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104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3192

To make amendments to section 119 of title 17 of the United States Code.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 28, 1996

Mr. MOORHEAD introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To make amendments to section 119 of title 17 of the

United States Code.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be referred to as the ‘‘Satellite Home

5 Viewer Protection Act of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS.

7 Section 119(a)(2) is amended by adding the following

8 at the end:

9 ‘‘(D) NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS.—A sat10 ellite carrier that makes secondary trans11 missions of a primary transmission made by a
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1 network station pursuant to subparagraph (A)

2 shall, prior to providing service of broadcast

3 signals under this title to a subscriber, provide

4 the subscriber with a written statement describ5 ing and quoting the network territorial restric6 tions of subsections (a) (2), (5), (8), (9), and

7 (10) of this section. Such statement shall de8 scribe the circumstances under which a sub9 scriber may not be eligible for satellite service

10 of a particular network station, and a subscrib11 er’s rights under subsection (a)(8) of this sec12 tion. With respect to subscribers currently re13 ceiving broadcast signals under this title, the

14 satellite carrier shall provide the written state15 ment described in this subsection to such sub16 scribers no later than 60 days after the enact17 ment of this Act.’’.

18 SEC. 3. SIGNAL INTENSITY MEASUREMENT PROCEDURES.

19 Section 119(a)(8) is amended as follows:

20 (1) Subparagraph (A) is amended to read:

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara22 graph (C), upon a challenge by a network sta23 tion regarding whether a subscriber is an

24 unserved household within the predicted grade

25 B contour of the station, the satellite carrier
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1 shall, within 30 days after receipt of the chal2 lenge—

3 ‘‘(i) inform the subscriber who is the

4 subject of the challenge from the network

5 station in writing that the network station

6 has challenged the subscriber’s receipt of

7 the signal of the same network from the

8 satellite carrier; and

9 ‘‘(ii) offer the subscriber the option of

10 the satellite carrier conducting a measure11 ment of the signal intensity of the sub12 scriber’s household to determine whether

13 the household is an unserved household. If

14 the subscriber does not request, in writing,

15 the satellite carrier to conduct a signal in16 tensity measurement within 30 days of no17 tification of the challenge from the satellite

18 carrier, the satellite carrier shall terminate

19 service to that household of the signal that

20 is the subject of the challenge, and within

21 30 days thereafter notify the network sta22 tion that made the challenge that service

23 to that household has been terminated.

24 If the subscriber requests the satellite carrier to

25 conduct a signal intensity measurement as de-
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1 scribed in clause (ii), the satellite carrier shall

2 give reasonable notice to the network station is3 suing the challenge to the subscriber that the

4 satellite carrier will be conducting a signal in5 tensity measurement.’’.

6 (2) Subparagraph (B) is amended to read:

7 ‘‘(B) EFFECT OF MEASUREMENT;

8 COSTS.—If the satellite carrier conducts a sig9 nal intensity measurement under subparagraph

10 (A) and the measurement indicates that—

11 ‘‘(i) the household is not an unserved

12 household, the satellite carrier shall, within

13 60 days after the measurement is con14 ducted, terminate the service to that

15 household of the signal that is the subject

16 of the challenge, and within 30 days there17 after notify the network station that made

18 the challenge that service to that household

19 has been terminated. In addition, the sub20 scriber that requested the satellite carrier

21 to conduct the measurement shall reim22 burse the satellite carrier for the costs of

23 the measurement within 60 days after re24 ceipt of the measurement results and a

25 statement of costs of the measurement; or
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1 ‘‘(ii) the household is an unserved

2 household, the station challenging the serv3 ice shall reimburse the satellite carrier for

4 the costs of the signal measurement within

5 60 days after receipt of the measurement

6 results and a statement of the costs of the

7 measurement.

8 (3) Subparagraph (D) is deleted.

9 SEC. 4. SIGNAL INTENSITY MEASUREMENT; ARBITRATION.

10 Section 119(a)(11) is amended as follows:

11 ‘‘(11) SIGNAL INTENSITY MEASUREMENT; ARBI12 TRATION.—

13 ‘‘(A) VOLUNTARY NEGOTIATION.—Satellite

14 carriers and network broadcasters may nego15 tiate the terms and conditions, including tech16 nical standards and costs, of the signal inten17 sity measurement described in subsection

18 (a)(8). A complete description of the agreed

19 upon terms of the measurement shall be filed

20 with the Register of Copyrights no later than

21 30 days after execution of the agreement.

22 ‘‘(B) ARBITRATION.—If satellite carriers

23 and network broadcasters are unable to agree

24 to the terms and conditions of the signal inten25 sity measurement within 30 days after the en-
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1 actment of this Act, they shall submit the mat2 ter to binding arbitration. Such arbitration

3 shall be governed by the provisions of title 9 of

4 the United States Code, and shall be completed

5 and a decision rendered no later than 90 days

6 after the enactment of this Act. The parties

7 shall give notice to the Register of Copyrights

8 of any determination reached by arbitration no

9 later than 30 days after issuance of the deter10 mination. Such determination shall be disposi11 tive.

12 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection

14 (b), this Act and the amendments made by this Act take

15 effect on the date of enactment of this Act.

16 (b) TRANSITIONAL SIGNAL INTENSITY MEASURE17 MENT PROCEDURES.—The provisions of section

18 119(a)(8), relating to the transitional signal intensity

19 measurements, shall cease to be effective on December 31,

20 1997.

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