Martin Proposes DTV Fines to 25 Retailers, Manufacturers
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is asking commissioners to approve 25 notices of apparent liability to the nation’s largest consumer electronics retailers for improper labeling of analog TV sets, he said. He also wants to go after large manufacturers for not including proper V-chip functionality in DTV sets and one company for shipping sets lacking digital tuners, he added. It’s “critical” that commissioners vote on the notices by the April 10 meeting, he told reporters Thursday in Washington at a press briefing. Martin outlined telecommunications items on which he wants quick action, saying one on emergency alerts to cellphones has as much priority as the DTV fines.
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If commissioners vote on all the fines and the cellphone alert order before April 10, Martin said, he may cancel that meeting. Instead, commissioners would vote on the other items on circulation and next meet April 17 at a broadband network management hearing at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Cal., he said. “The DTV items, I think, are critical so we should move forward on” them even if the monthly meeting is cancelled, he said. Martin combined the FCC’s first network management field hearing, at Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Mass., with February’s gathering. Commissioners didn’t vote on any items at the Feb. 25 hearing.
The chairman recently asked his staff to draft an order to let him publicize three weeks before each meeting what orders, notices and other items he has white-copied to other FCC members for a vote, he said. Thursday’s briefing was the third at which he discussed white-copied items. Martin asked the General Counsel’s office whether he has the authority to unveil those items each month on his own in a press release, meaning he wouldn’t need other commissioners’ approval. “Hopefully I'll have that clarified by the next time we get together,” he said. But publicizing when each commissioner vote on orders circulating on the eighth floor “would definitely require an order of the commission,” Martin added. “I haven’t talked to the other commissioners about that.” At the last press briefing, at which he previewed items on which he wanted action, Martin suggested he would circulate a single order setting procedures both to publicize white- copied items and commissioners’ votes on pending items (CD Feb 11 p1).
He said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., never wrote him to propose that Martin step down in January if a Democrat is elected president in return for Reid allowing votes this year on new terms for Commissioners Deborah Tate and Jonathan Adelstein. Martin rejected that deal (CD March 7 p5). “The only person who’s ever contacted me about this is Jonathan Adelstein,” Martin said. “He’s the only person who’s ever mentioned it to me. I've gotten no letter, I've gotten no calls.” Adelstein declined to comment. But Martin is not going anywhere soon, the chairman said. “Even if I did get a letter or call, I am a commissioner, my term runs through 2011 and I don’t have any plans to submit a resignation letter anytime soon,” he said. “We have a lot to end up doing.”
Adelstein wasn’t the only one to tell Martin about Reid’s offer, said an FCC official. Before Adelstein and Martin spoke, Tate told the chairman of Reid’s deal, said the source. The proposal was made to Martin through Tate, the source said. An FCC spokeswoman declined to comment further. Martin has spoken with numerous people, including Tate, about Reid’s offer, said another FCC source. But Adelstein was the only person to ask him to accept Reid’s deal, the official said.
Among the DTV notices of apparent liability, Martin said he previously circulated all except one. Many of the notices have been circulating about a month, an FCC official said. Martin said the new one is to Precor on a tuner violation. Set to be fined for V-chip violations are Audiovox, LG, Sanyo, Panasonic, Philips, Polaroid and Westinghouse, he said. He proposes to fine for violations of the analog-only retail labeling rule Best Buy, Big Lots, BJ’s, Circuit City, CompUSA, Conn’s, Fry’s, Rent-A-Center, Sears, Target, Toys R Us, Value City, Variety and Wal-Mart, Martin said. He inadvertently named the companies, saying that such slip-ups are occasioned by the unusual nature of the press conferences. “This is one of the challenges of us telling you all what’s on the agenda,” he said. After checking with the General Counsel’s office, he said his disclosure violated no rules. Martin couldn’t give a total amount for the proposed fines, he said. Notices of apparent liability are a first step to fining companies overseen by the FCC.
Also set for a quick vote is an order to approve Globalstar’s ancillary terrestrial component authorization, Martin said. The order has limitations on interference, he added. Wireless broadband operators in the 2.5 GHz band fear interference if Globalstar offers ATC services without limitations that Globalstar doesn’t feel are necessary. A company spokesman said he couldn’t comment right away but Globalstar CEO Jay Monroe said recently that there’s little opposition to granting Globalstar ATC authority in its unshared spectrum.
Not set for a vote at next month’s meeting is Sirius’ proposal to buy XM. Martin said the agency likely will act on the satellite radio deal before the Justice Department does. He’s asked FCC staff to start drafting a variety of orders on the combination, he said. “I haven’t decided what I'm going to do on it,” he said. “I think they'll have various content options” in the draft orders, he added, declining to be more specific. Although the chairman has hoped to finish the FCC’s review by March 31, he said: “I'm not sure we'll make it.”