I 
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4861 
To authorize the Federal Communications Commission to impose licensing 
conditions on digital audio radio to protect against the unauthorized 
distribution of transmitted content. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 2, 2006 
Mr. FERGUSON (for himself, Mr. TOWNS, Mrs. BONO, Mr. GORDON, and Mrs. 
BLACKBURN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To authorize the Federal Communications Commission to 
impose licensing conditions on digital audio radio to pro-
tect against the unauthorized distribution of transmitted 
content. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Audio Broadcast Flag 
Licensing Act of 2006’’. 
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SEC. 2. LICENSING OF DEVICES FOR OVER-THE-AIR AND 
SATELLITE DIGITAL AUDIO BROADCASTING. 
Part I of title III of the Communications Act of 1934 
(47 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 342. GRANT OF LIMITED AUTHORITY REGARDING 
THE LICENSING OF DEVICES FOR OVER-THE- 
AIR AND SATELLITE DIGITAL AUDIO BROAD-
CASTING. 
‘‘(a) GRANT OF AUTHORITY.—The Commission has 
authority— 
‘‘(1) to require and enforce, subject to sub-
sections (b) and (c), in conjunction with the in-band, 
on-channel technical standard for digital audio 
broadcast transmissions under consideration in MM 
Docket No. 99–235, or any successor regulations, 
that— 
‘‘(A) all technologies necessary to make 
transmission and reception devices compliant 
with such technical standard are licensed on 
reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms; 
‘‘(B) such licenses shall include prohibi-
tions against unauthorized copying and redis-
tribution of transmitted content through the 
use of a broadcast flag or similar technology, in 
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a manner generally consistent with the purposes 
of other applicable law; and 
‘‘(C) licensees of the Commission providing 
digital audio broadcast service shall give effect 
to and comply with such prohibitions; and 
‘‘(2) to require and enforce, subject to sub-
sections (b) and (c), as part of its regulation of sat-
ellite digital audio radio services (SDARS) pursuant 
to part 25 of the Commission rules, or any successor 
regulations, that— 
‘‘(A) all technologies necessary to make 
transmission and reception devices capable of 
receiving satellite digital audio radio trans-
missions are licensed on reasonable and non-
discriminatory terms; 
‘‘(B) such licenses shall include prohibi-
tions against unauthorized copying and redis-
tribution of transmitted content through the 
use of a broadcast flag or similar technology, in 
a manner generally consistent with the purposes 
of other applicable law; and 
‘‘(C) licensees of the Commission providing 
satellite digital audio radio services shall give 
effect to and comply with such prohibitions. 
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‘‘(b) DISCLOSURE.—Any rules and regulations pro-
mulgated pursuant to subsection (a) that apply to the use 
of transmissions, or content therein, shall require the full 
disclosure of any information required to enable the manu-
facture of compliant devices. 
‘‘(c) LIMITATIONS ON REGULATIONS.—The adoption 
of any digital audio regulations pursuant to this section— 
‘‘(1) shall not delay the adoption of final oper-
ational rules for digital audio broadcasting; 
‘‘(2) shall not make obsolete any devices already 
manufactured and distributed in the marketplace be-
fore the implementation of such regulations; and 
‘‘(3) shall not be inconsistent with the cus-
tomary use of broadcast content by consumers to the 
extent such use is consistent with the purposes of 
this act and other applicable law. 
‘‘(d) REVISIONS PERMITTED.—The Commission may 
reconsider, amend, repeal, supplement, and otherwise 
modify, in whole or in part, any regulations adopted pur-
suant to subsection (a) in order to further the purposes 
of this section, except that any change in such regulations 
shall employ a broadcast flag or similar technology as the 
means to achieve those purposes. 
‘‘(e) ACTIVITIES OF PERFORMING RIGHTS AND ME-
CHANICAL RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS.—Nothing shall pre-
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clude or prevent a performing rights organization or a me-
chanical rights organization, or any entity owned in whole 
or in part by, or acting on behalf of, such organizations, 
from monitoring public performances or other uses of 
copyrighted works contained in such transmissions. The 
Commission may require that any such organization or en-
tity be given a license on either a gratuitous basis or for 
a de minimus fee to cover only the reasonable costs to 
the licensor of providing the license, and on reasonable, 
non-discriminatory terms, to access and retransmit as nec-
essary any content contained in such transmissions pro-
tected by content protection or similar technologies, pro-
vided that such licenses are for purposes of carrying out 
the activities of such organizations or entities in moni-
toring the public performance or other uses of copyrighted 
works and that such organizations or entities employ rea-
sonable methods to protect any such content accessed 
from further distribution.’’. 
Æ 
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