CE Companies, FCC Talk about Settling Millions in DTV Fines
Many of more than 20 consumer electronics makers and retailers facing FCC fines (CD March 21 p2) for improperly labeling analog TV sets, leaving full V-chip functionality out of digital TV sets or shipping sets with no digital tuners are in settlement talks with the agency, FCC officials said. The companies are among those cited in 25 notices of apparent liability that Chairman Kevin Martin wants FCC members to vote on by the April 10 meeting, they said. Discussions on some fines, stemming from 2007 enforcement actions, have been going on awhile, an industry source said.
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The FCC Enforcement Bureau is leading the negotiations on settlements, commission sources said. The bureau wrote the text of the notices of apparent liability, some of which were circulated for a vote among commissioners in February. A bureau spokeswoman declined to comment.
Notices that figure in any settlements reached with the bureau won’t be voted on by the commissioners, FCC sources said. Commissioners are waiting for more information on the talks, they said. Members seem likely to approve fines against those that don’t settle, officials said.
The proposed fines total in the millions of dollars, an FCC official said. The exact amount isn’t available because the FCC hasn’t calculated it, the source said. When Martin said March 20 that he planned to ask his colleagues to approve fines against the companies by the April 10 meeting, he said he couldn’t provide the dollar total.
CE retailers facing penalties for failing to label analog sets in their stores after they were required to do so are 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 last month. Consumer Electronics Retailer Coalition General Counsel Robert Schwartz declined to comment. CE makers facing penalties for V-chip violations are Audiovox, LG, Sanyo, Panasonic, Philips, Polaroid and Westinghouse, Martin said last month. CEA declined to comment, said a spokesman. Precor is the subject of a notice for an alleged DTV tuner violation. Notices of apparent liability are a first step to fining FCC- regulated companies. Once it approves notices, the FCC issues forfeiture orders making penalties final.