II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 616 

To inform the American public and to protect children from increasing depictions of indecent and gratuitous and excessive violent material on television, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 14, 2005 

Mr. ROCKEFELLER (for himself and Mrs. HUTCHISON) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To inform the American public and to protect children from 

increasing depictions of indecent and gratuitous and excessive violent material on television, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Indecent and Gratu5 itous and Excessively Violent Programming Control Act 

6 of 2005’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress makes the following findings: 
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1 (1) Increasingly, parents, educators, and fami2 lies are concerned about the material that is broad3 cast on television and radio, and the effect such ma4 terial has on America’s children. 

5 (2) Television influences children’s perception 

6 of the values and behavior that are common and ac7 ceptable in society. 

8 (3) Broadcast television, cable television, and 

9 video programming are— 

10 (A) uniquely pervasive presences in the 

11 lives of all American children; and 

12 (B) readily accessible to all American chil13 dren. 

14 (4) 85.1 percent of all American homes sub15 scribe to multi-channel video programming. 

16 (5) Complaints about indecent programming 

17 have grown exponentially in the last five years. 

18 (6) In 2004, Americans filed over 1,000,000 

19 complaints with the Federal Communications Com20 mission about indecent programming. 

21 (7) According to reports from the Parents Tele22 vision Council, indecent and violent video program23 ming on cable television is pervasive. 

24 (8) Studies also show that parents are increas25 ingly concerned. According to the Kaiser Family 
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1 Foundation, more than 4 out of 5 parents are con2 cerned that their children are being exposed to too 

3 much sex on television. 

4 (9) Violent video programming influences chil5 dren, as does, indecent programming. 

6 (10) The American Association of Pediatrics, 

7 the American Psychological Association, the Amer8 ican Medical Association, and the U.S. Surgeon 

9 General have all documented the harm from watch10 ing excessive television violence on children. 

11 (11) There is empirical evidence that children 

12 exposed to violent video programming at a young 

13 age have a higher tendency to engage in violent and 

14 aggressive behavior later in life than those children 

15 not so exposed. 

16 (12) There is empirical evidence that children 

17 exposed to violent video programming have a greater 

18 tendency to assume that acts of violence are accept19 able behavior and therefore to imitate such behavior. 

20 (13) There is empirical evidence that children 

21 exposed to violent video programming have an in22 creased fear of becoming a victim of violence, result23 ing in increased self-protective behaviors and in24 creased mistrust of others. 
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1 (14) There is a compelling governmental inter2 est in limiting the negative influences of violent 

3 video programming on children. 

4 (15) A significant amount of violent video pro5 gramming that is readily accessible to minors re6 mains unrated specifically for violence and therefore 

7 cannot be blocked solely on the basis of its violent 

8 content. 

9 (16) Age-based ratings that do not include con10 tent rating for violence do not allow parents to block 

11 programming based solely on violent content thereby 

12 rendering ineffective any technology-based blocking 

13 mechanism designed to limit violent video program14 ming. 

15 (17) Technology-based solutions, such as the V16 chip, may be helpful in protecting some children, but 

17 cannot achieve the compelling governmental interest 

18 in protecting all children from violent video pro19 gramming when parents are only able to block pro20 gramming that has, in fact, been rated for violence. 

21 (18) Restricting the hours when violent video 

22 programming can be shown to protect the interests 

23 of children whose parents are unavailable, unable to 

24 supervise their children’s viewing behavior, do not 

25 have the benefit of technology-based solutions, are 
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1 unable to afford the costs of technology-based solu2 tions, or are unable to determine the content of 

3 those shows that are only subject to age-based rat4 ings. 

5 (19) After further study, pursuant to a rule6 making, the Federal Communications Commission 

7 may conclude that content-based ratings and block8 ing technology do not effectively protect children 

9 from the harm of violent video programming. 

10 (20) If the Federal Communications Commis11 sion reaches the conclusion described in paragraph 

12 (19), the channeling of violent video programming 

13 will be the least restrictive means of limiting the ex14 posure of children to the harmful influences of vio15 lent video programming. 

16 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

17 As used in this Act: 

18 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

19 means the Federal Communications Commission. 

20 (2) MULTICHANNEL VIDEO PROGRAMMING DIS21 TRIBUTOR.—The term ‘‘multichannel video program22 ming distributor’’ has the same meaning given such 

23 term in section 602 of the Communications Act of 

24 1934 (47 U.S.C. 522). 
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1 (3) OTHER PROGRAMMING SERVICE.—The term 

2 ‘‘other programming service’’ has the same meaning 

3 given such term in section 602 of the Communica4 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 522). 

5 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVENESS OF MEASURES PROTECTING CHIL6 DREN FROM INDECENT AND VIOLENT VIDEO 

7 PROGRAMMING. 

8 (a) ASSESSMENT.—The Commission shall assess— 

9 (1) the technological and practical effectiveness 

10 of statutory and regulatory measures that require 

11 television broadcast station licensees and multi12 channel video programming distributors to rate and 

13 encode programming that could be blocked by par14 ents, including use of the technology required by the 

15 Commission’s Report and Order, ET Docket 97– 

16 206, under section 303(x) of the Communications 

17 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 303(x)), in accomplishing 

18 their intended purposes; 

19 (2)(A) the prevalence of violent programming 

20 on television; and 

21 (B) the effectiveness of the current system for 

22 rating and encoding violent television programming, 

23 including— 

24 (i) an assessment of consumer awareness 

25 of the current ratings system; and 
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1 (ii) an assessment of whether current rat2 ings are self-administered or performed by inde3 pendent organizations; and 

4 (3) the technological and practical effectiveness 

5 of measures used by multichannel video program6 ming distributors to protect children from exposure 

7 to— 

8 (A) indecent video programming; and 

9 (B) gratuitous and excessively violent video 

10 programming. 

11 (b) REPORTS.—Not later than 60 days after the date 

12 of enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, the Com13 mission shall report its findings from the assessments 

14 made under subsection (a) to the Committee on Com15 merce, Science, and Transportation of the United States 

16 Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of 

17 the United States House of Representatives. 

18 (c) RULEMAKING PROCEEDING.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Commission deter20 mines, on the basis of an assessment under sub21 section (a), that a measure described in subsection 

22 (a) is not effective in protecting children from expo23 sure to gratuitous and excessively violent video pro24 gramming on television broadcasts, or from exposure 

25 to indecent video programming or gratuitous and ex-
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1 cessively violent video programming carried by mul2 tichannel video programming distributors, then the 

3 Commission shall initiate and conclude (not later 

4 than 270 days after the date of that determination) 

5 a rulemaking proceeding— 

6 (A) to prohibit television broadcast station 

7 licensees from broadcasting gratuitous and ex8 cessively violent programming during the hours 

9 when children are reasonably likely to comprise 

10 a substantial portion of the audience if the 

11 Commission’s determination relates to measures 

12 applicable to such broadcast television program13 ming; or 

14 (B) to adopt measures to protect children 

15 from indecent video programming, or gratuitous 

16 and excessively violent video programming, as 

17 the case may be, carried by multichannel video 

18 programming distributors during the hours 

19 when children are reasonably likely to comprise 

20 a substantial portion of the audience if the 

21 Commission’s determination relates to measures 

22 applicable to such multichannel video program23 ming. 
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1 (2) EXEMPTIONS.—The Commission may ex2 empt from any prohibition or measure promulgated 

3 under paragraph (1)— 

4 (A) video programming the broadcast or 

5 carriage of which does not conflict with the ob6 jective of protecting children from access to— 

7 (i) indecent programming; or 

8 (ii) gratuitous and excessively violent 

9 video programming; and 

10 (B) premium and pay-per-view services. 

11 (d) ENFORCEMENT.—The forfeiture penalties estab12 lished by section 503(b) of the Communications Act of 

13 1934 (47 U.S.C. 503(b)) shall apply to a violation of any 

14 regulation promulgated under subsection (c) in the same 

15 manner as if it were a violation of a provision of that Act 

16 subject to a forfeiture penalty under section 503 of that 

17 Act. 

18 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

19 (1) GRATUITOUS AND EXCESSIVELY VIOLENT

20 VIDEO PROGRAMMING.—The Commission shall de21 fine the term ‘‘gratuitous and excessively violent 

22 video programming’’ for purposes of this section. In 

23 defining it, the Commission— 

24 (A) may include matter that is excessive or 

25 gratuitous violence within the meaning of the 
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1 1992 Broadcast Standards for the Depiction of 

2 Violence in Television Programs, December, 

3 1992; and 

4 (B) shall take into account the findings set 

5 forth in section 551(a) of the Telecommuni6 cations Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 303 note). 

7 (2) HOURS WHEN CHILDREN ARE REASONABLY

8 LIKELY TO COMPRISE A SUBSTANTIAL PORTION OF

9 THE AUDIENCE.—The Commission shall define the 

10 term ‘‘hours when children are reasonably likely to 

11 comprise a substantial portion of the audience’’ for 

12 purposes of this section. 

13 (3) INDECENT VIDEO PROGRAMMING.—The 

14 Commission shall define the term ‘‘indecent video 

15 programming’’ for purposes of this section. 

16 (4) TELEVISION BROADCAST STATION LI17 CENSEE.—The term ‘‘television broadcast station li18 censee’’ means the licensee or permittee of a tele19 vision broadcast station licensed or permitted by the 

20 Federal Communications Commission under title III 

21 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 301 

22 et seq.). 
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1 SEC. 5. IMPROVED ENFORCEMENT OF INDECENCY ON 

2 BROADCAST PROGRAMMING. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 503(b)(2) of the Commu4 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 503(b)(2)) is amended— 

5 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) and 

6 (D) as subparagraphs (D) and (E), respectively; 

7 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol8 lowing new subparagraph: 

9 ‘‘(C) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), if the viola10 tor is— 

11 ‘‘(i)(I) a broadcast station licensee or permittee; 

12 or 

13 ‘‘(II) an applicant for any broadcast license, 

14 permit, certificate, or other instrument or authoriza15 tion issued by the Commission; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) determined by the Commission under 

17 paragraph (1) to have broadcast obscene, indecent, 

18 or profane language or images, 

19 the amount of any forfeiture penalty determined under 

20 this subsection shall not exceed $500,000, with each utter21 ance constituting a separate violation, except that the 

22 amount assessed a licensee or permitee for any number 

23 of violations in a given 24-hour time period shall not ex24 ceed a total of $3,000,000. In determining the amount of 

25 any forfeiture penalty under this subparagraph, the Com26 mission, in addition to the elements identified in subpara-
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1 graph (E), shall take into account the violator’s ability to 

2 pay, including such factors as the revenue and profits of 

3 the broadcast stations that aired the obscene, indecent, or 

4 profane language and the size of the markets in which 

5 these stations are located.’’; and 

6 (3) in subparagraph (D), as redesignated by 

7 paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘subparagraph (A) or 

8 (B)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph (A), (B), or (C)’’. 

9 (b) ADDITIONAL FACTORS IN INDECENCY PEN10 ALTIES; EXCEPTION.—Section 503(b)(2) of the Commu11 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 503(b)(2)), as amended 

12 by subsection (a) of this section, is amended by adding 

13 at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(F) In the case of a violation in which the violator 

15 is determined by the Commission under paragraph (1) to 

16 have uttered obscene, indecent, or profane material, the 

17 Commission shall take into account, in addition to the 

18 matters described in subparagraph (E), the following fac19 tors with respect to the degree of culpability of the viola20 tor: 

21 ‘‘(i) Whether the material uttered by the viola22 tor was live or recorded, scripted or unscripted. 

23 ‘‘(ii) Whether the violator had a reasonable op24 portunity to review recorded or scripted program25 ming or had a reasonable basis to believe live or 
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1 unscripted programming would contain obscene, in2 decent, or profane material. 

3 ‘‘(iii) If the violator originated live or 

4 unscripted programming, whether a time delay 

5 blocking mechanism was implemented for the pro6 gramming. 

7 ‘‘(iv) The size of the viewing or listening audi8 ence of the programming. 

9 ‘‘(v) The size of the market. 

10 ‘‘(vi) Whether the violation occurred during a 

11 children’s television program (as such term is used 

12 in the Children’s Television Programming Policy ref13 erenced in section 73.4050(c) of the Commission’s 

14 regulations (47 C.F.R. 73.4050(c)) or during a tele15 vision program rated TVY, TVY7, TVY7FV, or 

16 TVG under the TV Parental Guidelines as such rat17 ings were approved by the Commission in implemen18 tation of section 551 of the Telecommunications Act 

19 of 1996, Video Programming Ratings, Report and 

20 Order, CS Docket No. 97–55, 13 F.C.C. Rcd. 8232 

21 (1998)), and, with respect to a radio broadcast sta22 tion licensee, permittee, or applicant, whether the 

23 target audience was primarily comprised of, or 

24 should reasonably have been expected to be primarily 

25 comprised of, children. 
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1 ‘‘(G) The Commission may double the amount of any 

2 forfeiture penalty if the Commission determines additional 

3 factors are present which are aggravating in nature, in4 cluding— 

5 ‘‘(i) whether the material uttered by the violator 

6 was recorded or scripted; 

7 ‘‘(ii) whether the violator had a reasonable op8 portunity to review recorded or scripted program9 ming or had a reasonable basis to believe live or 

10 unscripted programming would contain obscene, in11 decent, or profane material; 

12 ‘‘(iii) whether the violator failed to block live or 

13 unscripted programming; 

14 ‘‘(iv) whether the size of the viewing or listen15 ing audience of the programming was substantially 

16 larger than usual, such as a national or international 

17 championship sporting event or awards program; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(v) whether the violation occurred during a 

20 children’s television program (as defined in subpara21 graph (F)(vi)). 

22 ‘‘(H) For purposes of this section, the Commission 

23 shall have the authority to impose a forfeiture penalty on 

24 any broadcast station (as defined in section 153), network 
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1 station, nationally distributed superstation, or television 

2 network (as those terms are defined in section 339).’’. 

3 (c) PUBLIC HEARINGS FOR VIOLATIONS OF INDE4 CENCY PROHIBITIONS.—Section 503 of the Communica5 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 503) is amended by adding 

6 at the end the following new subsection: 

7 ‘‘(c) PUBLIC HEARINGS FOR VIOLATIONS OF INDE8 CENCY PROHIBITIONS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In any proceeding initiated 

10 under this section in which the Commission issues a 

11 notice of apparent liability, but prior to its imposi12 tion of a forfeiture penalty, the Commission or des13 ignees of the Commission shall conduct public hear14 ings or forums at the discretion of the Commission 

15 or its designees, at any time and place the Commis16 sion or its designees is able to secure facilities and 

17 witnesses, for the purpose of carrying out the duties 

18 of the Commission and to ascertain the concerns and 

19 interests of the affected viewing communities ex20 posed to the broadcast. 

21 ‘‘(2) COMBINED HEARINGS.—If a broadcast re22 sults in the initiation of multiple proceedings and 

23 the issuance of multiple notices of apparent liability, 

24 but prior to the imposition of multiple forfeiture 
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1 penalties, the Commission or its designee may com2 bine the hearings required under paragraph (1).’’. 

3 SEC. 6. LOCAL BROADCASTING AUTHORITY TO PREEMPT 

4 PROGRAMMING. 

5 Part I of title III of the Communications Act of 1934 

6 (47 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

7 the following: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 340. LOCAL BROADCASTING AUTHORITY TO PRE9 EMPT PROGRAMMING DEEMED OBSCENE OR 

10 INDECENT. 

11 ‘‘(a) LOCAL BROADCASTER ABILITY TO REVIEW

12 PROGRAMMING IN ADVANCE.—A broadcast station li13 censee or permittee that receives programming from a net14 work organization, but that is not owned or controlled, or 

15 under common ownership or control with, such network 

16 organization, shall be given reasonable opportunity to re17 view all recorded or scripted programming in advance. 

18 ‘‘(b) AUTHORITY TO PREEMPT.—A broadcast station 

19 licensee or permittee described in subsection (a)— 

20 ‘‘(1) may decide not to broadcast, or otherwise 

21 preempt, in whole or in part and without penalty, 

22 any programming that it reasonably believes depicts 

23 or describes— 

24 ‘‘(A) obscene, indecent, profane, or gratu25 itous and excessively violent material; or 
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1 ‘‘(B) activities that would be patently of2 fensive as measured by the community stand3 ards of the community in which they operate; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(2) shall notify, in advance, the network orga6 nization of any decision not to broadcast, or other7 wise preempt, any programming under paragraph 

8 (1). 

9 ‘‘(c) EXEMPTION FROM PENALTY.—A broadcast sta10 tion licensee or permittee described in subsection (a) shall 

11 not be subject to a forfeiture penalty under section 

12 503(b)(2) for the broadcast of a program found to be in 

13 violation of section 503(b)(1), if the broadcast station li14 censee or permittee prior to such broadcast was— 

15 ‘‘(1) required by a network organization to 

16 broadcast the program which was recorded or 

17 scripted, regardless of such broadcast station li18 censee or permittee’s decision not to broadcast, or 

19 otherwise preempt, the program under subsection 

20 (b); 

21 ‘‘(2) not provided a reasonable opportunity to 

22 review the program; or 

23 ‘‘(3) required to broadcast the program which 

24 was unscripted, live, or otherwise presented without 

25 a time delay blocking mechanism. 
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1 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this section shall pre2 clude the imposition of a forfeiture penalty under section 

3 503(b)(2) against a network organization or its owned and 

4 operated affiliate. 

5 ‘‘(e) DEFINITION.—The Commission shall by rule de6 fine the term ‘network organization’ for purposes of this 

7 section.’’. 

8 SEC. 7. WARNINGS BASED ON CONTENT OF PROGRAMMING. 

9 Part I of title III of the Communications Act of 1934 

10 (47 U.S.C. 301 et seq.), as amended by section 6, is 

11 amended by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 341. WARNINGS BASED ON CONTENT OF PROGRAM13 MING. 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each television and radio broad15 cast licensee, multichannel video programming distributor, 

16 or other programming service shall provide a warning of 

17 the specific content of each recorded or scripted program 

18 it broadcasts. 

19 ‘‘(b) WARNING STANDARDS.—A warning provided 

20 under subsection (a) shall— 

21 ‘‘(1) include information regarding the language 

22 content, sexual content, and violence content of the 

23 program to be broadcast or distributed; and 

24 ‘‘(2) be broadcast or distributed so as— 
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1 ‘‘(A) to appear in both visible and audible 

2 form; 

3 ‘‘(B) to appear full screen for 30 seconds 

4 at the beginning of the program, and every 30 

5 minutes thereafter in the case of a program in 

6 excess of 30 minutes in length; and 

7 ‘‘(C) to advise viewers of their ability to 

8 block any such program, including programs 

9 containing gratuitous and excessively violent 

10 material, using V-chip technology to block dis11 play of programs with a common rating re12 quired under subsection (x) of section 303. 

13 ‘‘(c) REVIEW.—The Commission shall, from time to 

14 time, review the warnings on the content of broadcast pro15 gramming required under this section for the purpose of 

16 assuring that such warnings meet the requirements of this 

17 section. 

18 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the 

19 terms ‘multichannel video programming distributor’ and 

20 ‘other programming service’ have the same meaning given 

21 such terms in section 602. 

22 ‘‘(e) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this section shall be 

23 deemed or construed to relieve, preclude, or obviate the 

24 application of the ratings standards set forth in the TV 

25 Parental Guidelines (Video Programming Ratings, Report 
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1 and Order, CS Docket No. 97–55, 13 F.C.C. Rcd. 8232 

2 (1998)) as such voluntary ratings were established by the 

3 National Association of Broadcasters, the National Cable 

4 Television Association, and the Motion Picture Association 

5 of America and approved by the Commission in implemen6 tation of section 551.’’. 

7 SEC. 8. ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF VOL8 UNTARY RATING STANDARDS. 

9 The Commission shall— 

10 (1) assess the effectiveness of measures de11 signed to provide parents with timely information 

12 about the rating of upcoming broadcast program13 ming under the TV Parental Guidelines (Video Pro14 gramming Ratings, Report and Order, CS Docket 

15 No. 97–55, 13 F.C.C. Rcd. 8232 (1998)) as such 

16 voluntary ratings were established by the National 

17 Association of Broadcasters, the National Cable Tel18 evision Association, and the Motion Picture Associa19 tion of America and approved by the Commission in 

20 implementation of section 551 of the Telecommuni21 cations Act of 1996; 

22 (2) assess the technical feasibility of developing 

23 ratings systems from alternative sources; and 

24 (3) not later than 180 days after the date of 

25 enactment of this Act, report its findings based on 
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1 the assessment under paragraphs (1) and (2) to the 

2 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor3 tation of the United States Senate and the Com4 mittee on Energy and Commerce of the United 

5 States House of Representatives. 

6 SEC. 9. CHILDREN’S PROGRAMMING REQUIREMENTS. 

7 (a) INCREASE IN AMOUNT OF EDUCATIONAL AND IN8 FORMATIONAL PROGRAMMING FOR CHILDREN.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

10 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

11 Commission shall promulgate regulations in accord12 ance with section 102(a) of the Children’s Television 

13 Act of 1990 (47 U.S.C. 303a(a)), to require that 

14 each television broadcast licensee broadcast not less 

15 than 6 hours of programming specifically designed 

16 to serve the educational and informational needs of 

17 children during hours when children are reasonably 

18 likely to comprise a substantial portion of the audi19 ence. 

20 (2) PROPORTIONAL INCREASE FOR DIGITAL

21 TELEVISION MULTICASTS.—In response to the re22 quirements of section 309(j)(14), the Commission 

23 shall promulgate regulations in accordance with sec24 tion 102(a) of the Children’s Television Act of 1990 

25 (47 U.S.C. 303a(a)), to require each television 
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1 broadcast licensee providing digital multicasts to 

2 provide an amount of time to broadcast program3 ming specifically designed to serve the educational 

4 and informational needs of children during hours 

5 when children are reasonably likely to comprise a 

6 substantial portion of the audience in the same ratio 

7 to its total amount of time provided to such chil8 dren’s programming on its main stream under para9 graph (1) bears to the total amount of time provided 

10 to all programming during the hours when children 

11 are reasonably likely to comprise a substantial por12 tion of the audience. 

13 (b) REPORT.—The Commission shall amend its regu14 lations to require each television broadcast licensee to file, 

15 regularly, a report on how it met, for the year in review, 

16 its obligations to serve the educational and informational 

17 needs of children in accordance with section 102(a) of the 

18 Children’s Television Act of 1990 (47 U.S.C. 303a(a)). 

19 (c) WEBSITE REQUIREMENT.—The Commission shall 

20 amend its regulations to require each television broadcast 

21 licensee for which there is a publicly accessible website on 

22 the Internet— 

23 (1) to make its report available to the public on 

24 that website; or 
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1 (2) to provide a hyperlink on that website to 

2 the report on the Commission’s website. 

3 SEC. 10. REINSTATEMENT OF VOLUNTARY CODE OF CON4 DUCT. 

5 (a) VOLUNTARY INDUSTRY CODE OF CONDUCT GOV6 ERNING CONTENT OF BROADCAST PROGRAMMING.—It is 

7 the sense of the Congress that each television and radio 

8 broadcast licensee, multichannel video programming dis9 tributor, or other programming service should reinstitute 

10 or adopt, as the case may be, and faithfully comply with, 

11 the provisions set forth in the ‘‘Television Code of the Na12 tional Association of Broadcasters’’ as adopted on Decem13 ber 6, 1951, with amendments thereafter, by the Tele14 vision Board of the National Association of Broadcasters, 

15 formerly known as the National Association of Radio and 

16 Television Broadcasters. 

17 (b) ANTITRUST EXEMPTION.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The antitrust laws as de19 fined in subsection (a) of the first section of the 

20 Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12) and the law of unfair 

21 competition under section 5 of the Federal Trade 

22 Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45) shall not apply to 

23 any joint discussion, consideration, review, action, or 

24 agreement by or among television and radio broad25 cast licensees, multichannel video programming dis-
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1 tributors, or other programming services for the pur2 pose of, and limited to, developing and disseminating 

3 voluntary guidelines designed to provide a code of 

4 conduct regarding the content of broadcast pro5 grams. 

6 (2) EXCEPTION.—The exemption provided for 

7 in this subsection shall not apply to any joint discus8 sion, consideration, review, action, or agreement 

9 which results in a boycott of any person, corpora10 tion, advertiser, or industry. 

11 SEC. 11. PREMIUM AND PAY-PER-VIEW CHANNELS EXEMPT. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act shall be 

13 deemed or construed to apply to any premium or pay-per14 view service. 

15 (b) DEFINITION.—For the purpose of this section, 

16 the term ‘‘premium or pay-per-view service’’ shall mean 

17 any video programming provided by a multichannel video 

18 programming distributor that is offered on a per channel 

19 or per program basis. 

Æ