Obama Signs E-Label Act Into Law, Moving FCC and ID Stamps to Software Menus
Every hardware maker has constraints -- be it battery life, heat, size, or available materials. On the design front, one challenge that has thus far been impossible to overcome is the FCC stamp that has to be imprinted on the exterior of any device certified for use amongst the United States' airwaves. Now, that's history. President Obama signed the E-Label Act into law, enabling gadget makers to place that tiny logo in software within a product rather than on the outside.
It seems fairly small in the grand scheme of politics, but it was a bi-partisan bill that had little issue sweeping support in the House and Senate. Beyond the FCC logo, gadget builders can also stamp ID numbers and other labeling in a software menu instead of the exterior. If anything, it should make the products we buy a lot cleaner.
In a nutshell, the bill hopes to slash a cost for production. Each stamp costs money, and by removing that, items will (in theory) be cheaper to make. Plus, as gadgets become smaller, items like smartwatches simply do not have that much physical real estate for logos and ID numbers. Now, if only laptop manufacturers would stop throwing stickers onto palm rests, we'd be set.
It seems fairly small in the grand scheme of politics, but it was a bi-partisan bill that had little issue sweeping support in the House and Senate. Beyond the FCC logo, gadget builders can also stamp ID numbers and other labeling in a software menu instead of the exterior. If anything, it should make the products we buy a lot cleaner.
In a nutshell, the bill hopes to slash a cost for production. Each stamp costs money, and by removing that, items will (in theory) be cheaper to make. Plus, as gadgets become smaller, items like smartwatches simply do not have that much physical real estate for logos and ID numbers. Now, if only laptop manufacturers would stop throwing stickers onto palm rests, we'd be set.
