CTIA and the Telecommunications Industry Association praised Senate...

either etch or print mandatory regulatory markings on the exterior of devices unnecessarily increases costs and limits industrial and aesthetic design options, while ineffectively conveying important information to consumers about their devices,” TIA President Grant Seiffert said in a Thursday letter (http://bit.ly/1mONmSb). “Through the E-LABEL Act, device manufacturers will have the ability to use eLabels, easing technical and logistical burdens on manufacturers while increasing countless American consumers’ ability to access easily readable and prominently displayed information about the devices they use every day.” CTIA Vice President-Government Relations Jot Carpenter said it’s time to bring these “rules into the 21st century by giving manufacturers the option of providing labeling information digitally.” FCC Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Mike O'Rielly also praised the bill. “Modernizing the display of FCC device certification has real benefits,” they said in a joint statement. “For starters, more devices and new technologies can be designed with innovation in mind, rather than regulatory labeling requirements.” A Fischer spokeswoman confirmed the legislation’s introduction. The bill text is on Fischer’s website (http://1.usa.gov/1r0oKYa) and a news release was expected to be released Thursday after our deadline, the spokeswoman said. CEA views the legislation as “a commonsense approach for the digital age,” said Veronica O'Connell, vice president-government and political affairs, in a statement. “E-labeling would be cost-effective, in keeping with the consumer electronics industry’s important ongoing environmental sustainability efforts, and a beneficial and innovative use of today’s technology,” she said. It would be a welcome alternative to the FCC’s existing physical labeling requirements, which “are burdensome, costly and present logistical challenges for consumer electronics manufacturers,” she said.