[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 191 (Monday, October 4, 2010)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 61101-61102]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-22530]



[[Page 61101]]

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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 79

[CG Docket No. 05-231; DA 10-253]


Closed Captioning of Video Programming

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Final rule; waiver of requirements.

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SUMMARY: In this document, the Commission, via the Consumer and 
Governmental Affairs Bureau (Bureau), waives in part the requirement 
that video programming distributors (VPDs) place contact information 
for the pursuit of immediate closed captioning concerns and the filing 
of closed captioning complaints in telephone directories. Some VPDs do 
not use telephone directories to communicate with the public, and 
therefore the Bureau waives the rule in such situations, so long as the 
VPD makes the contact information available on its Web site or on 
billing statements. The waiver thus balances the goal of ensuring that 
consumers are readily able to locate VPD contact information, with 
preventing unduly burdensome compliance with the telephone directories 
provisions for VPDs that do not use telephone directories to 
communicate with the public.

DATES: This document is October 4, 2010. The provision in 47 CFR 
79.1(i)(1) and (2), published at 74 FR 1594, January 13, 2009, 
requiring video programming distributors to place contact information 
required by this section in local telephone directories is waived 
beginning February 19, 2010, for certain video programming 
distributors. FCC will publish a document in the Federal Register to 
lift the waiver.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amelia Brown, Consumer and 
Governmental Affairs Bureau, Disability Rights Office at (202) 418-2799 
(voice), (202) 418-7804 (TTY), or e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Bureau's Order, DA 
10-253, Closed Captioning of Video Programming, CG Docket No. 05-231, 
adopted February 16, 2010, and released February 16, 2010. The full 
text of DA 10-253 and copies of any subsequently filed documents in 
this matter will be available for public inspection and copying during 
regular business hours at the FCC Reference Information Center, Portals 
II, 445 12th Street, SW., Room CY-A257, Washington, DC 20554. DA 10-253 
and copies of subsequently filed documents in this matter also may be 
purchased from the Commission's duplicating contractor at Portals II, 
445 12th Street, SW., Room CY-B402, Washington, DC 20554. Customers may 
contact the Commission's duplicating contractor at its Web site http://www.bcpiweb.com or by calling 1-800-378-3160.
    To request materials in accessible formats for people with 
disabilities (Braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), 
send an e-mail to [email protected] or call the Consumer and Governmental 
Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice) or (202) 418-0432 (TTY). DA 
10-253 also can be downloaded in Word or Portable Document Format (PDF) 
at: http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/dro/caption.html.

Synopsis

    1. On November 7, 2008, the Commission released Closed Captioning 
of Video Programming, Closed Captioning Requirements for Digital 
Television Receivers, CG Docket No. 05-231, ET Docket No. 99-254, 
Declaratory Ruling, Order, and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, FCC 08-
255, (2008 Closed Captioning Order), published at 74 FR 1594, January 
13, 2009, which, among other things, requires VPDs to make available 
two types of contact information--information for the receipt and 
handling of immediate closed captioning concerns by consumers, and 
information for written closed captioning complaints. The Commission 
directed VPDs to include this information on their Web sites, if the 
VPD has a Web site, in telephone directories, and in billing 
statements, if the VPD issues billing statements to subscribers. DISH 
Network L.L.C., a national provider of direct broadcast satellite 
service, petitioned the Commission for relief from the obligation to 
place contact information in telephone directories, stating that it 
does not currently directly advertise or otherwise place commercial 
listings in local telephone directories, and does not have direct 
relationships with publishers of local telephone directories. DISH 
Network requested that the Bureau clarify that a VPD is not required to 
place advertisements or listings in telephone directories in order to 
provide closed captioning information if the VPD does not otherwise use 
telephone directories as a direct means of communicating with viewers.
    2. Because the ``clarification'' that DISH Networks seeks does not 
appear to be supported by the language of the Commission's 2008 Closed 
Captioning Order, the Bureau declines to make it. However, the Bureau 
finds good cause to grant a limited waiver of the telephone directories 
provisions of amended 47 CFR 79.1. While 47 CFR 79.1(i) is designed to 
ensure that consumers are readily able to locate contact information 
for the pursuit of immediate closed captioning concerns or the filing 
of closed captioning complaints, on balance the Bureau is persuaded 
that compliance with the telephone directories provisions could be 
unduly burdensome where a company does not already use telephone 
directories, particularly for a nationwide company such as DISH 
Network. Therefore, the Bureau waives amended 47 CFR 79.1 to the extent 
that it requires VPDs to place the required contact information in 
local telephone directories in which the VPD does not itself directly 
advertise or otherwise place commercial listings, so long as the VPD 
makes the contact information available on its Web site or in billing 
statements.
    3. For purposes of this waiver, the Bureau defines commercial 
listing to include any paid advertisement or other paid listing. This 
might include, for example, a paid expanded listing that contains more 
than merely name, location, and telephone number, or a listing in a 
larger, bolded, or highlighted font as compared to the standard 
listing, or the listing of a toll free (rather than local) number. In 
instances where a VPD has already contracted for a paid advertisement 
or other paid listing, DISH Network's concern that it would have to 
establish new relationships with directory publishers is inapplicable, 
and there is therefore no reason to waive the telephone directory 
requirement in such situations.

Congressional Review Act (CRA)

    On December 5, 2008, OMB concurred that the Order adopting 47 CFR 
79.1(i), document FCC 08-255, published at 74 FR 1594, January 13, 
2009, was a non-major action pursuant to the CRA. Document DA 10-253 
merely waives a specific provision of 47 CFR 79.1(i) and, as such, is 
not subject to the CRA.

Ordering Clause

    Pursuant to sections 4(i) and 713 of the Communications Act of 
1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 154(i) and 613, 47 CFR 1.3, and the 
authority delegated pursuant to 47 CFR 0.141 and 0.361, 47 CFR 79.1 
(i)(1) and (i)(2) is waived to the extent described herein.


[[Page 61102]]


Federal Communications Commission.
Mark Stone,
Deputy Chief, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau.
[FR Doc. 2010-22530 Filed 10-1-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P