link:>http://www.americanpartisan.com/cols/mcelroy.htm

Snip from article:

"Congress now requires ham radio hobbyists to provide a Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) "consistent with the requirements of the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996" in order to get a radio license"

"Radio amateurs already have to pass a government examination to obtain a license. And, for decades, hams have been regulated as to permissible content, contacts, bandwidths, etc. Thus, the demand for a SSN has nothing to do with protecting the public. It is about the government's hunger for wealth. It is a hunger so great that individuals must now provide a de facto national I.D. number before they can dabble in a harmless hobby in their garages on a Sunday afternoon."

See also, Greenspun thread; http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=001zA4

-- maid upname (noid@ihope.com), December 13, 1999

Answers

"government's hunger for wealth. It is a hunger so great ..." blah blah blah. Sheesh.

Look, they passed a law about collecting from deadbeat dads, and as part of that they ask for SSN on everything. Yeah, it's a little extra pain. But it's hardly the keys to the kingdom, since they already know who the hams are. I mean, you have to show an ID when you take the test, etc. It's not like you can sneak in, take the ham test, and carry an anonymous license.

And the reason why they want to know who you are is so they know that YOU know enough of the technical and legal stuff, so your dabbling doesn't wipe out your local ABC affiliate, who (even if a tool of the autocracy) has some rights, too. How deep are the pockets? Lotsa hams are flat broke, and you can't make money doing it.

There may be a grand conspiracy out there, but requiring an SSN on your ham license isn't it.

-- bw (home@puget.sound), December 13, 1999.

So what? The FCC also requires an address of your station and a mailing address and any change of such address. Callbooks list names/ addresses/callsigns and those databases are widely known and can be searched any way you want. And that not only in this country but world wide. That database is quite public, hams do not work "underground". It is a very open hobby.

-- wfk (kb2fs@mindspring.com), December 13, 1999.

I'm a ham, but my license addy hasn't been updated to my retreat property. It's good till 2007, which if we still have radio privileges then, it will be a 'murkle'.

_._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _._

-- Y2Kook (Y2Kook@usa.net), December 13, 1999.