If I am correct it was the ARRL who petitioned the FCC for Incentive Licensing and the 'band segments'.
Not really. The story is much more complicated.
In 1963 the ARRL proposed that the rules be changed back to the way they were before February 1953. Under that original proposal, the Advanced license would be reopened to new privileges, and it would require an Advanced or Extra license to operate 'phone modes on the amateur bands between 2.5 and 25 MHz - just as it had before the changes of Feb '53 gave away all privileges to Generals and Conditionals.
The 1963 ARRL proposal also included that the changes would have been phased in over several years, to give amateurs a chance to upgrade without losing any privileges. All it would take to keep full privileges was to pass the Advanced written test - one test of about 50 questions on theory and regulations. (I passed the Advanced at age 14 in the summer of 1968, between 8th and 9th grade, and it wasn't difficult at all.)
The 1963 ARRL proposal caused other groups and individuals to write their own proposals, and within a year or so there were at least 10 different proposals to change the license structure. One of them - NOT the ARRL proposal - involved subbands-by-license-class.
FCC took a bit of this and a bit of that and in 1965 or so released their proposal, which went much farther than what ARRL had proposed. Under that proposal, the Advanced would be replaced by a new "Amateur First" class license, with 16 wpm code and a new written exam, existing Advanceds would be demoted to General, and full privileges would require an Extra. Also, everyone's callsign would indicate their license class, and you'd get a new callsign every time you upgraded. Some callsigns would only be available to old-timers licensed before 1932.
ARRL and others then had the task of getting FCC to tone down the proposal, and most of the worst parts were removed. The final form went into effect in 1968.
What sparked all this was the perception that US hams were falling behind their Soviet counterparts in technology and operating skills. Remember that the early 1960s were a time of "Sputnik fever", the Cold War, and JFK's "New Frontier" mindset.
That's the short history, there's a lot more detail.
It caused a major stir at the time and many left amateur radio.
A few may have left. But most stayed - and once the new system was in place, our numbers grew and grew.
Even Wayne Greene of 73 Magazine refused to 'upgrade'.
Ol' Wayne had an Advanced when all the fuss started. Under "incentive licensing" he didn't lose many privileges. If the original 1963 proposal had been enacted, he wouldn't have lost any.
He was a slick con artist who never let facts or sound reasoning get in the way of selling his magazines.
The sour part was demoting (seems the most recent licenses were demoted and those not tested in decades stayed the same) people who already had privileges and passed probably a harder test when they got the license.
NO.
Where do you get such ideas?
No one was "demoted". Everyone kept their existing license.
What DID happen was that Generals, Conditionals and Advanceds lost SOME privileges. That's all. And those privileges could be regained by passing a test or two.
Claims that the old tests were "harder" are easily disproved by looking at the study guides of old License Manuals.
The REAL problem was one of "entitlement mindset". A lot of hams back then had been licensed after 1953. They'd started as Novices, learned just enough code and theory to get a General or Conditional, then sat back and said to themselves "I'm ENTITLED to FULL privileges FOREVER".
The idea that they might have to pass another test or two terrified them.
Petitions to FCC to change what the ARRL did never went anywhere. Probably because the ARRL did not support such.
Nope. Wrong again.
The ARRL didn't change the rules, FCC did. And FCC kept on changing them, widening the 'phone subbands, adding privileges, and making other changes.
Time passes. Few remember those days.
Even fewer remember them accurately. I was there, I remember - and I've researched the history and written about it.
I supported a CW test. The most simple way to communicate. If people understand music CW is hard ? How many variables in music ?
The FCC started phasing out CW testing in the 1970s. The ARRL opposed the changes but FCC kept persisting. The last remnant of CW testing disappeared 15 years ago.
brain is different I guess. Some of the smartest I would guess can not digest short and long tones. Yes. Society does not use it anymore. (wonder why ?)
Commercial applications stopped using Morse Code decades ago because it cost them money. Amateurs use it all the time.
Do YOU use Morse Code on the air? Ever?
To me digesting test questions does not permanent stay in ones brain. Some have short term memory. Me ? I can not remember anything from 5 minutes ago but remember everything from 50 years ago. Hey..the test pool expires by the time I remember it !!
Is that why you never upgraded?
Once the test had no question-answer pool to remember. Had to travel to a FCC office. Extra's that got their license prior to mid-60's ?
The question-answer pools became public in the early 1980s, when the VEC system was created. That was FCC's idea, to save money.