Chile The Chilean government has prohibited the manufacture, import and sale of incandescent bulbs since December 2015. Ecuador Ecuador has banned incandescent bulbs. Venezuela As part of its electricity conservation program, Venezuela has a light bulb exchange program, which aims to replace millions of incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents. Public opposition The phase out has been referred to as "light bulb socialism". The consumer preference for light bulbs in the EU was for incandescent bulbs, with many complaining at the time of the regulation's adoption about what was described as the ugliness or the cold, flat, unnatural, dull light emanating from CFLs. Objection has also been raised to being forced to adopt CFLs. Improvements in LED technology allow these bulbs to more closely match the color temperature of familiar incandescents. Bulk purchasing of incandescent bulbs was reported ahead of the EU lightbulb ban. Many retailers in Britain, Poland, Austria, Germany and Hungary have reported bulk purchasing, and in Germany, sales rose by up to 150% in 2009 in comparison to 2008. Two-thirds of Austrians surveyed stated they believe the phase-out to be "nonsensical", with 53.6% believing their health to be at risk of mercury poisoning. 72% of Americans believe the government has no right to dictate which light bulb they may use. Czech Republic President Václav Klaus urged people to stockpile enough incandescent bulbs to last their lifetime. Museums and individuals have been stockpiling incandescent lightbulbs in Europe, owing to CFLs' then-inferior color representation. The European Association for the Co-ordination of Consumer Representation in Standardisation (ANEC) has called for a speedy reduction of the mercury levels contained within CFLs from the current 5 mg limit to 1 mg. The European Consumers' Organisation said that phasing out incandescent bulbs will be detrimental for people suffering light-related health issues, and called for the continued availability of incandescent bulbs: The EU Regulation falls short of the needs of some consumers who need to use the old-style light bulbs for health-related reasons such as light sensitivity. We call on the European Commission to take immediate measures to ensure that people who rely on incandescent light bulbs will be able to buy these bulbs until suitable alternative lighting technologies are available. There are also concerns about the risks to health from the high mercury content of the new bulbs. A campaign group called SPECTRUM was formed by the charities Lupus UK, Eclipse Support Group, ES-UK,