[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 602 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 602

     To develop the next generation of parental control technology.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 15, 2007

   Mr. Pryor introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To develop the next generation of parental control technology.

    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 ``Child Safe Viewing Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Video programming has a direct impact on a child's 
        perception of safe and reasonable behavior.
            (2) Children imitate actions they witness on video 
        programming, including language, drug use, and sexual conduct.
            (3) Studies indicate that the strong appeal of video 
        programming erodes the ability of parents to develop 
        responsible attitudes and behavior in their children.
            (4) The average American child watches 4 hours of 
        television each day.
            (5) Seventy-five percent of adults surveyed believe that 
        television content marketed toward children should be subject 
        to compulsory principles.
            (6) Ninety-nine and nine-tenths percent of all consumer 
        complaints logged by the Federal Communications Commission in 
        the first quarter of 2006 regarding radio and television 
        broadcasting were because of obscenity, indecency, and 
        profanity.
            (7) There is a compelling government interest in empowering 
        parents to limit their children's exposure to harmful 
        television content.
            (8) Section 1 of the Communications Act of 1934 requires 
        the Federal Communications Commission to promote the safety of 
        life and property through the use of wire and radio 
        communications.
            (9) In the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Congress 
        authorized Parental Choice in Television Programming and the V-
        Chip. Congress further directed action on alternative blocking 
        technology as new video technology advanced.

SEC. 3. EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVE PARENTAL CONTROL TECHNOLOGIES.

    (a) Rulemaking Proceeding Required.--Not later than 120 days after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Communications 
Commission shall initiate a proceeding to consider measures to 
encourage or require the use of advanced blocking technologies that are 
compatible with various communications devices or platforms.
    (b) Content of Proceeding.--In conducting the proceeding required 
under subsection (a), the Federal Communications Commission shall 
consider advanced blocking technologies that--
            (1) may be appropriate across a wide variety of 
        distribution platforms, including wired, wireless, and Internet 
        platforms;
            (2) may be appropriate across a wide variety of devices 
        capable of transmitting or receiving video or audio 
        programming, including television sets, DVD players, VCRs, 
        cable set top boxes, satellite receivers, and wireless devices;
            (3) can filter language based upon information in closed 
        captioning;
            (4) operate independently of ratings pre-assigned by the 
        creator of such video or audio programming; and
            (5) may be effective in enhancing the ability of a parent 
        to protect his or her child from indecent or objectionable 
        programming, as determined by such parent.
    (c) Definition.--In this section, the term ``advanced blocking 
technologies'' means technologies that can improve or enhance the 
ability of a parent to protect his or her child from any indecent or 
objectionable video or audio programming, as determined by such parent, 
that is transmitted through the use of wire, wireless, or radio 
communication.
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