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 Vivitar, Precor, and Syntax-Brillian were also accused of, and fined for illegally importing and selling outdated equipment.
Precor claims that it was only selling the outdated televisions to commercial customers who use it for workout equipment, while Syntax-Brillian claimed the fines were unnecessarily excessive and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.
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Written by: James Delahunty @ 13 Apr 2008 3:41