In article , "Phil Kane"
writes:

On Thu, 30 Sep 2004 20:57:08 GMT, Robert Casey wrote:

As hams routinely work weak signals, any interference is harmful.

"Harmful interference" is a term defined in International and US
radio law:

Harmful interference. Interference which endangers the
functioning of a radionavigation service or of other safety
services or seriously degrades, obstructs or repeatedly interrupts
a radiocommunication service operating in accordance with the
Radio Regulations.

The micturition contest will be in evaluating the terms "seriously
degrades, obstructs or repeatedly interrupts". What is "seriously"?
How much is "repeatedly"?

It will ultimately come down to whose lawyer can shout louder and
longer and whether the FCC wants to support amateur radio or BPL.

We are very lucky so far that some provider/power utility hasn't
told Riley to go fly a trombone when a warning letter is issued.

Phil, something even more basic. BPL doesn't run on batteries.
In the ham urban myth, all infrastructure will FAIL in emergencies.
Ergo, there's no BPL inteference to amateurs...all of whom have
ready-to-go standby generators and other power sources. :-)

Beep, beep.