Motorola fights illegal radio resellers

Motorola has issued cease and desist letters to more than 10 sellers and importers of foreign Motorola two-way radios in the United States. According to a Motorola release, a New Jersey government agency found that its Motorola two-way radios, purchased over the Internet, were not intended for use in the United States.

“We were very disappointed with the clarity from our new radios, so our technicians started to look into the problem,” said the head of a New Jersey parking authority. “When he opened the radios, he found out they did not have FCC certification labels.”

The parking authority received the lone bid of about $70,000 for its radios from a business on the Internet. “The dealer came across as very professional and knowledgeable. I had no qualms about the purchase,” said the parking authority chief. He said the dealer produced letters of recommendation from other government agencies that had purchased radios from his business. Motorola is taking action against this unauthorized reseller.

Jim Pristelski, senior litigation counsel for Motorola, said, “The company’s actions are based on several legal points, including violation of FCC rules, copyright and infringement.” The illegal radios in question violate FCC regulations because they should have labels indicating that they are FCC type accepted.

Customers who purchase illegally imported equipment may also be subject to FCC fines because the end-user is held liable to meet FCC rules and regulation. Customers can be misled and deceived into believing that they are purchasing suitable domestic Motorola two-way radios by these sellers and importers of foreign Motorola products. According to Motorola, customers can better protect themselves from purchasing illegal two-way radios if they ask for products that include FCC Type Acceptance labels.

Motorola’s authorized dealers are aware of unauthorized resellers illegally importing and selling radios. “We become the bad guys when a customer buys an illegal product, and we have to tell them it can’t be programmed or fixed by us. It hurts the business,” said William Landis, owner of TuWay Wireless, Bethlehem, PA.

“Within the last six months, we’ve been vigilantly monitoring businesses who are selling two-way radios that are not licensed to be used in the United States,” said Anthony Biell, Motorola’s manager of software asset protection. Biell said Motorola is working with the U.S. Customs Service to prevent illegal radios from entering the U.S. marketplace at airports and shipping ports. Motorola is also alerting Customs when it becomes aware of advertisements for Motorola products that are being sold illegally over the Internet.

In May, Motorola settled a lawsuit against International Cellular Telephone, a business that allegedly violated copyright and trademark laws by illegally importing and selling two-way radios. The Florida center is now barred from selling Motorola two-way radios or related software.