Comment Re:Seems an easy tradeoff to me... (Score 2, Informative) 293
There's a bit more to it than that. While we hear alot about amateur radio being affected, and the amount of concern being voiced, it goes well beyond the HAM operators.
The affected radio spectrum is quite broad, and the amount of spectrum allocated to the amateur service (HAMS) is only a small part. In the same bands are various other services including a large amount of commercial and government frequency allocations. They will not be immune to the interference potential that has been tested and measured by the amateur radio community in the various trial areas.
Let me add that HAMS aren't opposed to BPL just to be difficult, but because there are numerous problems with the technology and there are other good (better) but underdeveloped alternatives. The field trials done so far have shown that it is very difficult to eliminate harmful interference to the areas of the radio spectrum involved.
For more information about BPL and the concerns of amateur (and by extension other) radio services, see this FAQ; it is perhaps the best discussion of BPL and the issues around it I have read. Also, you can check the ARRL, which has a very good discussion of the topic.
I would further note that those like me who pursue the amateur radio hobby are not unlike many of those who read slashdot, who pursue computers as not just a profession, but also as a hobby. I have seen many argue about changes to computing platforms that would restrict or possibly eliminate our abilities to pursue the computing hobby (e.g., palladium).
