However, for manufacturers and retailers, it’s a different story.
There are four — count ’em — four planks on the agenda aimed squarely at both sides of the consumer electronics community, and they’re all coming from the last place you want them: the Enforcement Bureau. The commissioners will consider possible forfeitures aimed at manufacturers of equipment which are incapable of responding to changes in the content advisory rating system, another against a manufacturer in "…violation of the Commission’s rule restricting the importation and interstate shipment of analog-only television receivers," and yet another aimed at, of all things, an exercise equipment manufacturer "for violation of the Commission’s rule restricting the importation and interstate shipment of analog-only television receivers." Meanwhile, 14 retailers are up on charges of failing to label analog-only receivers.
RBR/TVBR observation: We don’t know if this is good news, retailers and manufacturers, but at least one of your current tormentors, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, will be up for a little torment himself — he has a date tomorrow with the senators on the Commerce Committee. However, he will no doubt use his head start to point his finger at the miscreants among your industry sector as evidence that he’s doing what he can.
