Mobile Devices

182 ◾ Scott R. Ellis

Serving in the public interest: In the absence of technology to con-

trol the receiving of transmissions, ostensibly one could be sub-

jected to listening to the transmissions of anyone that chooses to

broadcast. Imagine a Facebook message thread where any of your

friends’ friends can post ideas and thoughts to the thread for you

to see, only this sort of thing happens on your radio, and you don’t

even have control over it. At least on Facebook you can block, hide,

or “unfriend” oensive people. No such capability existed in the

1920s. But had we not regulated it, and had forced an environment

(not unlike the Internet) where innovation would be the only way

whereby broadcasting could be controlled, through technica ...