Union Calendar No. 51

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 851

[Report No. 106–79, Part I]

A BILL

To require the Federal Communications Commiscast signals. determining the availability of television broad- sion to establish improved predictive models for

APRIL 16, 1999

Committee on the Judiciary discharged; committed to the

Union and ordered to be printedCommittee of the Whole House on the State of the
IB

Union Calendar No. 51

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 851

[Report No. 106–79, Part I]

To require the Federal Communications Commission to establish improved

predictive models for determining the availability of television broadcast

signals.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 25, 1999

Mr. TAUZIN (for himself, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. BLILEY, Mr. DINGELL, Mr.

OXLEY, Mr. UPTON, Mr. GILLMOR, Mrs. CUBIN, Mr. STEARNS, Mr.

LARGENT, Mr. PICKERING, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. BILBRAY, Mr. HILL of Montana, Mr. LEWIS of California, Mr. HILLEARY, Mr. JOHN, Mr. GOSS, and

Mr. BOEHLERT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each

case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of

the committee concerned

APRIL 7, 1999

Reported from the Committee on Commerce with an amendment

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

APRIL 7, 1999

Referral to the Committee on the Judicary extended for a period ending not

later than April 16, 1999

APRIL 16, 1999

Additional sponsors: Mr. SANDERS, Mr. EWING, Mr. BOUCHER, Mr. TAYLOR

of North Carolina, Mr. GILMAN, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. BEREUTER, Mrs.

WILSON, Mr. TURNER, Mrs. EMERSON, Mr. BARRETT of Nebraska, Mr.

MCHUGH, Mr. SAWYER, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. SANDLIN, Mr. MCINNIS, Mr.

BASS, Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. SUNUNU, Mr. HUTCHINSON,

Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. COLLINS, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. LATOURETTE, Mr.

OLVER, Mr. RUSH, Mr. EHRLICH, Mr. WALSH, Mr. BARCIA, Mr. SMITH

of Michigan, Mr. REYES, Mr. CAMPBELL, Mrs. KELLY, Mr. LAMPSON,
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Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. NORWOOD, Mr. CASTLE, Mr.

DEAL of Georgia, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. DICKEY, Mr.

MOORE, Mr. PETRI, Mr. NEY, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. CALVERT,

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr.

MINGE, Mr. TRAFICANT, and Mr. HINCHEY

APRIL 16, 1999

Committee on the Judiciary discharged; committed to the Committee of the

Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

A BILL

To require the Federal Communications Commission to establish improved predictive models for determining the

availability of television broadcast signals.

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 ‘‘Save Our Satellites

5 Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION RULE7 MAKING REQUIRED.

8 Title I of the Communications Act of 1934 is amend9 ed by inserting after section 11 (47 U.S.C. 161) the fol10 lowing new section:

11 ‘‘SEC. 12. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION RULE12 MAKING REQUIRED.

13 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF IMPROVED PREDICTIVE

14 MODELS REQUIRED.—Within 90 days after the date of

15 enactment of this section, the Commission shall establish
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1 different predictive models for making determinations of

2 the boundaries of areas within the predicted Grade B Con3 tour of television broadcast stations for purposes of this

4 Act and for purposes of other Federal statutes and regula5 tions. Such models shall include a model based on one of

6 the models described in the Commission’s report and order

7 adopted February 2, 1999 (CS Docket 98–201).

8 ‘‘(b) TREATMENT AS UNSERVED HOUSEHOLD.—Any

9 subscriber who on February 24, 1999, is receiving from

10 a satellite carrier for private home viewing secondary

11 transmissions of programming contained in a primary

12 transmission made by a network station shall, during the

13 period beginning February 24, 1999, and until the Com14 mission completes the action required by subsection (a),

15 be treated as residing in an unserved household for pur16 poses of section 119 of title 17, United States Code.

17 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—The terms used in this section

18 have the meanings provided by section 119(d) of title 17,

19 United States Code.’’.

20 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

21 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Satellite Competition

22 and Consumer Protection Act’’.
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1 TITLE I—AMENDMENTS TO THE

2 COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1934

3 SEC. 101. RETRANSMISSION CONSENT.

4 Section 325(b) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

5 U.S.C. 325(b)) is amended—

6 (1) by amending paragraphs (1) and (2) to read

7 as follows:

8 ‘‘(b)(1) No cable system or other multichannel video

9 programming distributor shall retransmit the signal of a

10 television broadcast station, or any part thereof, except—

11 ‘‘(A) with the express authority of the origi12 nating station;

13 ‘‘(B) pursuant to section 614, in the case of a

14 station electing, in accordance with this subsection, to

15 assert the right to carriage under such section; or

16 ‘‘(C) pursuant to section 338, in the case of a

17 station electing, in accordance with this subsection, to

18 assert the right to carriage under such section.

19 ‘‘(2) The provisions of this subsection shall not

20 apply—

21 ‘‘(A) to retransmission of the signal of a non22 commercial television broadcast station;

23 ‘‘(B) to retransmission of the signal of a tele24 vision broadcast station outside the station’s local
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1 market by a satellite carrier directly to its sub2 scribers, if—

3 ‘‘(i) such station was a superstation on May

4 1, 1991;

5 ‘‘(ii) as of July 1, 1998, such station was

6 retransmitted by a satellite carrier under the

7 compulsory license of section 119 of title 17,

8 United States Code; and

9 ‘‘(iii) the satellite carrier complies with all

10 network nonduplication, syndicated exclusivity,

11 and sports blackout rules adopted by the Com12 mission pursuant to section 712 of this Act;

13 ‘‘(C) until 7 months after the date of enactment

14 of the Satellite Competition and Consumer Protection

15 Act, to retransmission of the signal of a television net16 work station directly to a satellite antenna, if the sub17 scriber receiving the signal is located in an area out18 side the local market of such station; or

19 ‘‘(D) to retransmission by a cable operator or

20 other multichannel video provider, other than a sat21 ellite carrier, of the signal of a television broadcast

22 station outside the station’s local market if such sig23 nal was obtained from a satellite carrier and—

24 ‘‘(i) the originating station was a supersta25 tion on May 1, 1991; and
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1 ‘‘(ii) as of July 1, 1998, such station was

2 retransmitted by a satellite carrier under the

3 compulsory license of section 119 of title 17,

4 United States Code.’’;

5 (2) by adding at the end of paragraph (3) the

6 following new subparagraph:

7 ‘‘(C) Within 45 days after the date of enactment of

8 the Satellite Competition and Consumer Protection Act, the

9 Commission shall commence a rulemaking proceeding to re10 vise the regulations governing the exercise by television

11 broadcast stations of the right to grant retransmission con12 sent under this subsection, and such other regulations as

13 are necessary to administer the limitations contained in

14 paragraph (2). The Commission shall complete all actions

15 necessary to prescribe such regulations within one year

16 after such date of enactment. Such regulations shall—

17 ‘‘(i) establish election time periods that cor18 respond with those regulations adopted under sub19 paragraph (B) of this paragraph; and

20 ‘‘(ii) prohibit television broadcast stations that

21 provide retransmission consent from engaging in dis22 criminatory practices, understandings, arrangements,

23 and activities, including exclusive contracts for car24 riage, that prevent a satellite carrier from obtaining

25 retransmission consent from such stations.’’;
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1 (3) in paragraph (4), by adding at the end the

2 following new sentence: ‘‘If an originating television

3 station elects under paragraph (3)(C) to exercise its

4 right to grant retransmission consent under this sub5 section with respect to a satellite carrier, the provi6 sions of section 338 shall not apply to the carriage of

7 the signal of such station by such satellite carrier.’’;

8 (4) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘614 or 615’’

9 and inserting ‘‘338, 614, or 615’’; and

10 (5) by adding at the end the following new para11 graph:

12 ‘‘(7) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘tele13 vision broadcast station’ means an over-the-air commercial

14 or noncommercial television broadcast station licensed by

15 the Commission under subpart E of part 73 of title 47, Code

16 of Federal Regulations, except that such term does not in17 clude a low-power or translator television station.’’.

18 SEC. 102. MUST-CARRY FOR SATELLITE CARRIERS RE19 TRANSMITTING TELEVISION BROADCAST SIG20 NALS.

21 Title III of the Communications Act of 1934 is amend22 ed by inserting after section 337 (47 U.S.C. 337) the fol23 lowing new section:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 338. CARRIAGE OF LOCAL TELEVISION SIGNALS BY

2 SATELLITE CARRIERS.

3 ‘‘(a) CARRIAGE OBLIGATIONS.—

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the limitations of

5 subparagraph (2), each satellite carrier providing sec6 ondary transmissions to subscribers located within the

7 local market of a television broadcast station of a pri8 mary transmission made by that station shall carry

9 upon request all television broadcast stations located

10 within that local market, subject to section 325(b), by

11 retransmitting the signal or signals of such stations

12 that are identified by Commission regulations for

13 purposes of this section.

14 ‘‘(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—No satellite carrier shall

15 be required to carry local television broadcast stations

16 under paragraph (1) until January 1, 2002.

17 ‘‘(b) GOOD SIGNAL REQUIRED.—

18 ‘‘(1) COSTS.—A television broadcast station as19 serting its right to carriage under subsection (a) shall

20 be required to bear the costs associated with delivering

21 a good quality signal to the designated local receive

22 facility of the satellite carrier or to another facility

23 that is acceptable to at least one-half the stations as24 serting the right to carriage in the local market.
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1 ‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—The regulations issued

2 under subsection (g) shall set forth the obligations

3 necessary to carry out this subsection.

4 ‘‘(c) DUPLICATION NOT REQUIRED.—

5 ‘‘(1) COMMERCIAL STATIONS.—Notwithstanding

6 subsection (a), a satellite carrier shall not be required

7 to carry upon request the signal of any local commer8 cial television broadcast station that substantially du9 plicates the signal of another local commercial tele10 vision broadcast station which is secondarily trans11 mitted by the satellite carrier within the same local

12 market, or to carry upon request the signals of more

13 than 1 local commercial television broadcast station

14 in a single local market that is affiliated with a par15 ticular television network.

16 ‘‘(2) NONCOMMERCIAL STATIONS.—The Commis17 sion shall prescribe regulations limiting the carriage

18 requirements under subsection (a) of satellite carriers

19 with respect to the carriage of multiple local non20 commercial television broadcast stations. To the ex21 tent possible, such regulations shall provide the same

22 degree of carriage by satellite carriers of such mul23 tiple stations as is provided by cable systems under

24 section 615.
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1 ‘‘(d) CHANNEL POSITIONING.—No satellite carrier

2 shall be required to provide the signal of a local television

3 broadcast station to subscribers in that station’s local mar4 ket on any particular channel number or to provide the

5 signals in any particular order, except that the satellite car6 rier shall retransmit the signal of the local television broad7 cast stations to subscribers in the stations’ local market on

8 contiguous channels and provide access to such station’s sig9 nals at a nondiscriminatory price and in a nondiscrim10 inatory manner on any navigational device, on-screen pro11 gram guide, or menu.

12 ‘‘(e) COMPENSATION FOR CARRIAGE.—A satellite car13 rier shall not accept or request monetary payment or other

14 valuable consideration in exchange either for carriage of

15 local television broadcast stations in fulfillment of the re16 quirements of this section or for channel positioning rights

17 provided to such stations under this section, except that any

18 such station may be required to bear the costs associated

19 with delivering a good quality signal to the local receive

20 facility of the satellite carrier.

21 ‘‘(f) REMEDIES.—

22 ‘‘(1) COMPLAINTS BY BROADCAST STATIONS.—

23 Whenever a local television broadcast station believes

24 that a satellite carrier has failed to meet its obliga25 tions under this section, such station shall notify the
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1 carrier, in writing, of the alleged failure and identify

2 its reasons for believing that the satellite carrier is ob3 ligated to carry upon request the signal of such sta4 tion or has otherwise failed to comply with other re5 quirements of this section. The satellite carrier shall,

6 within 30 days of such written notification, respond

7 in writing to such notification and either begin car8 rying the signal of such station in accordance with

9 the terms requested or state its reasons for believing

10 that it is not obligated to carry such signal or is in

11 compliance with other requirements of this section, as

12 the case may be. A local television broadcast station

13 that is denied carriage in accordance with this section

14 by a satellite carrier or is otherwise harmed by a re15 sponse by a satellite carrier that it is in compliance

16 with other requirements of this section may obtain re17 view of such denial or response by filing a complaint

18 with the Commission. Such complaint shall allege the

19 manner in which such satellite carrier has failed to

20 meet its obligations and the basis for such allegations.

21 ‘‘(2) OPPORTUNITY TO RESPOND.—The Commis22 sion shall afford the satellite carrier against which a

23 complaint is filed under subparagraph (A) an oppor24 tunity to present data and arguments to establish
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1 that there has been no failure to meet its obligations

2 under this section.

3 ‘‘(3) REMEDIAL ACTIONS; DISMISSAL.—Within

4 120 days after the date a complaint is filed under

5 subparagraph (A), the Commission shall determine

6 whether the satellite carrier has met its obligations

7 under this chapter. If the Commission determines that

8 the satellite carrier has failed to meet such obliga9 tions, the Commission shall order the satellite carrier,

10 in the case of an obligation to carry a station, to

11 begin carriage of the station and to continue such

12 carriage for at least 12 months, or, in the case of the

13 failure to meet other obligations under this section,

14 shall take other appropriate remedial action. If the

15 Commission determines that the satellite carrier has

16 fully met the requirements of this chapter, the Com17 mission shall dismiss the complaint.

18 ‘‘(g) REGULATIONS BY COMMISSION.—Within 180

19 days after the date of enactment of this section, the Commis20 sion shall, following a rulemaking proceeding, issue regula21 tions implementing this section.

22 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section:

23 ‘‘(1) SUBSCRIBER.—The term ‘subscriber’ means

24 an entity that receives a secondary transmission serv25 ice by means of a secondary transmission from a sat-
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1 ellite and pays a fee for the service, directly or indi2 rectly, to the satellite carrier or to a distributor.

3 ‘‘(2) DISTRIBUTOR.—The term ‘distributor’

4 means an entity which contracts to distribute sec5 ondary transmissions from a satellite carrier and, ei6 ther as a single channel or in a package with other

7 programming, provides the secondary transmission

8 either directly to individual subscribers or indirectly

9 through other program distribution entities.

10 ‘‘(3) LOCAL RECEIVE FACILITY.—The term ‘local

11 receive facility’ means the reception point in each

12 local market which a satellite carrier designates for

13 delivery of the signal of the station for purposes of re14 transmission.

15 ‘‘(4) TELEVISION BROADCAST STATION.—The

16 term ‘television broadcast station’ has the meaning

17 given such term in section 325(b)(7).

18 ‘‘(5) SECONDARY TRANSMISSION.—The term ‘sec19 ondary transmission’ has the meaning given such

20 term in section 119(c) of title 17, United States

21 Code.’’.

22 SEC. 103. NONDUPLICATION OF PROGRAMMING BROAD23 CAST BY LOCAL STATIONS.

24 Section 712 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

25 U.S.C. 612) is amended to read as follows:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 712. NONDUPLICATION OF PROGRAMMING BROAD2 CAST BY LOCAL STATIONS.

3 ‘‘(a) EXTENSION OF NETWORK NONDUPLICATION, SYN4 DICATED EXCLUSIVITY, AND SPORTS BLACKOUT TO SAT5 ELLITE RETRANSMISSION.—Within 45 days after the date

6 of enactment of the Satellite Competition and Consumer

7 Protection Act, the Commission shall commence a single

8 rulemaking proceeding to establish regulations that apply

9 network nonduplication protection, syndicated exclusivity

10 protection, and sports blackout protection to the retrans11 mission of broadcast signals by satellite carriers to sub12 scribers. To the extent possible consistent with subsection

13 (b), such regulations shall provide the same degree of protec14 tion against retransmission of broadcast signals as is pro15 vided by the network nonduplication (47 C.F.R. 76.92),

16 syndicated exclusivity (47 C.F.R. 151), and sports blackout

17 (47 C.F.R. 76.67) rules applicable to cable television sys18 tems. The Commission shall complete all actions necessary

19 to prescribe regulations required by this section so that the

20 regulations shall become effective within 1 year after such

21 date of enactment.

22 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF NETWORK NONDUPLICATION

23 BOUNDARIES.—

24 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF SIGNAL STANDARD FOR

25 NETWORK NONDUPLICATION REQUIRED.—The Com26 mission shall establish a signal intensity standard for
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1 purposes of determining the network nonduplication

2 rights of local television broadcast stations. Until re3 vised pursuant to subsection (c), such standard shall

4 be the Grade B field strength standard prescribed by

5 the Commission in section 73.683 of the Commission’s

6 regulations (47 C.F.R. 73.683). For purposes of this

7 section, the standard established under this paragraph

8 is referred to as the ‘Network Nonduplication Signal

9 Standard’.

10 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT OF IMPROVED PREDICTIVE

11 MODEL REQUIRED.—Within 180 days after the date

12 of enactment of the Satellite Competition and Con13 sumer Protection Act, the Commission shall take all

14 actions necessary, including any reconsideration, to

15 develop and prescribe by rule a point-to-point pre16 dictive model for reliably and presumptively deter17 mining the ability of individual locations to receive

18 signals in accordance with the Network Nonduplica19 tion Signal Standard. In prescribing such model, the

20 Commission shall ensure that such model takes into

21 account terrain, building structures, and other land

22 cover variations. The Commission shall establish pro23 cedures for the continued refinement in the applica24 tion of the model by the use of additional data as it

25 becomes available. For purposes of this section, such
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1 model is referred to as the ‘Network Nonduplication

2 Reception Model’, and the area encompassing loca3 tions that are predicted to have the ability to receive

4 such a signal of a particular broadcast station is re5 ferred to as that station’s ‘Reception Model Area’.

6 ‘‘(3) NETWORK NONDUPLICATION.—The network

7 nonduplication regulations required under subsection

8 (a) shall allow a television network station to assert

9 nonduplication rights as follows:

10 ‘‘(A) If a satellite carrier is retransmitting

11 that station, or any other television broadcast

12 stations located in the same local market, to sub13 scribers located in that station’s local market, the

14 television network station may assert non15 duplication rights against the satellite carrier

16 throughout the area within which that station

17 may assert such rights under the rules applicable

18 to cable television systems (47 C.F.R. 76.92), ex19 cept as provided in subparagraph (C).

20 ‘‘(B) If a satellite carrier is not retransmit21 ting any television broadcast stations located in

22 the television network station’s local market to

23 subscribers located in such market, the television

24 network station may assert nonduplication

25 rights against the satellite carrier in the geo-
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1 graphic area that is within such station’s Recep2 tion Model Area, but such geographic area shall

3 not extend beyond the local market of such sta4 tion.

5 ‘‘(C) If there are 2 or more television net6 work stations that are each affiliates of a single

7 television network within the same local market,

8 neither such station may assert under subpara9 graph (A) nonduplication rights against a sat10 ellite carrier in an area that is outside the Re11 ception Model Area of that station.

12 ‘‘(4) WAIVERS.—The network nonduplication

13 protection described in paragraph (3) shall not apply

14 to a subscriber who files with the satellite carrier a

15 written waiver with respect to that subscriber ob16 tained from a television network station allowing the

17 subscriber to receive satellite retransmission of an18 other network station affiliated with that same net19 work. The television network station shall accept or

20 reject a subscriber’s request for a waiver within 30

21 days after receipt of the request. The television net22 work station and the satellite carrier shall maintain

23 a file available to the public that contains such waiv24 er requests and the acceptances and rejections thereof.
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1 ‘‘(5) OBJECTIVE VERIFICATION.—If a subscriber

2 submits a petition to the Commission or an entity

3 designated by the Commission by rule—

4 ‘‘(A) that alleges that such subscriber does

5 not receive a signal that meets or exceeds the

6 Network Nonduplication Signal Standard; and

7 ‘‘(B) includes a processing fee in an amount

8 prescribed by regulation to recover the cost of ad9 ministering the provisions of this paragraph;

10 the network nonduplication rights described in para11 graph (3) shall not apply to that subscriber unless

12 such station submits to the Commission or such entity

13 and to the subscriber the written findings and conclu14 sions of a test conducted in accordance with the pro15 visions of section 73.686(d) of title 47, Code of Fed16 eral Regulations, or any successor regulation, dem17 onstrating that the subscriber receives a signal that

18 meets or exceeds the Network Nonduplication Signal

19 Standard. A subscriber is required to file a waiver re20 quest under paragraph (4) before filing a petition

21 under this paragraph. A subscriber may not be re22 quired to bear any portion of the cost of such test.

23 ‘‘(6) RECREATIONAL VEHICLE LOCATION.—In the

24 case of a subscriber to a satellite carrier who has in25 stalled satellite reception equipment in a recreational
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1 vehicle, and who has permitted any television network

2 station seeking to assert network nonduplication

3 rights to verify the motor vehicle registration, license,

4 and proof of ownership of such vehicle, the subscriber

5 shall be considered to be outside the local market and

6 Reception Model Area of such station. For purposes of

7 this paragraph, the term ‘recreational vehicle’ does

8 not include any residential manufactured home, as

9 defined in section 603(6) of the National Manufac10 tured Housing Construction and Safety Standards

11 Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5402(6)).

12 ‘‘(c) REVIEW AND REVISION OF STANDARDS AND

13 MODEL.—

14 ‘‘(1) ONGOING INQUIRY REQUIRED.—Not later

15 than 2 years after the date of enactment of the Sat16 ellite Competition and Consumer Protection Act, the

17 Commission shall conduct an inquiry of the extent to

18 which the Network Nonduplication Signal Standard,

19 the Network Nonduplication Reception Model, and the

20 Reception Model Areas of television stations are ade21 quate to reliably measure the ability of consumers to

22 receive an acceptable over-the-air television broadcast

23 signal.

24 ‘‘(2) DATA TO BE CONSIDERED.—In conducting

25 the inquiry required by paragraph (1), the Commis-
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1 sion shall consider as evidence that consumers are not

2 receiving a signal of the quality described in such

3 paragraph—

4 ‘‘(A) the number of subscribers requesting

5 waivers under subsection (b)(4), and the number

6 of waivers that are denied;

7 ‘‘(B) the number of subscribers submitting

8 petitions under subsection (b)(5), and the num9 ber of such petitions that are granted;

10 ‘‘(C) the results of any consumer research

11 study that may be undertaken to carry out the

12 purposes of this section; and

13 ‘‘(D) the extent to which consumers are not

14 legally entitled to install broadcast reception de15 vices assumed in the Commission’s standard.

16 ‘‘(3) REPORT AND ACTION.—The Commission

17 shall submit to the Congress a report on the inquiry

18 required by this subsection not later than the end of

19 the 2-year period described in paragraph (1). The

20 Commission shall complete any actions necessary to

21 revise the Network Nonduplication Signal Standard,

22 the Network Nonduplication Reception Model, and the

23 Reception Model Areas of television stations in ac24 cordance with the findings of such inquiry not later

25 than 6 months after the end of such 2-year period.
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1 ‘‘(4) DATA SUBMISSION.—The Commission shall

2 prescribe by rule the data required to be submitted by

3 television broadcast stations and by satellite carriers

4 to the Commission or such designated entity to carry

5 out this subsection, and the format for submission of

6 such data.’’.

7 SEC. 104. CONSENT OF MEMBERSHIP TO RETRANSMISSION

8 OF PUBLIC BROADCASTING SERVICE SAT9 ELLITE FEED.

10 Section 396 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

11 U.S.C. 396) is amended by adding at the end the following

12 new subsection:

13 ‘‘(n) The Public Broadcasting Service shall certify to

14 the Board on an annual basis that a majority of its mem15 bership supports or does not support the secondary trans16 mission of the Public Broadcasting Service satellite feed,

17 and provide notice to each satellite carrier carrying such

18 feed of such certification.’’.

19 SEC. 105. INQUIRY ON RURAL SERVICE REQUIRED.

20 (a) INQUIRY REQUIRED.—Within 180 days after the

21 enactment of this section, the National Telecommunications

22 and Information Administration shall complete an inquiry

23 into the availability of local television broadcast signals in

24 small and rural markets as part of a service that competes

25 with, or supplements, video programming delivered by sat-
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1 ellite carriers or cable operators. The Administration shall

2 submit to the Committee on Commerce of the House of Rep3 resentatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and

4 Transportation of the Senate a report on the results of such

5 inquiry.

6 (b) ANALYSIS REQUIRED.—The inquiry under sub7 section (a) shall include an analysis of—

8 (1) the technological capability of dual satellite

9 dish technology to receive effectively over-the-air

10 broadcast transmissions from the local market, the

11 availability of such capability in small and rural

12 markets and the affordability of such capability;

13 (2) the technological capability (including inter14 ference), availability, and affordability of wireless

15 cable (or terrestrial wireless) delivery of local broad16 cast stations, including the feasibility and desir17 ability of the expedited licensing of such competitive

18 wireless technologies for rural and small markets; and

19 (3) the technological capability, availability, and

20 affordability of a broadcast-only basic tier of cable

21 service.

22 SEC. 106. DEFINITIONS.

23 Section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

24 U.S.C. 153) is amended—

25 (1) by redesignating—
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1 (A) paragraphs (49) through (52) as para2 graphs (52) through (55), respectively;

3 (B) paragraphs (39) through (48) as para4 graphs (41) through (50), respectively; and

5 (C) paragraphs (27) through (38) as para6 graph (28) through (39), respectively;

7 (2) by inserting after paragraph (26) the fol8 lowing new paragraph:

9 ‘‘(27) LOCAL MARKET.—

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘local mar11 ket’, in the case of both commercial and non12 commercial television broadcast stations, means

13 the designated market area in which a station is

14 located, and—

15 ‘‘(i) in the case of a commercial tele16 vision broadcast station, all commercial tel17 evision broadcast stations licensed to a com18 munity within the same designated market

19 area are within the same local market; and

20 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a noncommercial

21 educational television broadcast station, the

22 market includes any station that is licensed

23 to a community within the same designated

24 market area as the noncommercial edu25 cational television broadcast station.
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1 ‘‘(B) COUNTY OF LICENSE.—In addition to

2 the area described in subparagraph (A), a sta3 tion’s local market includes the county in which

4 the station’s community of license is located.

5 ‘‘(C) DESIGNATED MARKET AREA.—For

6 purposes of subparagraph (A), the term ‘des7 ignated market area’ means a designated market

8 area, as determined by Nielsen Media Research

9 and published in the DMA Market and Demo10 graphic Report.’’;

11 (3) by inserting after paragraph (39) (as redes12 ignated by paragraph (1) of this section) the fol13 lowing new paragraph:

14 ‘‘(40) SATELLITE CARRIER.—The term ‘satellite

15 carrier’ means an entity that uses the facilities of a

16 satellite or satellite service licensed by the Commis17 sion, and operates in the Fixed-Satellite Service

18 under part 25 of title 47 of the Code of Federal Regu19 lations or the Direct Broadcast Satellite Service

20 under part 100 of title 47 of the Code of Federal Reg21 ulations, to establish and operate a channel of com22 munications for point-to-multipoint distribution of

23 television station signals, and that owns or leases a

24 capacity or service on a satellite in order to provide

25 such point-to-multipoint distribution, except to the
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1 extent that such entity provides such distribution pur2 suant to tariff under this Act.’’; and

3 (3) by inserting after paragraph (50) (as redes4 ignated by paragraph (1) of this section) the fol5 lowing new paragraph:

6 ‘‘(51) TELEVISION NETWORK; TELEVISION NET7 WORK STATION.—

8 ‘‘(A) TELEVISION NETWORK.—The term ‘tel9 evision network’ means a television network in

10 the United States which offers an interconnected

11 program service on a regular basis for 15 or

12 more hours per week to at least 25 affiliated

13 broadcast stations in 10 or more States.

14 ‘‘(B) TELEVISION NETWORK STATION.—The

15 term ‘television network station’ means a tele16 vision broadcast station that is owned or oper17 ated by, or affiliated with, a television network.’’.

18 SEC. 107. COMPLETION OF BIENNIAL REGULATORY REVIEW.

19 Within 180 days after the date of enactment of this

20 Act, the Commission shall complete the biennial review re21 quired by section 202(h) of the Telecommunications Act of

22 1996.
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1 TITLE II—AMENDMENTS TO

2 TITLE 17, UNITED STATES CODE

3 SEC. 201. LIMITATIONS ON EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS; SEC4 ONDARY TRANSMISSIONS BY SATELLITE CAR5 RIERS WITHIN LOCAL MARKETS.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 119 of title 17, United

7 States Code, is amended to read as follows:

8 ‘‘§ 119. Limitations on exclusive rights; Secondary

9 transmissions by satellite carriers

10 ‘‘(a) SECONDARY TRANSMISSIONS OF TELEVISION

11 BROADCAST STATIONS BY SATELLITE CARRIERS.—

12 ‘‘(1) STATUTORY LICENSE.—Subject to the provi13 sions of paragraphs (2), (3), (4), and (5) of this sub14 section and section 114(d), a secondary transmission

15 that is in compliance with the rules, regulations, and

16 authorizations of the Federal Communications Com17 mission of a primary transmission made by a tele18 vision broadcast station and embodying a perform19 ance or display of a work may have a statutory li20 cense under this section if the satellite carrier makes

21 a direct or indirect charge to subscribers for the sec22 ondary transmission or to a distributor that has con23 tracted with the satellite carrier for direct or indirect

24 delivery of the secondary transmission. For purposes

25 of this section, the Public Broadcasting Service sat-
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1 ellite feed shall be considered a primary transmission

2 made by a television broadcast station that is in com3 pliance with the rules, regulations, and authorizations

4 of the Federal Communications Commission, except

5 that subsequent to—

6 ‘‘(A) the date when a majority of sub7 scribers to satellite carriers are able to receive the

8 signal of at least one noncommercial educational

9 television broadcast station from their satellite

10 carrier within such stations’ local market, or

11 ‘‘(B) 2 years after the effective date of the

12 Satellite Competition and Consumer Protection

13 Act,

14 whichever is earlier, the statutory license created by

15 this section with respect to such satellite feed shall be

16 conditioned on the annual certification of support

17 under section 396(n) of the Communications Act of

18 1934.

19 ‘‘(2) SUBMISSION OF SUBSCRIBER LISTS.—(A) A

20 satellite carrier that makes secondary transmissions

21 of a primary transmission of a television broadcast

22 station under paragraph (1) shall, within 90 days

23 after commencing such secondary transmissions, sub24 mit to that station a list identifying all subscribers

25 to which the satellite carrier currently makes sec-
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1 ondary transmissions of that primary transmission.

2 Such list shall be organized by State, identifying all

3 subscribers by name (including street address, county,

4 and 9-digit zip code) in that State that receive sec5 ondary transmissions of that primary transmission.

6 ‘‘(B) After the list is submitted under subpara7 graph (A), the satellite carrier shall, on the 15th of

8 each month, submit to the television broadcast station

9 a list identifying by State the names (including street

10 address, county, and 9-digit zip code) of any sub11 scribers who have been added or dropped as sub12 scribers since the last submission under this para13 graph.

14 ‘‘(C) Subscriber information submitted by a sat15 ellite carrier under this paragraph may be used only

16 for purposes of monitoring compliance by the satellite

17 carrier with the statutory license created by this sec18 tion. The submission of subscriber lists is only re19 quired for those television broadcast stations that

20 place on file with the Register of Copyrights a docu21 ment identifying the name and address of the person

22 to whom such submissions are to be made. The Reg23 ister shall maintain for public inspection a file of all

24 such documents.
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1 ‘‘(3) NONCOMPLIANCE WITH REPORTING AND

2 PAYMENT REQUIREMENTS.—Notwithstanding the pro3 visions of paragraph (1), the willful or repeated sec4 ondary transmission to the public that is in compli5 ance with the rules, regulations, and authorizations of

6 the Federal Communications Commission by a sat7 ellite carrier of a primary transmission made by a

8 television broadcast station and embodying a per9 formance or display of a work is actionable as an act

10 of infringement under section 501, and is fully subject

11 to the remedies provided by sections 502 through 506

12 and 509, if the satellite carrier has not deposited the

13 statement of account and royalty fees required by sub14 section (b).

15 ‘‘(4) WILLFUL ALTERATIONS.—Notwithstanding

16 the provisions of paragraph (1), the secondary trans17 mission to the public that is in compliance with the

18 rules, regulations, and authorizations of the Federal

19 Communications Commission by a satellite carrier of

20 a primary transmission made by a television broad21 cast station and embodying a performance or display

22 of a work is actionable as an act of infringement

23 under section 501, and is fully subject to the remedies

24 provided by sections 502 through 506 and sections

25 509 and 510, if the content of the particular program
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1 in which the performance or display is embodied, or

2 any commercial advertising or station announcement

3 transmitted by a primary transmitter during, or im4 mediately before or after the transmission of such pro5 gram, is in any way willfully altered by the satellite

6 carrier through changes, deletions, or additions, or is

7 combined with programming from any other broad8 cast signal.

9 ‘‘(5) DISCRIMINATION BY SATELLITE CARRIER.—

10 Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1), the

11 willful or repeated secondary transmission to the pub12 lic that is in compliance with the rules, regulations,

13 and authorizations of the Federal Communications

14 Commission by a satellite carrier of a primary trans15 mission made by a television broadcast station and

16 embodying the performance or display of a work is

17 actionable as an act of infringement under section

18 501, and is fully subject to the remedies provided by

19 sections 502 through 506 and 509, if the satellite car20 rier unlawfully discriminates against a distributor.

21 ‘‘(6) GEOGRAPHIC LIMITATION ON SECONDARY

22 TRANSMISSIONS.—The statutory license created by

23 this section shall apply only to secondary trans24 missions to subscribers located in the United States.
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1 ‘‘(b) STATUTORY LICENSE FOR SECONDARY TRANS2 MISSIONS OF TELEVISION BROADCAST STATIONS.—

3 ‘‘(1) DEPOSITS WITH THE REGISTER OF COPY4 RIGHTS.—A satellite carrier whose secondary trans5 missions are subject to statutory licensing under sub6 section (a) shall, on a semiannual basis, deposit with

7 the Register of Copyrights, in accordance with the re8 quirements that the Register shall prescribe by

9 regulation—

10 ‘‘(A) a statement of account, covering the

11 preceding 6-month period, specifying the names

12 and locations of all television broadcast stations

13 whose signals were retransmitted at any time

14 during that period to subscribers, the total num15 ber of subscribers that received such secondary

16 transmissions, and such other data as the Reg17 ister of Copyrights may from time to time pre18 scribe by regulation, and

19 ‘‘(B) a royalty fee for that 6-month period,

20 computed as follows:

21 ‘‘(i) For each television network station

22 that is retransmitted to subscribers located

23 outside the local market of that station, by

24 multiplying the total number of subscribers

25 receiving such secondary transmission dur-
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1 ing each calendar month by the royalty fee

2 prescribed in section 258.3(b)(2) of title 37,

3 Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on

4 January 1, 1998.

5 ‘‘(ii) For each superstation that is re6 transmitted to subscribers located outside

7 the local market of that station, by multi8 plying the total number of subscribers re9 ceiving such secondary transmission during

10 each calendar month by the royalty fee pre11 scribed in section 258.3(b)(1) of title 37,

12 Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on

13 January 1, 1998.

14 ‘‘(iii) By adding together the totals

15 computed under clauses (i) and (ii).

16 For secondary transmissions of a television broadcast

17 station to subscribers who reside within the local mar18 ket of that station, there shall be no royalty fee.

19 ‘‘(2) INVESTMENT OF FEES.—The Register of

20 Copyrights shall receive all fees deposited under this

21 section and, after deducting the reasonable costs in22 curred by the Copyright Office under this section

23 (other than the costs deducted under paragraph (4)),

24 shall deposit the balance in the Treasury of the

25 United States, in such manner as the Secretary of the
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1 Treasury directs. Any funds held by the Secretary of

2 the Treasury shall be invested in interest bearing se3 curities of the United States for later distribution

4 with interest by the Librarian of Congress as pro5 vided by this title. The Register may, in the Register’s

6 discretion, at any time after four years have elapsed

7 since the close of any calendar year, close out the roy8 alty payments account for that calendar year, and

9 may treat any funds remaining in such account and

10 any subsequent deposits that would otherwise be at11 tributable to that calendar year as attributable to the

12 succeeding calendar year.

13 ‘‘(3) PERSONS TO WHOM FEES ARE DISTRIB14 UTED.—The royalty fees deposited under paragraph

15 (2) shall, in accordance with the procedures provided

16 by paragraph (4), be distributed to those copyright

17 owners whose works were included in a secondary

18 transmission to the public made by a satellite carrier

19 during the applicable 6-month accounting period and

20 who file a claim with the Librarian of Congress under

21 paragraph (4). For purposes of section 802 of this

22 title, with respect to royalty fees paid by satellite car23 riers for retransmitting the Public Broadcasting Serv24 ice satellite feed, the Public Broadcasting Service

25 shall be agent for all public television copyright
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1 claimants and all Public Broadcasting Service mem2 ber stations.

3 ‘‘(4) PROCEDURES FOR DISTRIBUTION.—The

4 royalty fees deposited under paragraph (2) shall be

5 distributed in accordance with the following proce6 dures:

7 ‘‘(A) FILING OF CLAIMS FOR FEES.—Dur8 ing the month of July in each year, each person

9 claiming to be entitled to statutory license fees

10 for secondary transmissions under this section

11 shall file a claim with the Librarian of Congress,

12 in accordance with requirements that the Librar13 ian shall prescribe by regulation. For purposes of

14 this paragraph, any claimants may agree among

15 themselves as to the proportionate division of

16 statutory license fees among them, may lump

17 their claims together and file them jointly or as

18 a single claim, or may designate a common

19 agent to receive payment on their behalf.

20 ‘‘(B) DETERMINATION OF CONTROVERSY;

21 DISTRIBUTIONS.—After the first day of August of

22 each year, the Librarian of Congress shall deter23 mine whether there exists a controversy con24 cerning the distribution of royalty fees. If the Li25 brarian determines that no such controversy ex-
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1 ists, the Librarian shall, after deducting reason2 able administrative costs under this paragraph,

3 distribute such fees to the copyright owners enti4 tled to receive them, or to their designated

5 agents. If the Librarian finds the existence of a

6 controversy, the Librarian shall, pursuant to

7 chapter 8 of this title, convene a copyright arbi8 tration royalty panel to determine the distribu9 tion of fees.

10 ‘‘(C) WITHHOLDING OF FEES DURING CON11 TROVERSY.—During the pendency of any pro12 ceeding under this subsection, the Librarian of

13 Congress shall withhold from distribution an

14 amount sufficient to satisfy all claims with re15 spect to which a controversy exists, but shall

16 have discretion to proceed to distribute any

17 amounts that are not in controversy.

18 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section—

19 ‘‘(1) DISTRIBUTOR.—The term ‘distributor’

20 means any entity which contracts to distribute sec21 ondary transmissions from a satellite carrier and, ei22 ther as a single channel or in a package with other

23 programming, provides the secondary transmission

24 either directly to individual subscribers or indirectly

25 through other program distribution entities.
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1 ‘‘(2) LOCAL MARKET.—The term ‘local market’ of

2 a television broadcast station has the meaning given

3 that term section 3 of the Communications Act of

4 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153) as interpreted under the rules,

5 regulations, and authorizations of the Federal Com6 munications Commission relating to carriage of tele7 vision broadcast signals by satellite carriers.

8 ‘‘(3) PRIMARY TRANSMISSION.—The term ‘pri9 mary transmission’ has the meaning given that term

10 in section 111(f) of this title.

11 ‘‘(4) PUBLIC BROADCASTING SERVICE SATELLITE

12 FEED.—The term ‘Public Broadcasting Service sat13 ellite feed’ means the national satellite feed distrib14 uted by the Public Broadcasting Service for purposes

15 of this section consisting of educational and informa16 tional programming, to which the Public Broad17 casting Service holds national terrestrial broadcast

18 rights.

19 ‘‘(5) SATELLITE CARRIER.—The term ‘satellite

20 carrier’ has the meaning given that term in section

21 3 of the Communications Act of 1934.

22 ‘‘(6) SECONDARY TRANSMISSION.—The term ‘sec23 ondary transmission’ has the meaning given that

24 term in section 111(f) of this title.
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1 ‘‘(7) SUBSCRIBER.—The term ‘subscriber’ means

2 an entity that receives a secondary transmission serv3 ice by means of a secondary transmission from a sat4 ellite and pays a fee for the service, directly or indi5 rectly, to the satellite carrier or a distributor.

6 ‘‘(8) SUPERSTATION.—The term ‘superstation’

7 means a television broadcast station, other than a tel8 evision network station, licensed by the Federal Com9 munications Commission that is secondarily trans10 mitted by a satellite carrier, and includes the Public

11 Broadcasting Service satellite feed.

12 ‘‘(9) TELEVISION BROADCAST STATION.—The

13 term ‘television broadcast station’ has the meaning

14 given that term in section 325(b)(7) of the Commu15 nications Act of 1934.

16 ‘‘(10) TELEVISION NETWORK STATION.—The

17 term ‘television network station’ means—

18 ‘‘(A) a television network station (as defined

19 in section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934);

20 or

21 ‘‘(B) a noncommercial educational broad22 cast station (as defined in section 397 of such

23 Act).

24 ‘‘(d) EXCLUSIVITY OF THIS SECTION WITH RESPECT

25 TO SECONDARY TRANSMISSIONS OF TELEVISION BROAD-
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1 CAST STATIONS BY SATELLITE TO MEMBERS OF THE PUB2 LIC.—No provision of section 111 of this title or any other

3 law (other than this section) shall be construed to contain

4 any authorization, exemption, or license through which sec5 ondary transmissions by satellite carriers of programming

6 contained in a primary transmission may be made without

7 obtaining the consent of the copyright owner.’’.

8 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

9 (1) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of sections

10 for chapter 1 of title 17, United States Code, is

11 amended by striking the item relating to section 119

12 and inserting the following:

‘‘119. Limitation on exclusive rights: Secondary transmissions by satellite carriers.’’.

13 (2) STANDING.—Subsection (e) of section 501 of

14 title 17, United States Code, is repealed.

15 SEC. 202. REDUCTION IN ROYALTY FEES.

16 The royalty fee prescribed in section 119(b)(1)(B)(i)

17 of title 17, United States Code, as amended by section

18 201(a) of this Act, is reduced by 45 percent, effective upon

19 July 1, 1999. The royalty fee prescribed in section

20 119(b)(1)(B)(ii) of such title, as so amended, is reduced by

21 30 percent, effective upon July 1, 1999.