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Comment by Dracophoenix | Hacker News Reader

When exactly did the FCC's jurisdiction extend to the heavens? There should be a lot more concern than there currently is over an agency granting itself powers over private property in space.

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FCC approval is required to communicate with a (US-based) satellite in space, so effectively they can apply rules like this one. It's less of a power grab/nefarious plot and more a utilitarian kind of thing - the FCC has historically been the only agency that has authority to exert this pressure, so the work falls on them. It's admittedly odd that it's not the FAA or Space Force, but that's how it is.

If one were to launch satellites over the United States that communicate with transponders set up in Mexico, the Caribbean, Greenland, and Canada, would that be outside scope of the FCC's jurisdiction?

In general those countries have their own rules that while different amount to the same with different details. The smaller countries generally copy what the US does (or possibly what the EU does).

While you might be able to find a country to let you pick your own rules, you will only be able to talk to your satellite which means you can't do much with it. Most satellite are used for communicating to people on the ground and if you can't communicate to the US the satellite is much less valuable.

Well, various government agencies have jurisdiction over, say, private cars that drive on public roads, so why couldn't you apply similar logic to the FCC with regards to satellite regulation?

No country has any recognized territorial claims to space. Roads are built within and between territories. I don't know of a road built on unclaimed territory that grants a far away government jurisdiction over every car traveling through the said territory, even if these cars used other paths or went off-trail.

The FCC’s jurisdiction only applies to satellites communicating with US based ground stations.

The FCC derives its powers from the Communications Act of 1934 (before Sputnik) and a few Supreme Court cases, none of which have to do with satellite communication. That the FCC has jurisdiction over terrestrial radio spectra does not give it the right to create additional requirements for communication with orbital satellites even if there are US-based ground stations involved.

> The FCC derives its powers from the Communications Act of 1934 (before Sputnik)

...which has many post-Sputnik amebdments, but specifically the FCC role regarding policy for communication satellites comes from the Communication Satellites Act of 1962.

Right. The text of the report literally states that the guideline isn't legally binding. They condition their approval of radio operations (Which they do have power over) on planned compliance with the guideline.

https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-22-74A1.pdf

They're friends with other people with guns and rockets.

Search for terms like "satellite" and "space" in the Communications Act of 1934, as amended:

https://www.fcc.gov/Reports/1934new.pdf

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