James Delahunty
13 Apr 2008 3:41
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States has whipped several major retailers and manufacturers for slacking in their duty to inform consumers about the February, 2009 transition to digital TV broadcasts in the country. The regulator discovered that the companies involved were not making an effort to warn consumers about need for a converter box to use an analog television for broadcast TV next year.
In total, fines of over $6 million were handed to the likes of Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Circuit City and Target. The retailers allegedly failed to label analog television equipment with notices that explain they won't work without extra equipment after the DTV transition. Vivitar, Precor, and Syntax-Brillian were also accused of, and fined for illegally importing and selling outdated equipment.
Precor claims that it was only selling the outdated televisions to commercial customers who use it for workout equipment, while Syntax-Brillian claimed the fines were unnecessarily excessive and unconstitutional. In its defense, the FCC does claim to have warned the companies before it decided to fine them, and they now have 30 days to appeal.
Outside the retailers and manufacturers, broadcasters must also alert consumers through public service announcements, screen crawlers and other methods while cable and satellite providers are required to include information on monthly billing statements.