Federal Communications Commission FCC 07-106 STATEMENT OF COMMISSIONER JONATHAN S. ADELSTEIN Re: In the Matter of Regent U.S.A., Inc., Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture, EB-06-SE-320 Re: In the Matter of Syntax-Brillian Corporation, Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture, EB-07-SE- 023 I strongly support these two Notices of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture. It is my hope that the forfeitures proposed today, as well as the notice of our tiered, per unit forfeiture scale, will serve as a deterrent to future potential violators. We need to send a message that the FCC takes this matter seriously and will strongly enforce our rules. When the Commission adopted the DTV tuner compliance deadlines in June and November 2005, we did so in consultation with the consumer electronics industry, attempting to limit any undue impact on production cycles and shipping schedules. We promulgated rules to protect consumers, ease the burden on manufacturers and retailers, and foster a smooth transition to digital broadcasting. That is why today I am appalled at the actions of Regent U.S.A. and Syntax-Brillan for their willful and repeated violations of Commission rules. The American people deserve better than to be sold non-DTV-compliant television receivers. Today’s action demonstrates that, while the Commission will punish violators after unsuspecting customers have been harmed, our enforcement tools are a poor and inadequate substitute for proactive consumer outreach and education. We have not done nearly enough to inform the public of the differences between, for example, HD-ready, DTV, or even HD-TV. We owe it to our citizens, those that will be harmed by buying a television set that cannot receive digital signals, to help them make the right purchases. If more citizens had known the differences, and had been aware that the televisions in question did not have the capabilities they needed, perhaps they would not have purchased the sets. We simply cannot fix the problem on the back end. We need to address the problem head on. Education and outreach are key to solving this problem.