Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | May 27, 2009

CUT FATT Files Reply Comments to FCC;
Asks for Immediate Action to Protect Consumers

19,000+ consumers support CUT FATT’s efforts, want to stop overcharging of American digital TV consumers

Washington, D.C. – Today the Coalition United to Terminate Financial Abuses of the Television Transition (CUT FATT) provided additional comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding their petition for rulemaking and request for declaratory ruling.

Consumers have been able to make their voices heard in the fight against uncontrolled price gouging practices of digital television (DTV) patent holders. Together, Hdtvshakedown.com and CUTFATT.org collected over 19,000 letters from consumers asking the FCC to stop DTV patent holders from unfairly overcharging Americans for digital televisions.

“Analog television stations are set to go dark in less than a month and American consumers are buying digital televisions to prepare for the digital transition — the untold story is how much they’re all overpaying for each digital television they buy,” said Amos Snead, CUT FATT spokesman. “Consumers have responded to CUT FATT’s efforts and as part of the reply to the FCC, over 18,000 letters were submitted, asking the FCC for immediate action to be protected from unreasonable and discriminatory patent fees that cost them approximately $20 to $30 per television set.”

CUT FATT’s reply comments to the FCC include the following recommendations:

• The FCC should declare these abusive practices unlawful now, and urge patent holders to form an effective patent pool.
• The FCC has legal authority to establish and enforce Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory (RAND) licensing requirements and should do so immediately.

“If the FCC fails to act, consumers will be overcharged billions of dollars over the next few years as they replace their analog television sets with digital sets,” added Snead. “It is especially important that the Commission act promptly because the burden of excessive fees is particularly acute for elderly and poor consumers.”

When the first digital television sets were sold in the late 1990s and the FCC adopted the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) standard, no one was required to purchase a digital television set to continue watching television. Today, with tens of millions of analog televisions poised to become obsolete on June 12, U.S. consumers are purchasing more than 62,000 digital televisions every day. The problem today stems from ATSC patent holders unjustly demanding excessive licensing fees for digital tuners and other parts in TVs and converter boxes from the American-based, American-branded companies looking to provide affordable digital televisions to American consumers. This in turn causes prices for digital televisions to increase substantially.