Are the "wavelength wars" of the 1920s returning?

Abstract:
It has been a foundational feature of wireless communication for about eighty years that government permission is required to transmit: Not just anyone can have their own radio station. However, recent changes in technology coupled with the expansion of "open" regimes for managing the electromagnetic spectrum may change all of that. This prospect has inspired widespread excitement in policy circles and also reignited fundamental debates about sharing and order. Soon, it may be that anyone can have their own station, but skeptics claim that these stations will never work. This study will present findings from a study funded by the National Science Foundation about entrepreneurs and eccentrics who tried to use license-exempt spectrum to provide new communication services in the period from 2003-2005. It finds much to be excited about, but it also finds the return of spectrum negotiations, extortion, and jamming not seen in US since the "wavelength wars" of the 1920s. One such "war" will be discussed. Using Moore's process theory of law it can be seen that the technological hopes for the innovative future of the spectrum may not be reconcilable with the more familiar system of order and reliability we have come to expect from our radio dial. These developments also suggest a radically changed role for the communication regulatory agencies of the world, and for public access to the airwaves.