FCC to start investigating Amazon and others

[MUTNAV]

I know a lot of people had been concerned with all of the "stuff" that had been sold that wasn't properly type approved, now it seems like someone is getting interested. It will be interesting to see where this goes.

US FCC investigating Amazon over alleged sale of outlawed products

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission is investigating Amazon and other retailers for the alleged marketing and selling of unlawful electronic devices, an FCC spokesperson told Reuters on Wednesday. "We have several ongoing investigations into retailers, including Amazon, for potential...

finance.yahoo.com

Thanks
Joel

 

[a417]

can't wait to see a Baofeng referred to as a "Radio Frequency Jammer"

 

[prcguy]

Oh crap, I better get in a big order of Quansheng UV-K5s real quick and maybe another Anytone quad 5.

 

[BinaryMode]

Well, that sucks. Always liked their quality products... LOL

Maybe, just maybe this will entice the Chinese manufactures to get their stuff type accepted.

I have several CCRs, but their backup only and that's it.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

Well, that sucks. Always liked their quality products... LOL

Maybe, just maybe this will entice the Chinese manufactures to get their stuff type accepted.

I have several CCRs, but their backup only and that's it.

Those type acceptance grants are generally Part 15 or some nonsense Part 9 , just enough to fool Customs.

 

[BinaryMode]

I was curious about that. Does Customs actually use the FCC ID and do a lookup or whatever? Do you know?

 

[MTS2000des]

A decade late and dollars short. The cats out of the bag, turd radios and spectrum contaminating crap from China have infested the country for over a decade or more, and now government wants to "take action".

 

[rf_patriot200]

Too little, too late ...

 

[KK4JUG]

Too little, too late ...

Maybe, but in this case, better late than never, I think. BinaryMode is right, CBP doesn't look at FCC IDs. They're looking for drugs, mostly. Amazon, et. al. are profiting from the sales and they should obey the regulations, lest they be assessed a fine to wipe out those profits. One consolation is that the CCRs will probably fail quicker than most others and, hopefully, become a relic of history.

 

[mmckenna]

China have infested the country for over a decade or more, and now government wants to "take action".

I agree. However, looking at a few of the Baofeng's that showed up at work, they don't last very long in any sort of real use, so they'll probably die off by attrition in some amount of time. If people cannot buy replacements, they'll have to get appropriate radios, or go without.

The sticking point will be the desk queen radios that will last longer.

 

[PreferredCustomer]

Oh crap, I better get in a big order of Quansheng UV-K5s real quick and maybe another Anytone quad 5.

I really like that Anytone 5555n, but I have other radios that can do the same things and more, so I just can't justify getting one.

 

[AF1UD]

I agree. However, looking at a few of the Baofeng's that showed up at work, they don't last very long in any sort of real use, so they'll probably die off by attrition in some amount of time. If people cannot buy replacements, they'll have to get appropriate radios, or go without.

The sticking point will be the desk queen radios that will last longer.

Almost every ham I know around my area has one of them Bowelturds and complain that no one can hear them... You get what you pay for. They're tools not toys.

 

[mmckenna]

They're tools not toys.

Tools as in a hammer, and not a very good one.

 

[HandiScratchy]

I predict a big fine to Amazon followed by a mass rebranding by the CCR producers and no real change in the market. FCC anticipates this and will ignore it until the next wave has grown large enough to equal a pleasingly large fine and the cycle will repeat.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

I was curious about that. Does Customs actually use the FCC ID and do a lookup or whatever? Do you know?

I don't really know except I am certain they have to check a box somewhere. 99% of folks looking at an FCC grant would not know what it means.

 

[KK4JUG]

Be realistic. If they find an FCC ID number, how do they know it's valid? I s'pose they could run it through a computerized database. How will they know the number is valid for that particular radio? Ya gotta open (probably) the battery compartments of the portables and check the model number. And you have to do it for every radio. How many radios are we talking about? Of course, you have to include all brands. Am I making it complicated by oversimplifying it?

 

[mmckenna]

Be realistic. If they find an FCC ID number, how do they know it's valid? I s'pose they could run it through a computerized database. How will they know the number is valid for that particular radio? Ya gotta open (probably) the battery compartments of the portables and check the model number. And you have to do it for every radio. How many radios are we talking about? Of course, you have to include all brands. Am I making it complicated by oversimplifying it?

I have seen FCC documents where they've busted dealers for using fake FCC ID's on the radios. I don't think the Chinese are going to have any problem putting FCC ID numbers on their radios that might have been valid for a different model. Zero integrity, it's all about getting US Dollars over into China.

I get the desire to have an affordable first radio. My first amateur radio was very expensive, at the time, a almost a full month worth of paycheck. There needs to be a middle ground here where entry level radios are affordable, but the Chinese junk gets filtered out.

 

[kb5udf]

Seems like there is a lot of hope here they will go after two-way radios that pollute the spectrum; one can only hope. But the linked article is vague about specifics, so I guess we will just wait and see. I would put my bet on targeting devices likely to interfere with cellular and public safety, but who knows.

 

[mwjones]

Seems like there is a lot of hope here they will go after two-way radios that pollute the spectrum; one can only hope. But the linked article is vague about specifics, so I guess we will just wait and see. I would put my bet on targeting devices likely to interfere with cellular and public safety, but who knows.

Agreed. I've seen several articles on this from across the spectrum, and most say the investigation is targeting devices specifically sold to "jam" cellular (and by proxy public safety) communications (and I have a suspicion they're getting pressure from the carriers, since they have teams that investigate interference on their networks quite regularly).

I too would like to see them take on the overseas counterfeit radio manufacturers that are shipping products into the US without being approved by the FCC, but I doubt they have the resources needed to make that happen (I deal with the fallout of the robocall spam on a daily basis, and know that the FCC and FTC lack the manpower in the investigation/enforcement space, which keeps them from going after anything but the worst of the worst and the occasional "low hanging fruit" - aka obvious violations that they can quickly turn over to the DOJ for prosecution).

 

[merlin]

Investigating ! Well thats gonna take a while