[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 876 Reported in Senate (RS)]






                                                       Calendar No. 953
106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                 S. 876

                          [Report No. 106-509]

 To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require that the broadcast 
of violent video programming be limited to hours when children are not 
  reasonably likely to comprise a substantial portion of the audience.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 26, 1999

   Mr. Hollings (for himself, Mr. Dorgan, Mr. Byrd, and Mr. Inouye) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
           Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

            October 26 (legislative day, September 22), 2000

               Reported by Mr. McCain, with an amendment
 [Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in 
                                italic]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require that the broadcast 
of violent video programming be limited to hours when children are not 
  reasonably likely to comprise a substantial portion of the audience.

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

<DELETED>SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    This Act may be cited as the ``Children's Protection from 
Violent Programming Act''.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 2. FINDINGS.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    The Congress makes the following findings:</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) Television influences the perception children 
        have of the values and behavior that are common and acceptable 
        in society.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) Broadcast television, cable television, and 
        video programming are--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) pervasive presences in the lives of 
                all American children; and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) readily accessible to all American 
                children.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) Violent video programming influences children, 
        as does indecent programming.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (4) There is empirical evidence that children 
        exposed to violent video programming at a young age have a 
        higher tendency to engage in violent and aggressive behavior 
        later in life than those children not so exposed.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (5) Children exposed to violent video programming 
        are prone to assume that acts of violence are acceptable 
        behavior and therefore to imitate such behavior.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (6) Children exposed to violent video programming 
        have an increased fear of becoming a victim of violence, 
        resulting in increased self-protective behaviors and increased 
        mistrust of others.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (7) There is a compelling governmental interest in 
        limiting the negative influences of violent video programming 
        on children.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (8) There is a compelling governmental interest in 
        channeling programming with violent content to periods of the 
        day when children are not likely to comprise a substantial 
        portion of the television audience.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (9) Because some programming that is readily 
        accessible to minors remains unrated and therefore cannot be 
        blocked solely on the basis of its violent content, restricting 
        the hours when violent video programming is shown is the least 
        restrictive and most narrowly tailored means to achieve a 
        compelling governmental interest.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (10) Warning labels about the violent content of 
        video programming will not in themselves prevent children from 
        watching violent video programming.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (11) Although many programs are now subject to 
        both age-based and content-based ratings, some broadcast and 
        non-premium cable programs remain unrated with respect to the 
        content of their programming.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (12) Technology-based solutions may be helpful in 
        protecting some children, but may not be effective in achieving 
        the compelling governmental interest in protecting all children 
        from violent programming when parents are only able to block 
        programming that has in fact been rated for violence.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (13) Technology-based solutions will not be 
        installed in all newly manufactured televisions until January 
        1, 2000.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (14) Even though technology-based solutions will 
        be readily available, many consumers of video programming will 
        not actually own such technology for several years and 
        therefore will be unable to take advantage of content based 
        ratings to prevent their children from watching violent 
        programming.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (15) In light of the fact that some programming 
        remains unrated for content, and given that many consumers will 
        not have blocking technology in the near future, the channeling 
        of violent programming is the least restrictive means to limit 
        the exposure of children to the harmful influences of violent 
        programming.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (16) Restricting the hours when violent 
        programming can be shown protects the interests of children 
        whose parents are unavailable, are unable to supervise their 
        children's viewing behavior, do not have the benefit of 
        technology-based solutions, are unable to afford the costs of 
        technology-based solution, or are unable to determine the 
        content of those shows that are only subject to age-based 
        ratings.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 3. UNLAWFUL DISTRIBUTION OF VIOLENT VIDEO 
              PROGRAMMING.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    Title VII of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 701 
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:</DELETED>

<DELETED>``SEC. 715. UNLAWFUL DISTRIBUTION OF VIOLENT VIDEO PROGRAMMING 
              NOT SPECIFICALLY BLOCKABLE BY ELECTRONIC MEANS.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    ``(a) Unlawful Distribution.--It shall be unlawful for any 
person to distribute to the public any violent video programming during 
hours when children are reasonably likely to comprise a substantial 
portion of the audience.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(b) Rulemaking Proceeding.--The Commission shall conduct 
a rulemaking proceeding to implement the provisions of this section and 
shall promulgate final regulations pursuant to that proceeding not 
later than 9 months after the date of enactment of the Children's 
Protection from Violent Programming Act. As part of that proceeding, 
the Commission--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(1) may exempt from the prohibition under 
        subsection (a) programming (including news programs and 
        sporting events) whose distribution does not conflict with the 
        objective of protecting children from the negative influences 
        of violent video programming, as that objective is reflected in 
        the findings in section 551(a) of the Telecommunications Act of 
        1996;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(2) shall exempt premium and pay-per-view cable 
        programming; and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(3) shall define the term `hours when children 
        are reasonably likely to comprise a substantial portion of the 
        audience' and the term `violent video programming'.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(c) Repeat Violations.--If a person repeatedly violates 
this section or any regulation promulgated under this section, the 
Commission shall, after notice and opportunity for hearing, revoke any 
license issued to that person under this Act.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(d) Consideration Of Violations In License Renewals.--
The Commission shall consider, among the elements in its review of an 
application for renewal of a license under this Act, whether the 
licensee has complied with this section and the regulations promulgated 
under this section.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(e) Distribute Defined.--In this section, the term 
`distribute' means to send, transmit, retransmit, telecast, broadcast, 
or cablecast, including by wire, microwave, or satellite.''.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 4. SEPARABILITY.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    If any provision of this Act, or any provision of an 
amendment made by this Act, or the application thereof to particular 
persons or circumstances, is found to be unconstitutional, the 
remainder of this Act or that amendment, or the application thereof to 
other persons or circumstances shall not be affected.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    The prohibition contained in section 715 of the 
Communications Act of 1934 (as added by section 3 of this Act) and the 
regulations promulgated thereunder shall take effect 1 year after the 
regulations are adopted by the Commission.</DELETED>

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Children's Protection from Violent 
Programming Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Television influences children's perception of the 
        values and behavior that are common and acceptable in society.
            (2) Broadcast television, cable television, and video 
        programming are--
                    (A) uniquely pervasive presences in the lives of 
                all American children; and
                    (B) readily accessible to all American children.
            (3) Violent video programming influences children, as does 
        indecent programming.
            (4) There is empirical evidence that children exposed to 
        violent video programming at a young age have a higher tendency 
        to engage in violent and aggressive behavior later in life than 
        those children not so exposed.
            (5) There is empirical evidence that children exposed to 
        violent video programming have a greater tendency to assume 
        that acts of violence are acceptable behavior and therefore to 
        imitate such behavior.
            (6) There is empirical evidence that children exposed to 
        violent video programming have an increased fear of becoming a 
        victim of violence, resulting in increased self-protective 
        behaviors and increased mistrust of others.
            (7) There is a compelling governmental interest in limiting 
        the negative influences of violent video programming on 
        children.
            (8) There is a compelling governmental interest in 
        channeling programming with violent content to periods of the 
        day when children are not likely to comprise a substantial 
        portion of the television audience.
            (9) A significant amount of violent programming that is 
        readily accessible to minors remains unrated specifically for 
        violence and therefore cannot be blocked solely on the basis of 
        its violent content.
            (10) Age-based ratings that do not include content rating 
        for violence do not allow parents to block programming based 
        solely on violent content thereby rendering ineffective any 
        technology-based blocking mechanism designed to limit violent 
        video programming.
            (11) The most recent study of the television ratings system 
        by the Kaiser Family Foundation concludes that 79 percent of 
        violent programming is not specifically rated for violence.
            (12) Technology-based solutions, such as the V-chip, may be 
        helpful in protecting some children, but cannot achieve the 
        compelling governmental interest in protecting all children 
        from violent programming when parents are only able to block 
        programming that has, in fact, been rated for violence.
            (13) Restricting the hours when violent programming can be 
        shown protects the interests of children whose parents are 
        unavailable, unable to supervise their children's viewing 
        behavior, do not have the benefit of technology-based 
        solutions, are unable to afford the costs of technology-based 
        solutions, or are unable to determine the content of those 
        shows that are only subject to age-based ratings.
            (14) After further study, pursuant to a rulemaking, the 
        Federal Communications Commission may conclude that content-
        based ratings and blocking technology do not effectively 
        protect children from the harm of violent video programming.
            (15) If the Federal Communications Commission reaches the 
        conclusion described in paragraph (14), the channeling of 
        violent video programming will be the least restrictive means 
        of limiting the exposure of children to the harmful influences 
        of violent video programming.

SEC. 3. ASSESSMENT OF EFFECTIVENESS OF CURRENT RATING SYSTEM FOR 
              VIOLENCE AND EFFECTIVENESS OF V-CHIP IN BLOCKING VIOLENT 
              PROGRAMMING.

    (a) Report.--The Federal Communications Commission shall--
            (1) assess the effectiveness of measures to require 
        television broadcasters and multichannel video programming 
        distributors (as defined in section 602(13) of the 
        Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 522(13)) to rate and 
        encode programming that could be blocked by parents using the 
        V-chip undertaken under section 715 of the Communications Act 
        of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 715) and under subsections (w) and (x) of 
        section 303 of that Act (47 U.S.C. 303(w) and (x)) in 
        accomplishing the purposes for which they were enacted; and
            (2) report its findings to the Committee on Commerce, 
        Science, and Transportation of the United States Senate and the 
        Committee on Commerce of the United States House of 
        Representatives, within 12 months after the date of enactment 
        of this Act, and annually thereafter.
    (b) Action.--If the Commission finds at any time, as a result of 
its ongoing assessment under subsection (a), that the measures referred 
to in subsection (a)(1) are insufficiently effective, then the 
Commission shall complete a rulemaking within 270 days after the date 
on which the Commission makes that finding to prohibit the distribution 
of violent video programming during the hours when children are 
reasonably likely to comprise a substantial portion of the audience.
    (c) Definitions.--Any term used in this section that is defined in 
section 715 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 715), or in 
regulations under that section, has the same meaning as when used in 
that section or in those regulations.

SEC. 4. UNLAWFUL DISTRIBUTION OF VIOLENT VIDEO PROGRAMMING THAT IS NOT 
              SPECIFICALLY RATED FOR VIOLENCE AND THEREFORE IS NOT 
              BLOCKABLE.

    Title VII of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 701 et seq.) 
is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 715. UNLAWFUL DISTRIBUTION OF VIOLENT VIDEO PROGRAMMING NOT 
              SPECIFICALLY BLOCKABLE BY ELECTRONIC MEANS.

    ``(a) Unlawful Distribution.--It shall be unlawful for any person 
to distribute to the public any violent video programming not blockable 
by electronic means specifically on the basis of its violent content 
during hours when children are reasonably likely to comprise a 
substantial portion of the audience.
    ``(b) Rulemaking Proceeding.--The Commission shall conduct a 
rulemaking proceeding to implement the provisions of this section and 
shall promulgate final regulations pursuant to that proceeding not 
later than 9 months after the date of enactment of the Children's 
Protection from Violent Programming Act. As part of that proceeding, 
the Commission--
            ``(1) may exempt from the prohibition under subsection (a) 
        programming (including news programs and sporting events) whose 
        distribution does not conflict with the objective of protecting 
        children from the negative influences of violent video 
        programming, as that objective is reflected in the findings in 
        section 551(a) of the Telecommunications Act of 1996;
            ``(2) shall exempt premium and pay-per-view cable 
        programming and premium and pay-per-view direct-to-home 
        satellite programming; and
            ``(3) shall define the term `hours when children are 
        reasonably likely to comprise a substantial portion of the 
        audience' and the term `violent video programming'.
    ``(c) Enforcement.--
            ``(1) Forfeiture penalty.--The Commission shall impose a 
        forfeiture penalty of not more than $25,000 on any person who 
        violates this section or any regulation promulgated under it 
        for each such violation. For purposes of this paragraph, each 
        day on which such a violation occurs is a separate violation.
            ``(2) License revocation.--If a person repeatedly violates 
        this section or any regulation promulgated under this section, 
        the Commission shall, after notice and opportunity for hearing, 
        revoke any license issued to that person under this Act.
            ``(3) License renewals.--The Commission shall consider, 
        among the elements in its review of an application for renewal 
        of a license under this Act, whether the licensee has complied 
        with this section and the regulations promulgated under this 
        section.
    ``(d) Definitions.--For purposes of this section--
            ``(1) Blockable by electronic means.--The term `blockable 
        by electronic means' means blockable by the feature described 
        in section 303(x).
            ``(2) Distribute.--The term `distribute' means to send, 
        transmit, retransmit, telecast, broadcast, or cablecast, 
        including by wire, microwave, or satellite, but it does not 
        include the transmission, retransmission, or receipt of any 
        voice, data, graphics, or video telecommunications accessed 
        through an interactive computer service as defined in section 
        230(f)(2) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 
        230(f)(2)), which is not originated or transmitted in the 
        ordinary course of business by a television broadcast station 
        or multichannel video programming distributor as defined in 
        section 602(13) of that Act (47 U.S.C. 522(13)).
            ``(3) Violent video programming.--The term `violent video 
        programming' as defined by the Commission may include matter 
        that is excessive or gratuitous violence within the meaning of 
        the 1992 Broadcast Standards for the Depiction of Violence in 
        Television Programs, December 1992.''.

SEC. 5. FTC STUDY OF MARKETING STRATEGY IMPROVEMENTS.

    The Federal Trade Commission shall study the marketing of violent 
content by the motion picture, music recording, and computer and video 
game industries to children, including the marketing practices 
improvements described by industry representatives at the hearing held 
by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on 
September 13, 2000. The Commission shall assess the extent to which 
these marketing practices have improved under the model of self-
regulation as recommended by the Commission in its September, 2000, 
report, Making Violent Entertainment to Children: A Review of Self 
Regulation and Industry Practices in the Motion Picture, Music 
Recording and Electronic Game Industries. The Commission shall report 
the results of the study, including findings, and recommendations, if 
any, to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 
and the House of Representatives Committee on Commerce within 18 months 
after the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 6. SEPARABILITY.

    If any provision of this Act, or any provision of an amendment made 
by this Act, or the application thereof to particular persons or 
circumstances, is found to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this 
Act or that amendment, or the application thereof to other persons or 
circumstances shall not be affected.

SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The prohibition contained in section 715 of the Communications Act 
of 1934 (as added by section 2 of this Act) and the regulations 
promulgated thereunder shall take effect 1 year after the regulations 
are adopted by the Commission.
            Amend the title so as to read: ``A Bill To amend the 
        Communications Act of 1934 to require that violent video 
        programming is limited to broadcast after the hours when 
        children are reasonably likely to comprise a substantial 
        portion of the audience, unless it is specifically rated on the 
        basis of its violent content so that it is blockable by 
        electronic means specifically on the basis of that content.''.




                                                       Calendar No. 953

106th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                                 S. 876

                          [Report No. 106-509]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require that the broadcast 
of violent video programming be limited to hours when children are not 
  reasonably likely to comprise a substantial portion of the audience.

_______________________________________________________________________

            October 26 (legislative day, September 22), 2000

                       Reported with an amendment