Will Turner: “We’re going to steal a ship? That ship?”
Jack Sparrow: “Commandeer. We’re going to commandeer that ship. Nautical term.”
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
The CEO of YMax Corp. and the inventor of the original magicJack, Dan Borislow, unveiled his latest creation at the Consumer Electronics Show last week. The new magicJack is a miniature GSM femtocell that uses exclusively licensed wireless spectrum. The device connects to your PC and then to any GSM handset that comes within 8 feet. Once a handset is linked to the device, any calls made over the handset are routed through the magicJack over the Internet rather than through the wireless carrier’s cellular network. Because the call is routed through the Internet, no minutes are subtracted from the handset user’s account with the wireless carrier (although extra fees for international calls are subtracted from the user’s account with magicJack).
Of course, to operate this device legally, magicJack and the user would need to have the permission of the wireless carrier. This is because the device uses the wireless carrier’s exclusively licensed radio frequencies, and licensed spectrum can only be used by the licensee (or its lessee). It doesn’t appear that Mr. Borislow has leased the spectrum. So how does he intend to avoid an enforcement action by the FCC?
Mr. Borislow apparently claims the device uses licensed spectrum legally because spectrum licenses don’t extend into the home. He cites no authority for this position, however, because there is none that supports his commandeering licensed spectrum in this way. There is no “home use” exception to an FCC license. Unlicensed devices are allowed to operate in the cellular bands at very low power levels. But, it seems unlikely that the magicJack femtocell is operating at such a low power given the claimed range.
Assuming the device exceeds unlicensed power levels, it will be interesting to see how the wireless carriers and the FCC respond to this new form of femtocell radio piracy.