[BC] "Professional" regulation

[Mario Hieb]

I'm not so sure that the FCC would have any influence. They got out of the 
people licensing business years ago.

Most recognized professions are "self-regulating." They decide who gets in, 
who stays in, what is ethical, and what the state laws are.

It's sort of a monopoly that the government and the courts allow as long as 
society benefits from their existence. For instance, structural engineers 
are licensed and given a monopoly of sorts as long as the structures they 
design don't fall down.

In some cases, the state isn't even involved, as with state bar associations.

SBE should look at how other professions are organized; they might pick up 
some pointers.


Mario




At 11:02 PM 5/19/2005, you wrote:
>From: Barry Mishkind <barry at oldradio.com>
>At 03:47 PM 5/19/2005, Mario Hieb, P.E. wrote
> >To survive, state licensure may be something SBE needs to do.
>
>          I'll accept your comment, but ...
>
>          ... to what end?
>
>          A state license would only work if the state
>          were to do something to back it up.
>          The FCC would pre-empt anything a
>          state could do.
>
>          The only thing I see that a license from the
>          state would accomplish is to enforce an
>          apprentice program which would
>          promptly and efficiently be undermined
>          and abused by stations who want cheap
>          labor
>
>          Now  ... what does the SBE do in that case?

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