggest directing your efforts towards contacting your local regulatory agency using the information I've collected. You can see my ITU contact information page for everything you need.
Paul Williamson, KB5MU, in his article "Swatch sponsorship all bad?" believes that we ought to take the position of inviting Swatch to be a better citizen instead of flaming them for a mistake they may or may not be aware of yet. Steven Bible, N7HPR, writes that "we may be doing more harm than good" by blasting Swatch with profanity on their comments pages instead of politely informing them of the International rules.
Please take the time read both of these excellent articles before writing anything to Swatch. Keep in mind that the company has had no opportunity to respond since my letter was distributed on Saturday morning, so we should be as respectful as possible to keep from burning any bridges ahead of us. Some people have written in a bit confused thinking that I added Paul and Steven's article because I changed my mind about this issue. Not at all! The response has been tremendous, and I'm sure that by now Swatch, and many others, have taken notice. But keep the old axiom about flies, honey, and vinegar in mind and don't forget that you are representing amateurs worldwide with your messages.
To the individuals spamming the Swatch site, STOP!. Your comments are insignificant and cause more literate posts to be hidden behind your wall of crap. You are not helping the amateur community. On this subject, there's a good article from AP in this morning's Washington Post. Headline: "Delivering U.S. From E-Mail: Agencies Struggle to Filter Public's Electric Comments." Also please leave the Swatch Collectors Forum (with the space-like background) alone. This is not the place for our comments, and we will only leave a bad impression of amateur radio operators on their minds for not having any respect for their hobby.
I suggest using the Swatch Group direct e-mail link instead of the public forum. It seems like this is the more appropriate place to submit comments regarding this issue. Here are links to do directly to the Press Office, and customer and press e-mail contact page.
Thanks to Jeff Laughlin, N1YWB, for pointing out that all amateurs can post an opinion about Swatch Online directly on their web site. While this is a very powerful tool, it's not the only one, and I urge everyone to use pen and paper or the links above if possible. The Swatch Comment page is at this link. You can view my sample comment for an idea of what to write in your note.