Enlarge / Ever hear of this classic tech?
As tomorrow’s FCC net neutrality vote looms, Ars has been sharing as much of our reporting on the topic as possible. And this week, a longtime reader nudged us about this classic on the FCC’s Carterfone decision from nearly 50 years ago. “This story is extremely relevant to the current Net Neutrality debate in that it provides a historical precedent to debunk arguments about regulation stifling innovation,” the reader writes. “It shows that this battle is not a recent development, but goes back decades. Might you consider republishing it so that this story can get new exposure?”
Ask nicely (and offer a great suggestion), and you shall receive. This story originally ran in June 2008. Below, it appears unchanged except for updates to the time frame (the piece originally ran on the decision’s 40th anniversary).
Nearly 50 years ago, the Federal Communications Commission issued one of the most important Orders in its history, a ruling that went unnoticed by most news sources at the time. It involved an application manufactured and distributed by one Mr. Thomas Carter of Texas. The “Carterfone” allowed users to attach a two-way radio transmitter/receiver to their telephone, extending its reach across sprawling Texas oil fields where managers and supervisors needed to stay in touch. Between 1955 and 1966, Carter’s company sold about 3,500 of these apps around the United States and well beyond.
In the end, however, Carterfone’s significance extends far beyond the convenience that Thomas Carter’s machine provided its users over a decade. It is no exaggeration to say that the world that Ars Technica writes about was created, in good part, by the legal battle between Carter, AT&T, and the FCC’s resolution of that fight—its Carterfone decision. The Carterfone saga starts as the appealing tale of one developer’s willingness to stick to his guns. But it is really about the victory of two indispensable values: creativity and sharing.
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