PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

Summary

You cannot ship, import, make, or sell certain kinds of television equipment across state lines or from other countries unless it follows rules the FCC sets. Carriers who only move the equipment and do not sell it are not covered. Equipment with built-in decoders for closed captions, video description, or emergency information must meet FCC performance and display rules. Those devices must be able to receive and show closed captions sent on line 21 of the vertical blanking interval and meet the signal and display specs in the Public Broadcasting System engineering report E–7709–C (May 1980) as amended by the Telecaption II Decoder Module Performance Specification (November 1985). The FCC must update rules as video technology changes to keep these services available. TV sets and similar devices with parental blocking must follow FCC rules that oversee industry standards for blocking. They must receive rating signals sent on line 21 of the vertical blanking interval and follow industry blocking specs under FCC supervision. As new technology appears, the FCC must act to keep blocking working. If the FCC finds an alternative blocking method that lets parents block programs without ratings, costs about the same, and lets parents block many channels easily, devices must include either the old blocking tech or that alternative. Definitions: “interstate commerce” means trade across or through the States, D.C., Puerto Rico, or U.S. possessions; “United States” means the States, D.C., Puerto Rico, and U.S. possessions (not the Canal Zone).

Title 47, §330

Telegraphs, Telephones, and Radiotelegraphs, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)No person shall ship in interstate commerce, or import from any foreign country into the United States, for sale or resale to the public, apparatus described in subsection (s) of section 303 of this title unless it complies with rules prescribed by the Commission pursuant to the authority granted by that subsection: Provided, That this section shall not apply to carriers transporting such apparatus without trading in it.

(b)No person shall ship in interstate commerce, manufacture, assemble, or import from any foreign country into the United States, any apparatus described in section 303(u) and (z) of this title except in accordance with rules prescribed by the Commission pursuant to the authority granted by that section. Such rules shall provide performance and display standards for such built-in decoder circuitry or capability designed to display closed captioned video programming, the transmission and delivery of video description services, and the conveyance of emergency information as required by section 303 of this title. Such rules shall further require that all such apparatus be able to receive and display closed captioning which have been transmitted by way of line 21 of the vertical blanking interval and which conform to the signal and display specifications set forth in the Public Broadcasting System engineering report numbered E–7709–C dated May 1980, as amended by the Telecaption II Decoder Module Performance Specification published by the National Captioning Institute, November 1985. As new video technology is developed, the Commission shall take such action as the Commission determines appropriate to ensure that closed-captioning service and video description service continue to be available to consumers. This subsection shall not apply to carriers transporting such apparatus without trading it.

(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 title 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) of this title to require that the apparatus described in such section be equipped with either the blocking technology described in such section or the alternative blocking technology described in this paragraph.

(d)For the purposes of this section, and section 303(s), 303(u), and 303(x) of this title—

(1)The term “interstate commerce” means (A) commerce between any State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any possession of the United States and any place outside thereof which is within the United States, (B) commerce between points in the same State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or possession of the United States but through any place outside thereof, or (C) commerce wholly within the District of Columbia or any possession of the United States.

(2)The term “United States” means the several States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the possessions of the United States, but does not include the Canal Zone.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

For definition of Canal Zone, referred to in subsec. (d)(2), see section 3602(b) of Title 22, Foreign Relations and Intercourse.

Amendments

2010—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 111–260, in first sentence substituted “303(u) and (z)” for “303(u)”, in second sentence substituted “Such rules shall provide performance and display standards for such built-in decoder circuitry or capability designed to display closed captioned video programming, the transmission and delivery of video description services, and the conveyance of emergency information as required by section 303 of this title.” for “Such rules shall provide performance and display standards for such built-in decoder circuitry.”, and in fourth sentence substituted “closed-captioning service and video description service continue” for “closed-captioning service continues”. 1996—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 104–104, § 551(d)(1)(B), added subsec. (c). Former subsec. (c) redesignated (d). Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 104–104, § 551(d)(2), in introductory provisions substituted “and section 303(s), 303(u), and 303(x) of this title” for “section 303(s) of this title, and section 303(u) of this title”. Pub. L. 104–104, § 551(d)(1)(B), redesignated subsec. (c) as (d). 1990—Subsecs. (b), (c). Pub. L. 101–431 added subsec. (b), redesignated former subsec. (b) as (c), and substituted “, section 303(s) of this title, and section 303(u) of this title” for “and section 303(s) of this title”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1990 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 101–431 effective July 1, 1993, see section 5 of Pub. L. 101–431, set out as a note under section 303 of this title.

§330 Prohibition Against Shipment of Certain Television Receivers