I'll take this one if you don't mind.....
Anybody remember a computer company called Packard Bell? They violated that exact rule and got caught. God, I love telling this story....
Back in '97 Packard Bell had a 27% share of the PC market which at the time was the largest volume personal computer buying market and still was/is to this day*.
PB had a HUGE batch of combo modem/sound cards that were installed on almost every model of PC they sold at the time. The combo card had a design flaw that wouldn't allow it to recognize any drivers of any kind. Customers who called tech support with the issue were immediately shipped a new version of the card and the defective one was sent back to PB at their expense. Once back at PB's labs, the offending chip which contained the wrong code was re-coded with the correct instructions and then.... and this is where they screwed themselves.... were installed into new PC's and sold as "containing all new parts".
The FTC got wind of it, investigated and levied the absolute worst possible penalty against PB given the global buying frenzy that was taking place..... The FTC banned Packard Bell from selling ANY products in the US for 1 year! Their greediness cost them BILLIONS of dollars!!!
A couple of years later they re-emerged in the US as a company called eMachines.
*Fiscal year 1997-98 there were more personal computers sold worldwide than all makes and models of TV's - Combined!
That is interesting, I kinda remember when this hit the news...thanx for posting that.
Bill
