Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 110 Part 1.djvu/165

 PUBLIC LAW 104-104—FEB. 8, 1996 110 STAT. 141 (B) provide to the committee such staff and resources as may be necessary to permit it to perform its functions efficiently and promptly; and (C) require the committee to submit a final report Reports, of its recommendations within one year after the date of the appointment of the initial members. (c) REQUIREMENT FOR MANUFACTURE OF TELEVISIONS THAT BLOCK PROGRAMS.— Section 303 (47 U.S.C. 303), as amended by subsection (a), is further amended by adding at the end the following: "(x) Require, in the case of an apparatus designed to receive television signals that are shipped in interstate commerce or manufactured in the United States and that have a picture screen 13 inches or greater in size (measured diagonally), that such apparatus be equipped with a feature designed to enable viewers to block display of all programs with a common rating, except as otherwise permitted by regulations pursuant to section 330(c)(4).". (d) SHIPPING OF TELEVISIONS THAT BLOCK PROGRAMS.— (1) REGULATIONS. —Section 330 (47 U.S.C. 330) is amended— (A) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (d); and (B) by adding after subsection (b) the following new subsection (c): "(c)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), no person shall ship in interstate commerce or manufacture in the United States any apparatus described in section 303(x) of this Act except in accordance with rules prescribed by the Commission pursuant to the authority granted by that section. "(2) This subsection shall not apply to carriers transporting apparatus referred to in paragraph (1) without trading in it. "(3) The rules prescribed by the Commission under this subsection shall provide for the oversight by the Commission of the adoption of standards by industry for blocking technology. Such rules shall require that all such apparatus be able to receive the rating signals which have been transmitted by way of line 21 of the vertical blanking interval and which conform to the signal and blocking specifications established by industry under the supervision of the Commission. "(4) As new video technology is developed, the Commission shall take such action as the Commission determines appropriate to ensure that blocking service continues to be available to consumers. If the Commission determines that an alternative blocking technology exists that— "(A) enables parents to block programming based on identifying programs without ratings, "(B) is available to consumers at a cost which is comparable to the cost of technology that allows parents to block programming based on common ratings, and "(C) will allow parents to block a broad range of programs on a multichannel system as effectively and as easily as technology that allows parents to block programming based on common ratings, the Commission shall amend the rules prescribed pursuant to section 303(x) to require that the apparatus described in such section be equipped with either the blocking technology described in such

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