Ebay’s Response – No 700 mHz Here!

Heard back from Ebay regarding the 700 mHz mics being auctioned.  It took them 24 hours, which is not great, but OK.  The response is, however, surprising to me.

“Thank you for writing in regard to wireless microphones that operate in the 700MHz band which are prohibited on eBay.

We conduct searches for wireless microphones that operate in the 700MHz band throughout the day, though if you have located specific auctions you would like us to review, please respond to this email with the item numbers.”

I have reported a few dozen auctions over the past few weeks… and NONE have been removed.  There are dozens of illegal units for sale now.   I’ll send them a list and we’ll see what happens.

Is Ebay Listening?

Over the past month, I’ve seen an ever increasing number of 700 mHZ wireless microphone systems up for sale on Ebay.  Few of them point out the fact that they are illegal to operate in the United States.  I have talked with two churches recently who thought they were getting a great deal on wireless.  In one case I was able to catch them before they bid on the worthless gear.  For the other, it was too late.  They had already made the purchase and were pretty much stuck. 

Today, I sent Ebay an email asking them to clarify their position on the sale of illegal wireless in the U.S. on Ebay.

Sirs:

I would like to have you clarify your policy on sales of items that are illegal for use, for sale, or to ship in the United States.

FCC Document 10-16, adopted 1/14/2010, prohibits the manufacture, import, sale, lease, offer for sale or lease, or shipment of wireless microphones and other low power auxiliary stations intended for use in the 700 MHz Band in the United States.

At this point, there are DOZENS of these items listed for sale on Ebay, in clear violation of the law. I have reported a number of these items... but as your system allows for no follow up with the reporting member, I'm not sure if I'm simply shouting into the wind.

Is Ebay going to continue to allow illegal wireless microphones to be sold to US customers?

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Kirk Longhofer

I’m looking forward to seeing what Ebay has to say about this.

Simplify

I have done a lot in terms of ‘going simple’ in the past couple of years.  I’ve significantly pared down list of causes, events and things I’m involved in.  To be honest, making this change was reactive on my part, and in that way, it may not have been entirely healthy.  I was running away from a time of life that far, far to complex.  What I really wanted was to stick my fingers in my ears and holler ‘la la la la la’ just to block out the chaos.

I think I’ve moved back to a more healthy place today.  Still, I struggle sometimes with trying to push to much into life.  Much of the time, finding that balance is all about saying no.  I don’t want to wear blinders.  I don’t believe in looking opportunities ‘in the mouth’ as it were.  So, I struggle. Picked up a GREAT tip today from Dave Kraft, the Development Pastor at Mars Hill Church.

“Never saying yes to anything over the phone, but buying time to think and pray about it.”

How simple is that.  “Let me get back with you on that.”  That is an easy to say phrase that I will be adding to my vocabulary.  Dave actually has six more tips that you might like too.

HT to Todd Rhodes at MMI for the tip.

Mission Minded. Really?

My friend Anne Jackson over at Flowerdust pointed to a post from Adam yesterday that I think really calls out churches on whether or not they are truly missional.  It’s focused on how a church community interacts with it’s own local community.  See what your think.

If you have a building, offer a public bathroom and shower that’s open to whomever needs it during your office hours.

Ask every attendee to get in the habit of bringing a canned food item to church every week. Then start a food pantry that’s open a couple days a week for people to drop in.

Buy things for the church from local suppliers. Avoid the big box (probably cheaper) stores for ones that support a local company. Encourage your church attendees to do the same.

Encourage people who go out to lunch after church to be generous with tipping servers and conscious of how long they are staying. You want wait staffs to desire the church crowd, they are avoiding it at all costs now.

 

There are more suggestions and lots more to think about, here.  What do you think?

Is your church community really engaged in living the missio Dei?

Private Jets and Private Lives

It’s been a rough week for the folks at Fellowship Church in Dallas.  One of the local television stations produced an eight minute long “expose” of Pastor Ed Young, raising questions about his financial relationship with the church.  They seem most excited about a supposed “secret” Fellowship corporate jet.

Ed and the Fellowship board responded during services over the weekend.  The remaining question is how will the affect Fellowship going forward. 

I’m not going to bother to link to the TV piece itself.  You can find it, and Young’s response easily enough if you’re interested. 

I do have a few thoughts and reactions.

First, the story itself was pretty weak.  It rested on a single interview with an anonymous person who clearly doesn't like Fellowship Church.  

It included inflammatory language, and unsubstantiated conclusions and statements, including stating that attendance has declined at Fellowship.  I haven't been there in about six months, but the last time I did make it to Dallas, the auditorium was full on both Saturday night and Sunday morning.

Particularly outrageous was a statement that Young is perhaps “violating the covenant of honesty with his congregation.”  That’s about as close to libel per se as I think you can get.  To call a doctor a quack… a lawyer a shyster… or a pastor dishonest?  I’m going to guess the TV station’s lawyers didn’t approve that statement ahead of time!

The interview with an SMU “expert” was interesting.  He stated that the church should own the intellectual property created by the Senior Pastor.  He called it outrageous that the Pastor would want to control that.  

Well, he may not like it, but it is pretty common and accepted practice.  Sermons become books.  Do you think Max Lucado has ever used sermons to flesh out an idea that eventually became a book?  Do you suppose Rick Warren used the phrase 'purpose driven' in a sermon before the book came out?

Who owns the rights to that intellectual property is more correctly part of a discussion of employment terms between the church and the Pastor. 

It's the same with questions of compensation.  You may not like the fact that a Pastor makes a lot of money and can afford a big house. I, personally, try to be pretty careful about attaching motivation to actions I observe.   Discerning fruit is one thing.  But there's also that whole judging thing, too.  Be careful.

The only REAL question raised in the entire story was that of the airplane.  That was addressed by Ed and two of the members of his Board of Directors at Fellowship over the weekend.  Sort of.

They indicated, but did not state directly that the plane is leased. 

OK. 

They said that the board approved of the use of Ed's use of private aircraft, for much the same reason that corporate CEO's make use of them.  Their time is quite valuable.  To leverage them, and to take care of their health and family lives, a judgment is made that the expense of corporate aircraft is justified.

Again... a decision for the Fellowship BOD to take carefully.

My counsel for Fellowship and Ed Young?   I have no idea what is actually happening behind the scenes.  I don't know if there is actually a problem or not.   Based on what I've seen and read this was a bit of a hatchet job by the television station.

I do know this.  For pastors, a private life is a dicey concept.  Like public officials, they have chosen a position where conduct in private has far greater impact that for the average person.

It is time for a season of radical transparency for Fellowship.  Do not allow this wound to fester.  Open books.  Open meetings.  Open minutes.   Over communicate and over disclose.  There should be virtually nothing under wraps.  If a reporter wants to know how much you make, get in the Hummer, and drive over and meet with them. 

Not at least meeting with the reporter in this case was a mistake.  It carries the appearance of impropriety, and not a little bit of fear of disclosure.   That is like chumming the water for a reporter.  On the other hand, sitting down with them, off camera at least to start with, and talking about all of their questions will disarm all but the most rabid of reporters.

Radical transparency and telling the truth, even when it might not be comfortable is the only response going forward that will keep this from becoming a millstone around the neck of the church.

Technorati Tags: Ed Young,Fellowship Church,private jet,private life,compensation,intellectual property

Will Churches be Excluded from Wireless Interference Protection Plans?

In the wake of the recent FCC ruling that set a final date for the retirement of wireless microphones in the 700 MHz band, there’s word that churches may be excluded from the new geo-location database that will provide important protection from interference with your wireless mics.

Chris Lyons with Shure, and Doug Gould of Worship MD (formerly with Shure, too!) along with many others are working hard to get the word out on what could be a huge issue for churches. It’s another part of the complex 700 MHz, digital TV transition, white spaces issue that have been causing confusion for wireless users for the past few years.

The FCC is considering a change in licensing rules, for wireless microphone, in-ear monitors, wireless com and similar equipment operating in the television broadcast band.

Until now, only a select few, like broadcasters, and movie and TV producers could actually license this equipment. All other users, including churches, schools, theaters and other users were operating without a license. The FCC has been aware of this for years, and operation of these devices is permitted with or without a license.

However, development and testing of a new generation of portable devices and fixed location services has begun. Look forward to a lot of cool new connected toys. But, they will be operating in the same TV bands that wireless mics use.

To protect wireless mic, monitor and com users, the FCC is working to develop a geo-location database that will allow licensed wireless users to register their systems. These new TV band devices will check that database to avoid licensed wireless users. It’s an important protection to avoid having someone with a cool new connected handheld device stepping all over your wireless mic transmissions in the middle of a show.

The question is whether churches will be among those who can obtain licenses, and register in the database.

“The FCC believes that not everyone needs protection from interference, and that protecting everyone would make too much spectrum off-limits to new internet-enabled ‘white space’ devices.,” said Lyons. “They are seeking some way of classifying wireless mic users so that they can easily determine whether they should or should not be eligible for license, whether that is based on the type of facility (church, school, theater), type of activity (broadcasting, recording, live performance), number of seats, or whatever.”

And, if churches are not on that list, that could potentially leave churches wide open to intermittent and continuous interference in their systems.

So, what can you do about it?

The FCC is accepting comments on who should be allowed to get licenses until February 22nd. It is critical that they hear, loud and clear from churches about how important it is that they be allowed to register.

For guidelines on how you can submit comments on this issue, send an email message to wirelessmicrophones@shure.com. You will receive a reply message with details on information to be included in your comments and how to file them with the FCC.

In your comments, be sure to include how many systems you use, what kind of services and productions you do, and describe the impact that losing reliable wireless would have on your services.

I’ll be sending my comments later today. I hope you will, too.

HOUSEKEEPING NOTE: If you think you’re seeing double on this post, you’re correct. I also write at ChurchTechMatters.com, and it’s always been my policy not to duplicate posts between the two. I want you to read both blogs, and hope what I write at CTM has some real value. I’m making an exception with this post, because the issue is time sensitive and critical.

Technorati Tags: Technorati Tags: Churches,Interference,Chris Lyons,Doug Gould,Shure,ChurchTechMatters

The End is Near, for 700 MHz Wireless

So maybe it's not really as dramatic as all that, but as far as wireless microphone use in the so-called 700 MHz band, it is now official.

As of June 12, and possibly earlier in some cases, use of wireless mics transmitting between 695 and 806 MHz is officially illegal. The final rule was issued on January 15.

This wireless spectrum has been reallocated for use by public safety agencies, and by wireless service providers. 

As we've said before, the FCC won't have a squad of 'wireless cops' cruising the streets on Sunday morning, looking for violations.  What is clear, though, is that the wireless companies who have spent BILLIONS of dollars to buy up spectrum will be watching.  One of those providers began sending letters to higher profile wireless users last year, warning them that they would be watching for any infractions. 

So, it's time to stop using the systems.  It will be against the law to fire them up after the deadline. Thankfully, church techs now have a firm date to refer to when discussing this with church boards.  It would have been nice if they'd announced the date a bit earlier... say before budgets for 2010 were set, but they didn't. 

Beyond the fact that it's wrong, there is actually an element of danger in continuing to use the systems.  As the FCC order itself points out, your system could interfere with a public safety radio system.  Is it highly likely?  Probably not.  But it is possible, and that would be bad.

So, where to go from here? More on that over at Church Tech Matters this morning!

 

Technorati Tags: wireless microphones,700MHz,Shure,Sennheiser,rebate