110TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 602

AN ACT

To develop the next generation of parental control

technology.

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 ‘‘Child Safe Viewing

5 Act of 2007’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 Congress finds the following:

3 (1) Video programming has a direct impact on

4 a child’s perception of safe and reasonable behavior.

5 (2) Children may imitate actions they witness

6 on video programming, including language, drug

7 use, and sexual conduct.

8 (3) Studies suggest that the strong appeal of

9 video programming erodes the ability of parents to

10 develop responsible attitudes and behavior in their

11 children.

12 (4) The average American child watches 4

13 hours of television each day.

14 (5) 99.9 percent of all consumer complaints

15 logged by the Federal Communications Commission

16 in the first quarter of 2006 regarding radio and tele17 vision broadcasting were because of obscenity, inde18 cency, and profanity.

19 (6) There is a compelling government interest

20 in empowering parents to limit their children’s expo21 sure to harmful television content.

22 (7) Section 1 of the Communications Act of

23 1934 requires the Federal Communications Commis24 sion to promote the safety of life and property

25 through the use of wire and radio communications.
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1 (8) In the Telecommunications Act of 1996,

2 Congress authorized Parental Choice in Television

3 Programming and the V-Chip. Congress further di4 rected action on alternative blocking technology as

5 new video technology advanced.

6 SEC. 3. EXAMINATION OF ADVANCED BLOCKING TECH7 NOLOGIES AND EXISTING PARENTAL EM8 POWERMENT TOOLS.

9 (a) INQUIRY REQUIRED.—Not later than 90 days

10 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Com11 munications Commission shall initiate a notice of inquiry

12 to consider measures to examine—

13 (1) the existence and availability of advanced

14 blocking technologies that are compatible with var15 ious communications devices or platforms;

16 (2) methods of encouraging the development,

17 deployment, and use of such technology by parents

18 that do not affect the packaging or pricing of a con19 tent provider’s offering; and

20 (3) the existence, availability, and use of paren21 tal empowerment tools and initiatives already in the

22 market.

23 (b) CONTENT OF PROCEEDING.—In conducting the

24 inquiry required under subsection (a), the Commission

25 shall consider advanced blocking technologies that—
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1 (1) may be appropriate across a wide variety of

2 distribution platforms, including wired, wireless, and

3 Internet platforms;

4 (2) may be appropriate across a wide variety of

5 devices capable of transmitting or receiving video or

6 audio programming, including television sets, DVD

7 players, VCRs, cable set top boxes, satellite receiv8 ers, and wireless devices;

9 (3) can filter language based upon information

10 in closed captioning;

11 (4) operate independently of ratings pre-as12 signed by the creator of such video or audio pro13 gramming; and

14 (5) may be effective in enhancing the ability of

15 a parent to protect his or her child from indecent or

16 objectionable programming, as determined by such

17 parent.

18 (c) REPORTING.—Not later than 270 days after the

19 enactment of this Act, the Commission shall issue a report

20 to Congress detailing any findings resulting from the in21 quiry required under subsection (a).

22 (d) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘ad23 vanced blocking technologies’’ means technologies that can

24 improve or enhance the ability of a parent to protect his

25 or her child from any indecent or objectionable video or
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1 audio programming, as determined by such parent, that

2 is transmitted through the use of wire, wireless, or radio

3 communication.

Passed the Senate October 1 (legislative day, September 17), 2008.

Attest:

Secretary.
110TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 602

AN ACT

To develop the next generation of parental control

technology.