14 DAY TRIAL // The sum is quite round and its sound is almost mystic: one million dollars. You've seen this million in movies and in TV shows, now it's time for the guys at Behringer to see it, unfortunately, written in the "fine amount" field on official FCC papers. Yep, Behringer got fined by the FCC.
For those who are not too well connected to the audio equipment industry, we must mention that Behringer is one relatively new name in the branch but they have gained a significant place in the world markets using two strategies.
First of all, Behringer is a brand that produces more-than-affordable gear. I myself have been playing guitar and producing music for 14 years and I have never met a brand with such low prices. Even the hi-end gear (if we can speak about "high-end" in Behringer's case) has the same low prices when compared to almost any other decent brand. Such marketing has attracted a huge pile of customers that bought everything, from jack and cables to large mixing consoles... and this is where the second ace comes...
Behringer have entered the market with almost anything there is to music/sound equipment, so that almost everybody on a budget could buy almost anything from Behringer. Now, this strategy is completely healthy, if it wasn't for some paperwork involved and directly relating to Behringer failing "to comply with applicable rules governing testing, labeling, and the filing of Form 740 for certain of its products" as declared by FCC officials.
In the voice of Behringer's Global Communications Director Ron Koliha, the corporation declared that "even prior to the new testing and compliance program, BEHRINGER products were not known to pose safety or RF emissions hazards. For those products that had passed stringent European standards, we believed that they also complied with FCC verification requirements. Later we realized that our assumptions were too broad regarding the differences and similarities in testing standards and procedures under FCC and European requirements."
Now, the conclusions of the FCC investigation report clearly state that "The Commission considered that Behringer marketed the unauthorized devices for more than five years overall and for almost a year after it was on notice of the FCC's investigation."
And so it happened that Behringer are now going to be 1 million (yes, the 6 zeros) dollars "less rich".