FCC legal action against Behringer has served as a wake-up call to the company’s management, according to a company spokesperson.

In February of 2006, the FCC proposed a $1 million fine against Behringer USA for apparent violation of the FCC’s equipment authorization rules. The equipment found to be in violation of the FCC rules included audio processors, equalizers, mic preamps, sample-rate converters, mixers, amplifiers and lighting controllers.

“The products in question were shipped to the US between the years 2000 and 2005,” stated Ron Koliha, Global Communications Director. “One of the FCC’s allegations was that we didn’t comply quickly enough with their notifications. Behringer’s top management took that as a serious ‘wake-up call’ and set about to prevent mistakes like this from happening again. That’s one reason why all currently available models shipped to US dealers after our response to the complaint in early 2006 fully comply with FCC regulations and are properly identified as such.”

CEO Michael Deeb cited Behringer’s investment in what he called “state-of-the-art safety and RF emissions pre-testing facilities” with a staff of 15 technicians and engineers, appointment of a Corporate Compliance Officer, consolidation of compliance activities and operations to ensure all products comply with FCC and other global regulatory standards, and development of an in-house tracking and global regulatory review system

“Testing and labeling oversights like the ones that happened prior to 2005 are behind us now,” said Deeb.