On this anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, let us recall that modern spectrum policy really stems from this event.

Prior to this disaster, there was little international or national regulation of radio. The chaos associated with the Titanic’s distress call and the resulting loss of life brought urgent attention to the issue. A key question is whether this basic framework needs to be addressed every 100 years? Even though we have just finished WRC-12, the difficulty over GPS/LightSquared and the question of what is “harmful interference” shows there are some basic flaws. While some might want to politicize the GPS/LS controversy, I believe the root cause was regulatory uncertainty which does no one any good.

On the lighter side of today’s anniversary, the former White Star Line office near Trafalgar Square in London where the tickets for the Titanic were sold and where relatives of the passengers gathered is now a restaurant called Texas Embassy Cantina. Now I would not recommend a trip to London for this TexMex restaurant, not would a recommend eating there while on a short trip to London. But as a former expat living in Paris I can tell you it is much better than any TexMex restaurants in Paris or probably the rest of Europe and is a nice place to go if you are in the neighborhood and long for US-style food.

(There actually was a Texas Legation in London from 1836 through 1845 in a building not too far away)