said by tenbase :

Here's some irony for ya - you are advocating eliminating some of the last publicly available spectrum - that means anyone who passes a simple test can use it - in order to have it rendered useless by RF pollution. Exactly what "public good" is being served by this, when the technology being touted has already existed for decades in the form of low-frequency, non-interfering PLC?

Amateur Radio is not a US-only hobby, it is recognized and protected by international treaty, and virtually every country in the world issues licenses for the tiny slivers of spectrum allocated to the service. The HF spectrum is not confined to borders either, signals in this band can easily propagate worldwide, unlike with any other part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Thus, it is well worth defending from ill-conceived, half-baked techno-junk such as HF BPL/PLC.

Finally, the rules regarding morse code as a license requirement were in place due to international treaty, and had nothing to do with "hobbyists". Once the treaty requirement went away, the FCC later dropped the licensing requirement. All NPRM comments both for and against dropping the requirement are public record and available on the FCC website for all to see.

And yes, there are plenty of idiots on the air, just like there are plenty of idiots on the interweb. Neither bother me much. As in the real world, you just have to take the bad with the good and avoid the fools when you can.