I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2566 

To provide American consumers information about the broadcast television 

transition from an analog to a digital format. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 5, 2007 

Mr. ENGEL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To provide American consumers information about the broadcast television transition from an analog to a digital 

format. 

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 cited as the ‘‘National Digital Tele5 vision Consumer Education Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. LABELING AND CONSUMER EDUCATION. 

7 Section 330 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

8 U.S.C. 330) is amended— 

9 (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub10 section (e); and 

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1 (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol2 lowing new subsection: 

3 ‘‘(d) LABELING AND CONSUMER EDUCATION.— 

4 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENTS FOR RETAIL DISTRIBU5 TORS AND OTHER VENDORS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) RETAIL DISTRIBUTORS.—Any retail 

7 distributor of any television receiving equipment 

8 described in section 303(s) that does not in9 clude a digital tuner shall— 

10 ‘‘(i) effective 90 days after the date of 

11 enactment of the National Digital Tele12 vision Consumer Education Act, place ad13 jacent to each unit of such equipment that 

14 such distributor displays for sale or rent a 

15 consumer alert as provided by the manu16 facturer pursuant to paragraph (2), except 

17 that such distributor shall not be required 

18 to affix such label to the television screen 

19 on such equipment, as long as the label 

20 is— 

21 ‘‘(I) in the close vicinity of, and 

22 associated with, the unit on display; 

23 and 

24 ‘‘(II) clearly visible to consumers; 

25 and 

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1 ‘‘(ii) effective 90 days after the enact2 ment of the National Digital Television 

3 Consumer Education Act, provide informa4 tion to consumers, on signs and in pam5 phlet form, in the display area for product 

6 categories that include any television re7 ceiving equipment described in section 

8 303(s) that does not include a digital tuner 

9 television, sufficient to convey the informa10 tion carried in the consumer advisory label. 

11 Such signs and pamphlets shall also in12 clude information on recycling old tele13 visions, computer monitors, computer cen14 tral processing units, fax machines, and 

15 scanners and other consumer electronics. 

16 ‘‘(B) OTHER VENDORS.—Effective 90 days 

17 after the date of enactment of the National 

18 Digital Television Consumer Education Act, 

19 any seller via direct mail, catalog, or electronic 

20 means, such as the Internet, of any television 

21 receiving equipment described in section 303(s) 

22 that does not include a digital tuner, shall in23 clude in clear and conspicuous print the con24 sumer alert required by paragraph (2) at the 

25 point of display for the apparatus, or, if there 

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1 is no display, at the point of sale. Such infor2 mation shall also include information on recy3 cling old televisions and other consumer elec4 tronics. 

5 ‘‘(2) CONSUMER ALERT.—The consumer alert 

6 required by this paragraph shall display in clear and 

7 conspicuous print, the following consumer alert: 

8 ‘‘Consumer Alert 

9 ‘‘This TV has only an analog broadcast 

10 tuner and will require a converter box after 

11 February 17, 2009, to receive over-the-air 

12 broadcasts with an antenna because of the Na13 tion’s transition to digital broadcasting. The TV 

14 should continue to work as before with cable 

15 and satellite TV services, gaming consoles, 

16 VCRs, DVD players, and similar products. For 

17 more information, call the Federal Communica18 tions Commission at 1–888–225–5322 (TTY: 

19 1–888–835–5322) or visit the Commission’s 

20 digital television website at: www.dtv.gov. 

21 ‘‘Nuncio Consumidor 

22 ‘‘Esta TV tiene so ́lo un sintonizador de 

23 emisio ́n ana ́logo y por lo tanto requerira ́ una 

24 caja de conversio ́n despue ́s del 17 de febrero de 

25 2009 para recibir emisiones de TV terrestre con 

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1 una antena, debido a la transicio ́n nacional a la 

2 emisio ́n de TV digital. Esta continuara ́

3 funcionando igualmente con TV por cable, 

4 sistema de TV sate ́lite, consolas de juegos, 

5 videograbadoras, reproductores de DVD y 

6 productos similares. Si requiere ma ́s 

7 informacio ́n llame a la Comisio ́n Federal de 

8 Comunicaciones al 1–888–225–5322 (TTY: 1– 

9 888–835–5322) o visite el sitio web de la 

10 Comisio ́n en www.dtv.gov. 

11 ‘‘(3) OTHER DEVICES.—For devices other than 

12 television sets that are included in section 303(s) 

13 and that contain an analog tuner, but not a digital 

14 tuner, the Commission shall require the clear and 

15 conspicuous placement of a comparable consumer 

16 advisory label on such devices, as well as on the out17 side of the retail packaging of such devices. 

18 ‘‘(4) ADDITIONAL DISCLOSURES.— 

19 ‘‘(A) ANNOUNCEMENTS AND NOTICES RE20 QUIRED.—From November 1, 2007, through 

21 March 31, 2009— 

22 ‘‘(i) each television broadcaster shall 

23 air, at a minimum, 120 seconds per day of 

24 public service announcements between the 

25 hours of 6 a.m. and 11:35 p.m., at variable 

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1 time slots throughout the week, with at 

2 least half aired between the hours of 5 

3 p.m. and 11:35 p.m.; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) any multichannel video program 

5 distributor shall include a notice in or with 

6 each periodic bill. 

7 ‘‘(B) CONTENT OF ANNOUNCEMENTS AND

8 NOTICES.—The announcements and notices re9 quired by this paragraph shall educate con10 sumers about the deadline for termination of 

11 analog television broadcasting and the equip12 ment options consumers have after such termi13 nation. Announcements aired and notices dis14 tributed after January 1, 2008, shall also edu15 cate consumers about the need for and avail16 ability of the converter box voucher program 

17 and the steps to redeem the voucher. 

18 ‘‘(5) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.— 

19 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Commission 

20 shall, after consultation with the National Tele21 communications and Information Administra22 tion and the Federal Trade Commission, create 

23 a DTV Transition Federal Advisory Committee 

24 to lead the effort to educate the public about 

25 the digital television transition and to ensure 

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1 that the public knows the information described 

2 in paragraph (3)(B). Such consumer education 

3 shall commence no later than January 1, 2008. 

4 ‘‘(B) COMPOSITION.—The committee shall 

5 be composed of representatives from the fol6 lowing groups: commercial broadcasters, non7 commercial broadcasters, cable operators, sat8 ellite providers, retailers and manufacturers of 

9 consumer electronics equipment, electronic recy10 clers, minority groups, Hispanic Americans, 

11 Americans whose primary language is not 

12 English, Americans with disabilities, Americans 

13 living in rural communities, general business, 

14 senior citizens, commercial advertising, and 

15 consumers in general. 

16 ‘‘(C) ADVISORY COMMITTEE ROLE.—The 

17 committee shall— 

18 ‘‘(i) develop a comprehensive edu19 cation plan for consumers regarding the 

20 digital television transition which in21 cludes— 

22 ‘‘(I) specific and targeted mes23 sages to reach various consumer con24 stituencies (such as low income, mimstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 norities, Spanish-speaking, and the el2 derly); 

3 ‘‘(II) best methods to deliver the 

4 message to affected consumers; 

5 ‘‘(III) implementation of the 

6 plan; 

7 ‘‘(IV) website information and 

8 toll-free numbers; and 

9 ‘‘(V) information on recycling old 

10 televisions and other consumer elec11 tronics; 

12 ‘‘(ii) coordinate with stakeholders to 

13 ensure that the transition is properly im14 plemented; and 

15 ‘‘(iii) report to Congress every 6 

16 months on how the transition is pro17 gressing. 

18 ‘‘(D) FIRST MEETING.—The advisory com19 mittee shall conduct its first meeting within 60 

20 days after the date of enactment of the Na21 tional Digital Television Consumer Education 

22 Act. 

23 ‘‘(6) COMMISSION INFORMATION SERVICES.— 

24 ‘‘(A) TOLL-FREE LINE AND WEBSITE.— 

25 The Commission’s toll-free number for conmstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 sumers information and the Commission’s 

2 Internet website shall provide information con3 cerning the digital television transition, in the 

4 English and Spanish languages, not later than 

5 January 1, 2008. 

6 ‘‘(B) ADVERTISING.—The Commission is 

7 authorized and required to use funds available 

8 for consumer information activities to obtain 

9 advertising in public transportation vehicles and 

10 facilities to provide information concerning the 

11 digital television transition.’’. 

12 SEC. 3. DIGITAL TELEVISION CONSUMER EDUCATION 

13 GRANT PROGRAM. 

14 Part C of the National Telecommunications and In15 formation Administration Organization Act is amended by 

16 inserting after section 158 (47 U.S.C. 942) the following 

17 new section: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 159. DIGITAL TELEVISION CONSUMER EDUCATION 

19 GRANT PROGRAM. 

20 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Assistant Sec21 retary of Commerce for Communications and Information 

22 is authorized to establish a temporary grant program for 

23 the purpose of coordinating and leading a nationwide con24 sumer education and outreach campaign regarding Amer25 ica’s conversion to digital television. 

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1 ‘‘(b) SINGLE GRANT.—No later than January 1, 

2 2008, and ending no earlier than March 31, 2009, the 

3 Assistant Secretary shall award a single grant from the 

4 program authorized by this section to one qualified entity. 

5 ‘‘(c) QUALIFIED ENTITY.—For purposes of this sec6 tion, the term ‘qualified entity’ shall be a corporation, or7 ganized under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue 

8 Code of 1986, that represents the interests of local non9 commercial television stations at the national level, and 

10 consults with commercial broadcasters, consumer equip11 ment manufacturers, electronics retailers, cable and sat12 ellite operators, consumer groups, older Americans, His13 panic Americans, Americans whose primary language is 

14 not English, Americans with disabilities, and Americans 

15 living in rural communities. 

16 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

17 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

18 $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2008. Such sums are author19 ized to remain available subject to subsection (e). 

20 ‘‘(e) TERMINATION.—Expenditures for the grant pro21 gram under this section shall terminate on March 31, 

22 2009.’’. 

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