[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3602 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3602

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 with respect to retransmission 
   consent and must-carry for cable operators and satellite carriers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 19, 2007

   Mr. Paul introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on 
   the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
  Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 with respect to retransmission 
   consent and must-carry for cable operators and satellite carriers.

    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 ``TV Consumer Freedom Act''.

SEC. 2. RETRANSMISSION CONSENT.

    Section 325(b) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 325(b)) 
is amended--
            (1) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following:
    ``(b)(1) No cable system or other multichannel video programming 
distributor shall retransmit the signal of a broadcasting station, or 
any part thereof, except with the express authority of the station.'';
            (2) in paragraph (3)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``and of the 
                right to signal carriage under section 614'';
                    (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``and the 
                right to signal carriage under section 614''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(C) Within 45 days after the effective date of the TV Consumer 
Freedom Act, the Commission shall commence a rulemaking proceeding to 
revise the regulations governing the exercise by television broadcast 
stations of the right to grant retransmission consent under this 
subsection. Such regulations shall establish election time periods that 
correspond with those regulations adopted under subparagraph (B). The 
rulemaking shall be completed within 180 days after the effective date 
of the TV Consumer Freedom Act.''; and
            (3) by striking paragraphs (4) and (5) and redesignating 
        paragraph (6) as paragraph (4).

SEC. 3. ELIMINATION OF MUST-CARRY REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Report.--Sections 338, 614, and 615 of the Communications Act 
of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 338, 534, and 535) are repealed.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Section 623(b)(7)(A) of the Communications Act of 1934 
        (47 U.S.C. 543(b)(7)(A)) is amended by striking clause (i) and 
        redesignating clauses (ii) and (iii) as clauses (i) and (ii).
            (2) Section 635 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
        U.S.C. 555) is amended by striking subsection (c).
            (3) Section 653 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
        U.S.C. 573) is amended--
                    (A) in subsection (b)(1)(A), by striking ``614, or 
                615,''; and
                    (B) in subsection (c)(1)(B), by striking ``sections 
                611, 614, and 615'' and inserting ``section 611''.
            (4) Section 336(b)(3) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
        U.S.C. 336(b)(3)) is amended by striking ``have any rights to 
        carriage under section 614 or 615 or''.

SEC. 4. TERMINATION OF MANDATES FOR TELEVISION FEATURES AND FUNCTIONS.

    All regulations of the Federal Communications Commission requiring 
television receivers sold in the United States to include particular 
types of features or functions, or specifying the technology to be used 
to provide such features or functions, shall cease to be effective on 
the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 5. CLARIFICATION OF STATUTORY COPYRIGHT LICENSE FOR SATELLITE 
              CARRIERS.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 1 of title 17, United States Code, is 
amended by inserting after section 119 the following:
``Sec. 119A. Clarification of exclusive rights: secondary transmissions 
              of distant network signals for private home viewing by 
              certain satellite carriers.
    ``(a) Statutory License Granted.--Notwithstanding any injunction 
issued under section 119(a)(7)(B), a satellite carrier is granted a 
statutory license to provide a secondary transmission of a performance 
or display of a work embodied in a primary transmission made by a 
network station in accordance with the provisions of this section.
    ``(b) Significantly Viewed Signals.--Under the statutory license 
granted by subsection (a), a satellite carrier may provide a secondary 
transmission of a primary transmission made by a network station as 
provided under section 119(a)(2)(C)(i).''.
    (b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections for 
chapter 1 of title 17, United States Code, is amended by inserting 
after the item relating to section 119 the following:

``119A. Clarification of exclusive rights: secondary transmissions of 
                            distant network signals for private home 
                            viewing by certain satellite carriers''.

SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall take effect on 
the date of the enactment of this Act.
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