II 

Calendar No. 588 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 602 

[Report No. 110–268] 

To develop the next generation of parental control technology. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 15, 2007 

Mr. PRYOR (for himself, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. KOHL, Mr. DORGAN, and Mr. 

JOHNSON) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

MARCH 3, 2008 

Reported by Mr. INOUYE, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute 

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

A BILL 

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 imitate actions they witness on 

6 video programming, including language, drug use, 

7 and sexual conduct. 

8 (3) Studies indicate 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) Seventy-five percent of adults surveyed be15 lieve that television content marketed toward chil16 dren should be subject to compulsory principles. 

17 (6) Ninety-nine and nine-tenths percent of all 

18 consumer complaints logged by the Federal Commu19 nications Commission in the first quarter of 2006 

20 regarding radio and television broadcasting were be21 cause of obscenity, indecency, and profanity. 

22 (7) There is a compelling government interest 

23 in empowering parents to limit their children’s expo24 sure to harmful television content. 

25 (8) Section 1 of the Communications Act of 

26 1934 requires the Federal Communications CommisVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:25 Mar 03, 2008 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S602.RS S602

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1 sion to promote the safety of life and property 

2 through the use of wire and radio communications. 

3 (9) In the Telecommunications Act of 1996, 

4 Congress authorized Parental Choice in Television 

5 Programming and the V-Chip. Congress further di6 rected action on alternative blocking technology as 

7 new video technology advanced. 

8 SEC. 3. EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVE PARENTAL CON9 TROL TECHNOLOGIES. 

10 (a) RULEMAKING PROCEEDING REQUIRED.—Not 

11 later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this 

12 Act, the Federal Communications Commission shall ini13 tiate a proceeding to consider measures to encourage or 

14 require the use of advanced blocking technologies that are 

15 compatible with various communications devices or plat16 forms. 

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

18 proceeding required under subsection (a), the Federal 

19 Communications Commission shall consider advanced 

20 blocking technologies that— 

21 (1) may be appropriate across a wide variety of 

22 distribution platforms, including wired, wireless, and 

23 Internet platforms; 

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

25 devices capable of transmitting or receiving video or 


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1 audio programming, including television sets, DVD 

2 players, VCRs, cable set top boxes, satellite receiv3 ers, and wireless devices; 

4 (3) can filter language based upon information 

5 in closed captioning; 

6 (4) operate independently of ratings pre-as7 signed by the creator of such video or audio pro8 gramming; and 

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

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

11 objectionable programming, as determined by such 

12 parent. 

13 (c) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘ad14 vanced blocking technologies’’ means technologies that can 

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

16 or her child from any indecent or objectionable video or 

17 audio programming, as determined by such parent, that 

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

19 communication. 

20 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

21 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Child Safe Viewing Act 

22 of 2007’’. 

23 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

24 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Video programming has a direct impact on 

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

3 (2) Children may imitate actions they witness 

4 on video programming, including language, drug use, 

5 and sexual conduct. 

6 (3) Studies suggest that the strong appeal of 

7 video programming erodes the ability of parents to 

8 develop responsible attitudes and behavior in their 

9 children. 

10 (4) The average American child watches 4 hours 

11 of television each day. 

12 (5) 99.9 percent of all consumer complaints 

13 logged by the Federal Communications Commission 

14 in the first quarter of 2006 regarding radio and tele15 vision broadcasting were because of obscenity, inde16 cency, and profanity. 

17 (6) There is a compelling government interest in 

18 empowering parents to limit their children’s exposure 

19 to harmful television content. 

20 (7) Section 1 of the Communications Act of 1934 

21 requires the Federal Communications Commission to 

22 promote the safety of life and property through the 

23 use of wire and radio communications. 

24 (8) In the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Con25 gress authorized Parental Choice in Television ProVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:25 Mar 03, 2008 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S602.RS S602

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1 gramming and the V-Chip. Congress further directed 

2 action on alternative blocking technology as new video 

3 technology advanced. 

4 SEC. 3. EXAMINATION OF ADVANCED BLOCKING TECH5 NOLOGIES. 

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

7 the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Communica8 tions Commission shall initiate a notice of inquiry to con9 sider measures to examine— 

10 (1) the existence and availability of advanced 

11 blocking technologies that are compatible with various 

12 communications devices or platforms; and 

13 (2) methods of encouraging the development, de14 ployment, and use of such technology by parents that 

15 do not affect the packaging or pricing of a content 

16 provider’s offering. 

17 (b) CONTENT OF PROCEEDING.—In conducting the in18 quiry required under subsection (a), the Commission shall 

19 consider advanced blocking technologies that— 

20 (1) may be appropriate across a wide variety of 

21 distribution platforms, including wired, wireless, and 

22 Internet platforms; 

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

24 devices capable of transmitting or receiving video or 

25 audio programming, including television sets, DVD 


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1 players, VCRs, cable set top boxes, satellite receivers, 

2 and wireless devices; 

3 (3) can filter language based upon information 

4 in closed captioning; 

5 (4) operate independently of ratings pre-assigned 

6 by the creator of such video or audio programming; 

7 and 

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

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

10 objectionable programming, as determined by such 

11 parent. 

12 (c) REPORTING.—Not later than 270 days after the en13 actment of this Act, the Commission shall issue a report 

14 to Congress detailing any findings resulting from the in15 quiry required under subsection (a). 

16 (d) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘advanced 

17 blocking technologies’’ means technologies that can improve 

18 or enhance the ability of a parent to protect his or her child 

19 from any indecent or objectionable video or audio program20 ming, as determined by such parent, that is transmitted 

21 through the use of wire, wireless, or radio communication. 


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Calendar No. 588 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 602 

[Report No. 110

–268] 

A BILL 

To develop the next generation of parental control 

technology. 

MARCH 3, 2008 

Reported with an amendment in the nature of a 

substitute 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with BILLS