SB QST @ ARL $ARLB005
ARLB005 FCC Launches Consumer-Oriented Electronic Comment Filing 
System

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QST de W1AW  
ARRL Bulletin 5  ARLB005
From ARRL Headquarters  
Newington CT  January 15, 2003
To all radio amateurs 

SB QST ARL ARLB005
ARLB005 FCC Launches Consumer-Oriented Electronic Comment Filing 
System

The FCC has launched ECFS Express, an updated electronic system that
the Commission says will make it easier for some members of the
public to file comments on FCC proceedings. ECFS Express is a
simplified version of the popular Electronic Comment Filing System
(ECFS), but it is not available for all FCC proceedings.

ECFS Express focuses on topics rather than docket numbers, and
requires minimal input by consumers seeking to participate in the
Commission's public rulemaking process.  ECFS Express is accessible
from the FCC home page at http://www.fcc.gov. Users click on the
"File Comments" logo. Anyone who wants to comment just has to click
on a topic, fill in their personal information, write their comments
and hit "SEND."

The FCC said the downside is that if the particular issue you want
to comment upon is not listed among the ECFS Express topics, you'll
have to use the full version of ECFS, located at
http://www.fcc.gov/e-file/ecfs.html, to comment on proceedings not
listed. At the moment, the EFCS Express list includes no Amateur
Radio-related proceedings.

FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau Chief K. Dane Snowden
said, "By making the process more intuitive and less technical, all
those interested in what we are doing at the FCC can have their
voices heard. Our goal is to have as much of the public as possible
participate in our rulemaking processes."
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