edarmsttrong said:
My feeling is that just because Wal*Mart is the biggest retailer in the country, they should not be immune from following the rules. What they are doing, is akin to some CB shop selling a CB radio with 'Extra Channels'. What's worse, is that if you are caught operating this equipment, YOU get the NAL from the FCC.
They appear to be immune from almost every other law, from labor, to zoning to anti-trust to just about anything else they can pay off. This isn't going to mean much to them. They're still the cheapest place around, the BIGGEST volume discounter on the planet and the recession is actually HELPING them.
They are not concerned if you get an NAL anymore than if you bought a gun from their store and went and killed somebody with it. Once it leaves their electronic sliding EXIT doors, it's YOUR problem.
At best, they can voluntarily stop selling these things that operate on those frequencies (which is the more sensible route for everyone.) And I don't think anyone has ever gotten an NAL from running these things either, which I'll explain in a few minutes.
(I must also add that if Wal-Mart stops selling them, they will likely move to another discount retailer who will buy their unsaleable stock and sell them anyway.)
But I must point out to Mr. Fry that there will always be a demand for Part 15 FM xmitters as long as there's Sirius/XM and iPods. And they're all usually made in sweatshops in China, Singapore or Mexico and oversight of US law for excessive radiation and range there (or lack thereof) is what it is.
I'm not saying it's RIGHT to operate on those channels - it's counterproductive at best even to the most dedicated pirates. But like I say, you need to get the FCC info from these units and start asking serious questions to the FCC.
And then the FCC has to get whips cracking, which is going to be tough because even they have had to cut back drastically. They can't even keep up with 95% of the biggest pirate stations out there, to say NOTHING of the MILLIONS of little uncertified Part 15 things on the air as we speak, in spite of what the rules say, they are not on their priority list right now.
Again, I'm not saying it's right, but this is one of the casualties of the recession. It has to be a MEGA-THREAT before the FCC gets serious about it. They don't have the resources to be pro-active anymore. So they end up being reactive and only when MAJOR damage has already been inflicted. F-bombs from somebody's Howard Stern Sirius/XM car radio transmitter doesn't realistically fit the bill as severe enough (But God FORBID any licensed terrestrial station should ever say that on the air. Go figure......)
Part 15 is a genie you can't put back in the bottle either. There's just too many transmitters to deal with (did I say MILLIONS?) and they all run on frequencies/power-range levels that rarely absolutely comply with the rules VERBATIM. And the reality of it is, if you go and make something like running a Part 15 transmitter a crime, guess what? It will go from minor pain in the ass to full blown national epidemic in a heartbeat. And NOBODY at the FCC wants that. They have enough headaches.
Funding for the FCC isn't very high on the government agenda right now, as you can see. And don't forget the "unintentional radiators" from computers, microwave ovens and the like which are often FAR WORSE than "intentional" radiators like Part 15 transmitters - as anyone trying to run a legal Part 15 (or even licensed small town) AM radio station can tell you. If those things never existed, you could probably get a hell of a lot more signal coverage legally. Trust me, the day you see a genuine FCC inspector at a sweatshop in China monitoring each computer or microwave oven that comes off the line for excessive radiation is also the day Baskin-Robbins will open their first franchise in
HELL.
But these things do exist. And nothing is going to change that. The sheer cost (and constitutional legality) of testing every single electronic item in the NATION would bankrupt Bill Gates 1,000 times over. The best you can do is discuss your problem with these things you found at Wal-Mart with the FCC (enclose the item if you can and every bit of documentation you have on it.) If you can, organize with other people with the same issue, that helps as well.
And prepare to WAIT. There's got to be a HUGE backlog of complaints for LOTS of other devices......
