[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 130 (Thursday, November 16, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11070-S11071]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. LEAHY (for himself, Mr. Allard, Mr. Rockefeller, Mr. Byrd, 
        Mr. Inouye, Mr. Salazar, Mr. Roberts, Ms. Snowe, Mr. Pryor, Mr. 
        Enzi, Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Ensign):
  S. 4067. A bill to provide for secondary transmissions of distant 
network signals for private home viewing by certain satellite carriers; 
to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, today I am pleased to introduce the 
Satellite Consumer Protection Act of 2006, and I am proud that Senators 
Inouye, Snowe, Allard, Rockefeller, and Byrd, Pryor, Enzi, and Clinton 
are among those joining me in sponsoring this important bill. I regret 
the necessity of this legislation, but I am determined to protect 
consumers--especially consumers in rural areas such as Vermont.
  This is a pro-consumer, bipartisan bill that addresses a problem that 
soon will face millions of Americans who subscribe to satellite TV 
services. I realize full well that this bill may not please the major 
corporations affected by this remedy, but its intent is not to help 
corporations, but to help home satellite viewers.
  A Federal court recently found that EchoStar willfully, flagrantly 
and repeatedly violated Federal law, and I believe that EchoStar should 
be held to account for its decade of illegal activity. The situation is 
ultimately quite complicated, but the simplest version is this: 
EchoStar has been bringing distant network signals to areas that did 
not need satellite to provide access to that programming. But the 
penalty for such actions is harsh, and the court that heard the lawsuit 
had no choice: EchoStar will be required to stop retransmitting any 
distant signals. EchoStar flouted the law, but it is consumers who will 
suffer. Unless we pass this bill, many rural subscribers around the 
country will lose access to news and entertainment programming from the 
free, over-the-air broadcast networks.
  The Satellite Consumer Protection Act is a practical, narrow, and--
most importantly--pro-consumer solution to a problem of Echo Star's 
creation. The court-issued injunction, set to take effect December 1, 
will prohibit EchoStar from providing any distant network stations to 
any of its customers. Under the Satellite Consumer Protection Act, the 
injunction will apply to the roughly 95 percent of the country where 
EchoStar provides residents their local, over-the-air stations. Our 
legislation would only permit EchoStar to bring in distant network 
stations in three situations. First, where local stations are not 
available from a satellite provider, EchoStar could bring in a distant 
network station if it compensates the local station. Second, in areas 
that do not have affiliates of all four networks, EchoStar could bring 
in a distant signal of the missing network affiliate because no local 
station would be harmed. Third, stations from neighboring localities 
that are considered ``significantly viewed'' by the Federal 
Communications Commission, and are generally treated as local stations, 
could be carried.
  This legislation would not be complete without an enforcement 
provision that will truly curb EchoStar's practice of illegally 
providing copyrighted content. The Satellite Consumer Protection Act 
therefore imposes real monetary penalties for violating the Act and 
requires EchoStar to put sufficient funds in escrow with the copyright 
office to cover any future violations.
  This bipartisan bill respects the legitimate interests of 
broadcasters who have been harmed by EchoStar's actions, while it 
serves the interests of the people who are the innocent bystanders and 
the real victims of this emerging problem: the consumers who are paying 
for these services.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 4067

       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 Consumer 
     Protection Act of 2006''.

     SEC. 2. LIMITATIONS ON EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS: SECONDARY 
                   TRANSMISSIONS OF DISTANT NETWORK SIGNALS FOR 
                   PRIVATE HOME VIEWING BY CERTAIN SATELLITE 
                   CARRIERS.

       (a) In General.--Chapter 1 of title 17, United States Code, 
     is amended by inserting after section 119 the following:

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

       ``(a) Statutory License Granted.--
       ``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any injunction issued 
     under section 119(a)(7)(B), a satellite carrier found to have 
     engaged in a pattern or practice of violations pursuant to 
     section 119(a)(7)(B) 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.
       ``(2) Significantly viewed signals.--Under the statutory 
     license granted by paragraph (1), a satellite carrier may 
     provide a secondary transmission of a primary transmission 
     made by a network station as provided in paragraph (2)(C) or 
     (3) of section 119(a).
       ``(3) Distant signals.--
       ``(A) In general.--Under the statutory license granted by 
     paragraph (1), a satellite carrier may provide a secondary 
     transmission of a performance or display of a work embodied 
     in a primary transmission made by a network station, subject 
     to the limitations of subparagraphs (B) and (C), of not more 
     than 1 network station in a single day for each television 
     network.
       ``(B) Non-local-into-local markets.--A satellite carrier 
     may provide a secondary transmission under subparagraph (A) 
     in a local market (as defined in section 122(j)) in which a 
     satellite carrier does not currently provide, and has not 
     ever provided, a transmission pursuant to a statutory license 
     under section 122, if the satellite carrier--
       ``(i) complies with the terms and conditions for a 
     statutory license under section 119; and
       ``(ii) certifies to the Copyright Office within 30 days 
     after the date of enactment of the Satellite Consumer 
     Protection Act of 2006, or before initiating service to a 
     subscriber under this section, whichever is later, that all 
     subscribers receiving secondary transmissions pursuant to a 
     statutory license under this section in that local market 
     reside in unserved households, as determined under section 
     119(a)(2)(B)(ii); and

[[Page S11071]]

       ``(iii) deposits, in addition to the deposits required by 
     section 119(b)(1), a duplicate payment with the Register of 
     Copyrights in the same amount for each network station in the 
     local market affiliated with the same network as the network 
     station being imported.
       ``(C) Short markets.--In a local market (as defined in 
     section 122(j)) in which a network station (as defined in 
     section 119(d)) affiliated with the ABC, CBS, NBC, or Fox 
     television network is not licensed by the Federal 
     Communications Commission, a satellite carrier may provide 
     secondary transmission under subparagraph (A) of the primary 
     signals of a network station affiliated with that network, if 
     the satellite carrier--
       ``(i) complies with the terms and conditions for a 
     statutory license under section 119; and
       ``(ii) certifies to the Copyright Office within 30 days 
     after the date of enactment of the Satellite Consumer 
     Protection Act of 2006, or before initiating service to a 
     subscriber under this section, whichever is later, that all 
     subscribers receiving secondary transmissions pursuant to a 
     statutory license under this section in that local market 
     reside in unserved households, as determined under section 
     119(a)(2)(B)(ii).
       ``(D) Short market exception.--
       ``(i) In general.--Notwithstanding subparagraph (C), a 
     satellite carrier may not provide secondary transmission of 
     the primary signals of a network station under that 
     subparagraph if secondary transmission of those signals could 
     be provided under paragraph (2).
       ``(ii) Discontinuance of secondary transmission when 
     primary signal becomes available.--Notwithstanding 
     subparagraph (C), a satellite carrier that has been providing 
     secondary transmission of the primary signals of a network 
     station under subparagraph (C) in a local market may not 
     provide such secondary transmission in that local market more 
     than 30 days after the date on which a network station 
     affiliated with the same network begins to broadcast or 
     rebroadcast the basic programming service of that network in 
     that local market and could be carried pursuant to a license 
     under section 122.
       ``(b) Distribution of Duplicate Deposit Amounts.--The 
     Copyright Royalty Judges shall authorize the Librarian of 
     Congress to distribute semiannually amounts received by the 
     Register of Copyrights as deposits under subsection 
     (a)(3)(B)(iii), after deducting the reasonable costs incurred 
     by the Copyright Office and the Copyright Royalty Judges 
     under this section, in accordance with a process that the 
     Copyright Royalty Judges may prescribe by regulation, to a 
     network station (as defined in section 119(d)(2)) affiliated 
     with the network whose signals are being carried under this 
     section to a community within the local market (as defined in 
     section 122(j)) in which such signals are being provided 
     under this section.
       ``(c) Statutory Damages.--
       ``(1) In general.--The violation by a satellite carrier of 
     subsection (a) is actionable as an act of infringement under 
     section 501 and is subject to statutory damages equal to $100 
     per month multiplied by the number of subscribers with 
     respect to which the violation was committed for each month 
     during which the violation was committed (treating each month 
     of a continuing violation as a separate violation).
       ``(2) Petition.--A petition for statutory damages may be 
     made to the Copyright Royalty Judges, pursuant to such rules 
     as may be prescribed by the Copyright Royalty Judges by 
     regulation. In any proceeding under this section, the 
     satellite carrier shall have the burden of proving that its 
     secondary transmission of a primary transmission by a network 
     station is to a subscriber who is eligible to receive the 
     secondary transmission under this section.
       ``(3) Escrow.--As a condition of using the statutory 
     license under subsection (a), a satellite carrier must 
     deposit the sum of $20,000,000 in escrow with the Copyright 
     Office. The Copyright Office shall deposit the escrow funds 
     in an account in the Treasury of the United States, in such 
     manner as the Secretary of the Treasury directs, and invested 
     in interest-bearing securities of the United States with any 
     interest from such investment to be credited to the account. 
     The Copyright Royalty Judges shall have exclusive 
     jurisdiction to determine liability for and entitlement to 
     the statutory damages owed to the petitioning party in 
     accordance with a process to be prescribed by regulation and 
     they shall authorize the Librarian of Congress to distribute 
     funds from the escrow account to satisfy this determination. 
     After all petitions under this section against a satellite 
     carrier have been resolved, any amount remaining in the 
     satellite carrier's escrow account after February 17, 2009, 
     after deducting the reasonable costs incurred by the 
     Copyright Office and the Copyright Royalty Judges under this 
     section, shall be returned to the satellite carrier.
       ``(4) Judicial review.--A satellite carrier may seek 
     judicial review of all determinations of the Copyright 
     Royalty Judges on a consolidated basis in a single petition 
     of appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the 
     District of Columbia Circuit within 30 days after the later 
     of--
       ``(A) February 17, 2009; or
       ``(B) the date on which all amounts in the escrow account 
     have been distributed or returned.
       ``(d) Sunset.--This section shall not apply after February 
     17, 2009.''.
       (b) Conforming Amendment.--The chapter analysis for chapter 
     1 of title 17, United States Code, is amended by inserting 
     after the item relating to section 119 the following:

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

  Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, today, I am pleased to join my 
colleagues Senators Leahy and Allard in introducing the Satellite 
Consumer Protection Act of 2006. I am pleased that Senators Byrd, 
Inouye, Salazar, Snowe, Roberts, Enzi, and Ensign are original 
cosponsors.
  I want to thank Senator Leahy for his leadership on this issue. This 
bill builds upon the hard work and legislative language that 
Congressman Rick Boucher (D-VA) and I originally developed. Congressman 
Boucher has been invaluable in making all sure that all interested 
parties work together to protect consumers, and I must thank him for 
all of his hard work on this issue.
  We have introduced this legislation to protect consumers who through 
no fault of their own can no longer receive network television signals 
from DISH Network. Our constituents have lost this right because of a 
nationwide legal battle between DISH Network and television 
broadcasters. The Court found that DISH Network had violated the law 
and imposed a penalty. This decision impacted thousands of my 
constituent and I believe that Congress needed to restore the ability 
of these consumers to receive network signals. For many rural West 
Virginians, cable television is not available.
  We have a looming crisis on our hands and Congress must pass our bill 
immediately. We have a duty to our consumers to minimize the disruption 
to their daily lives, and our bill allows those consumers who do not 
have the ability to get local television stations in their area to 
continue to receive distant signals.
  Again, I urge quick adoption of this legislation.

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