Congressional Research Service Reports - 4 Matching Results
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- Television Satellite and Cable Retransmission of Broadcast Video Programming Under the Copyright Act’s Compulsory Licenses
- This report reviews the history and background of the cable and television satellite licenses of the Copyright Act, reviews the Satellite Home Viewer Act of 1994, and notes recent developments, including: the 1997 satellite license rate adjustment; pending bills relating to the compulsory licenses; and the August 1997 report of the Copyright Office on these licenses.
- Satellite Television License of the Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. Section 119) and the 1997 Rate Adjustment
- This report summarizes the basic features of the television satellite compulsory license of the Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. 119), including the rate adjustment procedures; reviews the October 1997 rate adjustment setting the current 27-cent per signal per month per subscriber rate; and summarizes recent legislative proposals to stay further implementation of the 1997 rate adjustment, or to revise the section 119 license.
- Radiofrequency Spectrum Management
- The radio spectrum, a limited and valuable resource, is used for all forms of wireless communications including cellular telephony, paging, personal communications service, radio, and television broadcast, telephone radio relay, aeronautical and maritime radio navigation, and satellite command and control.
- V-Chip and TV Ratings: Helping Parents Supervise Their Children's Television Viewing
- To assist parents in supervising the television viewing habits of their children, Congress included a provision in the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-104) that television sets with screens 13 inches or larger sold in the United States be equipped with a "V-chip" to screen out objectionable programming. A V-chip is a computer chip that can detect program rating information that is transmitted with the television signal (broadcast or cable) and block the display of programs designated as unacceptable by parents. The use of the V-chip by parents is optional. In March 1998, the Federal Communications Commission approved technical standards for the V-chip and directed that manufacturers include V-chip technology in at least half of their product models by July 1, 1999, and the other half by January 1, 2000. At the same time, the Commission approved a program rating system developed and now used by most of the television industry. An age-based rating system was announced in December 1996.