I asked a guy who is in charge of set top boxes for a major cable provider and reads FCC rules for fun. He thinks it's real and we'll have to figure out how to bypass signature checking.
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The "invisible hand of the market" is your friend here. There's
economic incentive for the manufacturers to do the minimum possible to
meet the regulatory requirements while minimizing engineering and SKU
skew (heh) to support their global supply chain. I predict a level of
difficulty similar to that necessary to make HTs do extended transmit.
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So it may not be that bad. (A HT is a handheld radio that can usually be reprogrammed with the right cable, software, and expertise).
I've emailed the ARRL's legal staff as well.