快猫短视频

MOTOROLA has devised a way to stop televisions, cellphones and VCRs working
if they have been bought on the 鈥済rey鈥� market. The technique allows
manufacturers to shut down unofficially imported electronic goods. But European
free-trade rules may outlaw the system.

While manufacturers often set different prices for their goods in different
countries, unofficial importers can undercut these prices. Now Motorola鈥檚
European research laboratory has found a way to thwart these grey imports by
fitting equipment with a device that secretly checks where it is.

The plan is to embed chips into TVs and cellphones that are either linked to
the network of Global Positioning System satellites or are programmed to
identify the signal transmitted by national broadcasters. If the chip detects
that it is somewhere outside a pre-programmed region, then the equipment will
stop working and be 鈥渞endered useless鈥�, says the company.

Motorola will not comment on the scheme, but details have been published in
patents filed by the company. 鈥淚t is often desirable to control the marketing or
use of products differently in different areas,鈥� says Motorola鈥檚 patent.

However, European Union laws encourage free trade between member states. 鈥淲e
would certainly investigate the Motorola scheme if there were a complaint or we
thought it were anti-competitive,鈥� Britain鈥檚 Office of Fair Trading told New
快猫短视频. Last week the OFT began investigating record companies it
suspects of blocking parallel imports of cheaper CDs from other EU states.

Consumers and some importers also oppose Motorola鈥檚 scheme. 鈥淲e would
absolutely resist anything that stood in the way of giving shoppers the best
value through legitimate and legal purchasing,鈥� says Colette Blanchfield of the
British supermarket chain Asda. Jenny Driscoll of Britain鈥檚 Consumers鈥�
Association, which campaigns for parallel imports on everything from cars to
toys, says: 鈥淚f traders can purchase abroad they can reduce prices by up to
丑补濒蹿.鈥�