Two new consent decrees taking aim at the sale of analog only receiving equipment to consumers have interesting and unusual new angles. Conn’s Inc. was one of the firms. It has agreed to terminate the sale of analog-only equipment by 12/31/08 – but if it sells so much as one unit of analog-only equipment during any month beginning on 9/1/08, it must make a voluntary contribution of $1.5K to the US Treasury. Over at Rent-A-Center, which often enters into rent-to-buy arrangements with its customers, it is making a voluntary contribution of $60K to the Treasury for labeling omissions. And on top of that, anybody who bought analog-only equipment from them from 5/29/07 through 8/7/07, or entered into a lease which is still in force during that period, is entitled to a free digital-to-analog converter box courtesy of Rent-A-Center.
