[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1103 Reported in House (RH)]

                                                 Union Calendar No. 385

103d CONGRESS

  2d Session

                               H. R. 1103

                          [Report No. 103-703]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

   To amend title 17, United States Code, with respect to secondary 
 transmissions of superstations and network stations for private home 
              viewing, and with respect to cable systems.

_______________________________________________________________________

                            August 16, 1994

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
                                                 Union Calendar No. 385
103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 1103

                          [Report No. 103-703]

   To amend title 17, United States Code, with respect to secondary 
 transmissions of superstations and network stations for private home 
              viewing, and with respect to cable systems.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 24, 1993

  Mr. Hughes (for himself and Mr. Moorhead) introduced the following 
       bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

                            August 16, 1994

   Additional sponsors: Mr. Peterson of Minnesota, Mr. Chapman, Mr. 
Spratt, Mr. Oberstar, Mr. Stupak, Mr. Payne of New Jersey, Mr. Payne of 
                  Virginia, Mr. Wise, and Mr. Williams

                            August 16, 1994

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]
    [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on 
                           February 24, 1993]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title 17, United States Code, with respect to secondary 
 transmissions of superstations and network stations for private home 
              viewing, and with respect to cable systems.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Satellite Home Viewer Act of 1994''.

SEC. 2. STATUTORY LICENSE FOR SATELLITE CARRIERS.

    Section 119 of title 17, United States Code, is amended as follows:
            (1) Subsection (a)(2)(C) is amended--
                    (A) by striking ``90 days after the effective date 
                of the Satellite Home Viewer Act of 1988, or'';
                    (B) by striking ``whichever is later,'';
                    (C) by inserting ``name and'' after ``identifying 
                (by'' each place it appears; and
                    (D) by striking ``, on or after the effective date 
                of the Satellite Home Viewer Act of 1988,''.
            (2) Subsection (a)(5) is amended by adding at the end the 
        following:
                    ``(D) Burden of proof.--In any action brought under 
                this paragraph, the satellite carrier shall have the 
                burden of proving that its secondary transmission of a 
                primary transmission by a network station is for 
                private home viewing to an unserved household.''.
            (3) Subsection (b)(1)(B) is amended--
                    (A) in clause (i) by striking ``12 cents'' and 
                inserting ``17.5 cents per subscriber in the case of 
                superstations not subject to syndicated exclusivity 
                under the regulations of the Federal Communications 
                Commission, and 14 cents per subscriber in the case of 
                superstations subject to such syndicated exclusivity''; 
                and
                    (B) in clause (ii) by striking ``3'' and inserting 
                ``6'';
            (4) Subsection (c) is amended--
                    (A) in paragraph (1) by striking ``December 31, 
                1992,'';
                    (B) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (A) by striking ``July 
                        1, 1991'' and inserting ``January 1, 1996''; 
                        and
                            (ii) in subparagraph (D) by striking 
                        ``December 31, 1994'' and inserting ``December 
                        31, 1999, or in accordance with the terms of 
                        the agreement, whichever is later'';
                    (C) in paragraph (3)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (A) by striking 
                        ``December 31, 1991'' and inserting ``July 1, 
                        1996'';
                            (ii) by amending subparagraph (D) to read 
                        as follows:
                    ``(D) Establishment of fair market rates.--In 
                determining royalty fees under this paragraph, the 
                Arbitration Panel shall establish a rate, for the 
                secondary transmission of network stations and 
                superstations, that reflects the fair market value of 
                such secondary transmissions. The Arbitration Panel 
                shall base its decision upon economic, competitive, and 
                programming information presented by the parties, and 
                shall take into account the competitive environment in 
                which such programming is distributed.'';
                            (iii) in subparagraph (E) by striking 
                        ``60'' and inserting ``180''; and
                            (iv) in subparagraph (G) by striking ``, or 
                        until December 31, 1994''.
            (5) Subsection (a) is amended--
                    (A) in paragraph (5)(C) by striking ``the Satellite 
                Home Viewer Act of 1988'' and inserting ``this 
                section''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(8) Transitional signal intensity measurement 
        procedures.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (C), 
                upon a challenge by a network station regarding whether 
                a subscriber is an unserved household within the 
                predicted Grade B Contour of the station, the satellite 
                carrier shall, within 60 days after the receipt of the 
                challenge--
                            ``(i) terminate service to that household 
                        of the signal that is the subject of the 
                        challenge, and within 30 days thereafter notify 
                        the network station that made the challenge 
                        that service to that household has been 
                        terminated; or
                            ``(ii) conduct a measurement of the signal 
                        intensity of the subscriber's household to 
                        determine whether the household is an unserved 
                        household.
                    ``(B) Effect of measurement.--If the satellite 
                carrier conducts a signal intensity measurement under 
                subparagraph (A) and the measurement indicates that--
                            ``(i) the household is not an unserved 
                        household, the satellite carrier shall, within 
                        60 days after the measurement is conducted, 
                        terminate the service to that household of the 
                        signal that is the subject of the challenge, 
                        and within 30 days thereafter notify the 
                        network station that made the challenge that 
                        service to that household has been terminated; 
                        or
                            ``(ii) the household is an unserved 
                        household, the station challenging the service 
                        shall reimburse the satellite carrier for the 
                        costs of the signal measurement within 60 days 
                        after receipt of the measurement results and a 
                        statement of the costs of the measurement.
                    ``(C) Limitation on measurements.--(i) 
                Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), a satellite carrier 
                may not be required to conduct signal intensity 
                measurements during any calendar year in excess of 5 
                percent of the number of subscribers within the network 
                station's local market that have subscribed to the 
                service as of the effective date of the Satellite Home 
                Viewer Act of 1994.
                    ``(ii) If a network station challenges whether a 
                subscriber is an unserved household in excess of 5 
                percent of the subscribers within the network's station 
                local market within a calendar year, subparagraph (A) 
                shall not apply to challenges in excess of such 5 
                percent, but the station may conduct its own signal 
                intensity measurement of the subscriber's household. If 
                such measurement indicates that the household is not an 
                unserved household, the carrier shall, within 60 days 
                after receipt of the measurement, terminate service to 
                the household of the signal that is the subject of the 
                challenge and within 30 days thereafter notify the 
                network station that made the challenge that service 
                has been terminated. The carrier shall also, within 60 
                days after receipt of the measurement and a statement 
                of the costs of the measurement, reimburse the network 
                station for the cost it incurred in conducting the 
                measurement.
                    ``(D) Outside the predicted grade b contour.--(i) 
                If a network station challenges whether a subscriber is 
                an unserved household outside the predicted Grade B 
                Contour of the station, the station may conduct a 
                measurement of the signal intensity of the subscriber's 
                household to determine whether the household is an 
                unserved household.
                    ``(ii) If the network station conducts a signal 
                intensity measurement under clause (i) and the 
                measurement indicates that--
                            ``(I) the household is not an unserved 
                        household, the station shall forward the 
                        results to the satellite carrier who shall, 
                        within 60 days after receipt of the 
                        measurement, terminate the service to the 
                        household of the signal that is the subject of 
                        the challenge, and shall reimburse the station 
                        for the costs of the measurement within 60 days 
                        after receipt of the measurement results and a 
                        statement of such costs; or
                            ``(II) the household is an unserved 
                        household, the station shall pay the costs of 
                        the measurement.
            ``(9) Loser pays for signal intensity measurement; recovery 
        of measurement costs in a civil action.--In any civil action 
        filed relating to the eligibility of subscribing households as 
        unserved households--
                    ``(A) a network station challenging such 
                eligibility shall reimburse the satellite carrier for 
                any signal intensity measurement that is conducted by 
                that carrier in response to a challenge by the network 
                station and that establishes the household is an 
                unserved household; and
                    ``(B) a satellite carrier shall reimburse the 
                network station challenging such eligibility for any 
                signal intensity measurement that is conducted by that 
                station and that establishes the household is not an 
                unserved household.
            ``(10) Inability to conduct measurement.--If a network 
        station makes a reasonable attempt to conduct a site 
        measurement of its signal at a subscriber's household and is 
        denied access for the purpose of conducting the measurement, 
        the satellite carrier shall within 60 days notice thereof, 
        terminate service of the station's network to that 
        household.''.
            (6) Subsection (d) is amended--
                    (A) by amending paragraph (2) to read as follows:
            ``(2) Network station.--The term `network station' means--
                    ``(A) a television broadcast station, including any 
                translator station or terrestrial satellite station 
                that rebroadcasts all or substantially all of the 
                programming broadcast by a network station, that is 
                owned or operated by, or affiliated with, one or more 
                of the television networks in the United States which 
                offer an interconnected program service on a regular 
                basis for 15 or more hours per week to at least 25 of 
                its affiliated television licensees in 10 or more 
                States; or
                    ``(B) a noncommercial educational broadcast station 
                (as defined in section 397 of the Communications Act of 
                1934).'';
                    (B) in paragraph (6) by inserting ``and operates in 
                the Fixed-Satellite Service under part 25 of title 47 
                of the Code of Federal Regulations or the Direct 
                Broadcast Satellite Service under part 100 of title 47 
                of the Code of Federal Regulations'' after 
                ``Commission''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(11) Local market.--The term `local market' means the 
        area encompassed within a network station's predicted Grade B 
        contour as that contour is defined by the Federal 
        Communications Commission.''.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    (a) Cable System.--Section 111(f) of title 17, United States Code, 
is amended in the paragraph relating to the definition of ``cable 
system'' by inserting ``microwave,'' after ``wires, cables,''.
    (b) Local Service Area.--Section 111(f) of title 17, United States 
Code, is amended in the paragraph relating to the definition of ``local 
service area of a primary transmitter'' by inserting after ``April 15, 
1976,'' the following: ``or such station's television market as defined 
in section 76.55(e) of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations (as in 
effect on September 18, 1993), or any modifications to such television 
market made, on or after September 18, 1993, pursuant to section 
76.55(e) or 76.59 of title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations,''.

SEC. 4. TERMINATION.

    (a) Expiration of Amendments.--Section 119 of title 17, United 
States Code, as amended by section 2 of this Act, ceases to be 
effective on December 31, 1999.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 207 of the Satellite Home Viewer 
Act of 1988 (17 U.S.C. 119 note) is repealed.

SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    (a) In General.--Except as provided in subsections (b) and (d), 
this Act and the amendments made by this Act take effect on the date of 
the enactment of this Act.
    (b) Burden of Proof Provisions.--The provisions of section 
119(a)(5)(D) of title 17, United States Code (as added by section 2(2) 
of this Act) relating to the burden of proof of satellite carriers, 
shall take effect on January 1, 1997, with respect to civil actions 
relating to the eligibility of subscribers who subscribed to service as 
an unserved household before the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (c) Transitional Signal Intensity Measurement Procedures.--The 
provisions of section 119(a)(8) of title 17, United States Code (as 
added by section 2(5) of this Act), relating to transitional signal 
intensity measurements, shall cease to be effective on December 31, 
1996.
    (d) Local Service Area of a Primary Transmitter.--The amendment 
made by section 3(b), relating to the definition of the local service 
area of a primary transmitter, shall take effect on July 1, 1994.