From: tweek@netcom.com (Michael D. Maxfield)
Subject: S-12  part 10 of 10
Date: Wed, 02 Sep 92 20:40:51 GMT
Organization: Movement to Ban or Re-Regulate the CABLE MONOPOLIES
Distribution: usa

(part 10/10)

SUBSCRIBER BILL ITEMIZATION

SEC. 23. Section 622(e) of the Communications Act
of 1934 (47 U.S.C 542(e)) is amended to read as follows:

"(c) Each cable operator may identify, in accordance
with standards prescribed by the Commission, as a separate
line item on each regular bill of each subscriber, each 
of the following:

"(1) The amount of the total bill assessed as a
franchise fee and the identity of the franchising
authority to which the fee is paid.

"(2) The amount of the total bill assessed to
satisfy any requirements imposed on the cable operator
by the franchise agreement to support public,
educational, or governmental channels or the use of
such channels.

"(3) The amount of any other fee, tax, assessment,
or charge of any kind imposed by any governmental
authority on the transaction between the operator
and the subscriber.".

SERVICES AND EQUIPMENT NOT AFFIRMATIVELY
REQUESTED

SEC. 24. Section 623 of the Communications Act of
1934 (47 U.S.C. 543), as amended by section 5 of this
Act, is further amended by adding at the end the following
new subsection:

"(i) A cable operator shall not charge a subscriber
for any service or equipment that the subscriber has not
affirmatively requested by name.  For purposes of this
subsection, a subscribers failure to refuse a cable operator's
proposal to provide such service or equipment shall not
be deemed to be an affirmative request for such service
or equipment.".

PROTECTION OF SUBSCRIBER PRIVACY

SEC. 25. Section 631(c)(1) of the Communications
Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 551 (c)(1)) is amended by inserting
immediately before the period at the end the following:
"and shall take such actions as are necessary to prevent
unauthorized access to such information by a person other
than the subscriber or cable operator".

NOTICE TO CABLE SUBSCIBERS ON UNSOLICITED
SEXUALLY EXPLICIT PROGRAMS

SEC. 26. Section 624(d) of the Communications Act
of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 544(d)) is amended by adding the
following new paragraph:

"(3)(A) If a cable operator provides a `premium
channel' without charge to cable subscribers who do
not subscribe to the `premium channel(s)', the cable
operator shall, not later than 60 days before such
`premium channel' is provided without charge---

(i) notify all cable subscribers that the
cable operator plans to provide a `premium
channel(s)' without charge, and

(ii) notify all cable subscribers when the
cable operator plans to provide a `premium
channel(s)' without charge, and

"(iii) notify all cable subscribers that they
have a right to request that the channel carrying
the `premium channel(s)' be blockrd, and

"(iv) block the channel carrying the `premium
channel' upon the request of a subscriber.

"(B) For the purpose of this section, the term
`premium channel' shall mean any pay service
offered on a per channel or per program basis, which
offers movies rated by the Motion Picture Association
as X, NR-17 or R.".

CHILDRENS PROTECTION FROM INDECENT
PROGRAMMING ON LEASED ACCESS CHANNELS

SEC. 27. (a) Section 612(h) of the Communications
Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 532(h)), is amended by:

(1) inserting after the words "franchising authority",
the words "or the cable operator", and

(2) inserting immediately after the period at the
end thereof the following: "This subsection shall permit
a cable operator to enforce prospectively a written
and published policy of prohibiting programming
that the cable operator reasonably believes describes
or depicts sexual or excretory activities or organs in
a patently offensive manner as measured by contempory
community standards.".

(b) Section 612 of the Communications Act of 1934
(47 U.S.C. 532), is amended by inserting at the end the
following new subsection:

"(i)(1) Within 120 days following the date of the 
enactment of this subsection, the Federal Communications
Commission shall promulgate regulations designed to limit
the access of children to indecent programming, as defined
by Federal Communications Commission regulations and
which cable operators have not voluntarily prohibited
under subsection (h) of this section, by:

"(A) requiring cable operators to place on a
single channel all indecent programs, as identified by
program providers, intended for carriage on channels
designated for commercial use under this section,
and

"(B) requiring cable operators to block such
single channel unless the subscriber requests access
to such channel in writing, and

"(C) requiring programmers to inform cable operators
if the program would be indecent as defined
by Federal Communications Commission regulations.

"(2) Cable operators shall comply with the 
regulations promulgated pursuant to paragraph (1).".

PROHIBIT SYSTEM USE

SEC. 28. Within 180 days following the date of the
enactment of this section, the Federal Communications
Commission shall promulgate such regulations as may be
necessary to enable a cable operator of a system to prohibit 
the use, on such system, of any channel capacity of
any public, educational, or governmental access facility for
any programming which contains obscene material, sexually
explicit conduct, or material soliciting or promoting
unlawful conduct.

OBSCENE MATERIAL

SEC. 29. Section 638 of Commission Act of
1934 (47 U.S.C. 558) is amended by (a) striking the period
and (b) adding at the end the following: "unless the
program involves obscene material.".

PROGRAM MONITORING

SEC. 30. (a) The Congress finds that---

(1) the physical attributes of the broadcast medium
are such that it is reasonable to assume that
minors are likely to be in the broadcast audience
during most of the broadcast day;

(2) based on contemporary community standards,
there is concern over a growing number of television
broadcast programs which at times constitute
indecency;

(3) there are instances in network broadcast
television programming which involve the depiction
of sexual activity directly or by innuendo which is
patently offensive under contemporary community
standards;

(4) broadcast television programs that depict
sexual matters in ways which are obscene, indecent,
or profane erode our sense of traditional American
values; and

(5) the three major networks have reduced or
eliminated their "Standards and Practices" departments
which have traditionally reviewed programming 
for objectionable material: Now, therefore,

(b) It is the sense of the Congress that the television
networks and producers should increase their activity to
monitor and remove offensive sexual material from their
television broadcast programming.

APPLICABILITY OF ANTITRUST LAWS; NO ANTITRUST
IMMUNITY

SEC. 32. Section 613(b)(3) of the Communications
Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 533(b)(3)) is amended by striking
"(as defined by the Commission)" and inserting after the
period the following: "For the purposes of this paragraph,
the term `rural area' means a geographical area that does
not include either---

"(A) any incorporated place of 10,000 inhabitants
or more, or any part thereof; or

"(B) any territory, incorporated or unincorporated,
included in an urbanized area (as defined
by the Bureau of the Census as of the date of the
enactment of the Cable Television Consumer Protection
Act of 1992).".

NO PROHIBITION AGAINST A LOCAL OR MUNICIPAL
AUTHORITY OPERATING AS A MULTICHANNEL VIDEO
PROGRAMMING DISTRIBUTOR

SEC. 33. Section 621 of the Communications Act of
1934 (47 U.S.C. 541) is amended by inserting "and
subsection (f)" before the comma in paragraph (b)(1) and by
adding the following new subsection at the end thereof:

"(f) No provision of this Act shall be construed to---

"(1) prohibit a local or municipal authority that
is also, or is affiliated with, a franchising authority
from operating as a multichannel video programming
distributor in the geographic areas within the
juristiction of such franchising authority, 
notwithstanding the granting of one or more franchises
by such franchising authority, or

"(2) require such local or municipal authority
to secure a franchise to operate as a multichannel
video programming distributor.".

VOLUNTARY GUIDELINES TO KEEP VIOLENT
COMMERCIALS OUT OF FAMILY PROGRAMMING HOURS

SEC. 34. (a)(1) Since young children are particularly
susceptable to the influence of television;

(2) Since violence depicted on television can have a
negative and unusually strong effect on young viewers;
and

(3) Since parents who choose to monitor television
programs for their children and to avoid their children's
viewing acts of violence are limited in their to monitor 
acts of violence depicted in commercials during family
programs.

(b) It is the sense of the Senate that the cable and television 
networks and local television stations should establish
and follow voluntary guidelines to keep commercials
depicting acts or threats of violence out of family 
programming hours.

SEPARABILITY

SEC. 35. If any provision of this Act, or the application
of such provision to any person or circumstance, shall
be held invalid, the remainder of this Act, or the application
as to which it is help invalid, shall not be affected 
thereby.

REPORT; EFFECTIVE DATE

SEC. 36. (a) Within 90 days following the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Federal Communications Commission
shall carry out a study for the purpose of conducting
an analysis of the impact of the implementation of all
rules and regulations required to be issued or promulgated
by this Act, and the amendments made by this Act, on
employment, economic competitiveness, economic growth,
international trade, consumer welfare gained through 
curtailing monopoly practices of cable companies, and
increased opportunities for small businesses and other
entrants into the video marketplace to compete with cable.

(b) Such analysis shall also consider the extent to
which, if any, the implementation of such rules and
regulations would involve the States and political subdivisions
thereof, in such implementation and the costs, if any, in
requiring such States and subdivisions to assist in 
carrying out such implementation.

(c) The results of such study shall be reported to
Congress within 180 days following the date of
enactment of this Act.

Passed the Senate January 31 (legislative day,
January 30), 1992.

Attest:

Secretary.

Newsgroups: alt.cable-tv.re-regulate