[woodandsteel]

Economists (at least the sane one) talk about market failure, which means when things being sold for a profit but those who buy them are coming out worse than they would be in a well-functioning market. And example would be where there is price-fixing.

Another type is information asymmetry, which is when the seller knows something the buyer would benefit from knowing but doesn't. An example would be some sells a car as running great but knows it is really a leamon.

What we have here as a case of blatant information asymmetry. Consumers think they are basically buying a TV set, but it is actually doing all sorts of things they have little or know awareness of. And there is an unspoken agreement among the TV set producers that they won't tell the consumers, much less offer them real alternatives.