The V-Chip
On February 8, 1996, President Clinton1 signed into law the Telecommunications Act of 19962, which will dramatically alter the telecommunications industry over the next several years. One of the most controversial sections of the bill was Section 551, titled "Parental Choice in Television Programming," which calls for manufacturers to include a "V-chip" in every new TV set 13 inches or larger.
The V-chip is a device that will enable viewers to program their televisions to block out content with a common rating. Proponents of the system say that it will enable parents to protect their children from viewing violent and explicit material. Opponents say it violates the First Amendment rights of the broadcasters, and enforces government censorship on the television industry.
The provision gives broadcasters, cable operators, and other "video distributors" one year to develop a voluntary rating system for programming that contains "sexual, violent, or other indecent material." If the industry fails to agree on a rating system within that time, the FCC is to develop a rating system based on an advisory board's recommendations.16
The Television Decoder Circuitry Act of 19903 required all new televisions sold in the United States to contain a chip to decode closed-captioning4 signals. The basic technology needed to implement the V-chip is the same as that currently used for closed-captioning.
Program rating information would be transmitted along with the television signal, and be decoded by a chip in each television. The chip would then compare the rating codes to values preset by the viewer. If the rating codes are higher than the preset values, the television signal would be blocked, and a blank screen would ...
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...ing FAQ
5) VBI Information
6) Electronic Industries Association
7) TV Industry Statement on the V-Chip
8) Broadcasters Commit to Implementing a Rating System
9) ACLU Law Suit
10) Motion Picture Association of America
Paper References
11) "Why the Markey Chip Won't Hurt You," Broadcasting & Cable, August 14, 1995, pp 10-15.
12) Dickson, Glen, "How's It Work?" Broadcasting & Cable, February 12, 1996, p 24.
13) McConville, Jim, "V-Chip Battle Gets N.Y. Preview," Broadcasting & Cable, February 12, 1996, p 8.
14) Stern, Christopher, "Broadcasters Plotting V-Chip Legal Strategy," Broadcasting & Cable, February 12, 1996, p 23.
15) Stern, Christopher, "The V-Chip First Amendment Infringement vs. Empowerment Tool," Broadcasting & Cable, February 12, 1996, pp 20-21.
16) "V-Chip: A Matter of Law," Broadcasting & Cable, February 12, 1996, p 21.
Alonso, Karen. Schenck v. United States: restrictions on free speech. Springfield, NJ: Enslow Publishers, 1999. Print.
Constitutional Commentary, Vol. 27, Issue 2 (Fall 2011), pp. 347-360 Volokh, Eugene 27 Const. Comment. 347 (2010-2011)
Riccardi, Michael (1998) “Dennis: Get Rid Of Challenges Without Cause” The Legal Intelligencer, Oct. 14: pg 1.
Norris, Floyd. "Bausch & Lomb and S.E.C. Settle Dispute on '93 Profits." The New York Times. The New York Times, 18 Nov. 1997. Web. 16 May 2014.
However, by the time that the television was invented, we as people should have known that any form of technology usually comes ...
Levy, Robert. "Cato Institute." National Law Journal (2013): n. pag. Cato Institute. Web. 09 Oct. 2013.
Set aside the morals for a moment and look at the issue with openness. Are the Federal Communications Commission rules regarding pornographic programming effective? Yes they are, however, it took until the 2004 contr...
The ‘Golden Age of Television’ is what many refer to as the period between the 1950s and 60s when the television began to establish itself as a prevalent medium in the United States. In 1947, the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), and the Du Mont Network were the four main television networks that ran stations with regular programming taking place. (Television, 2003) While regular television programming was a new innovation, the television itself had been commercially available for over twenty years prior to the 50s. It was conceived by many worldly innovators and went through several testing stages before it was finally completed in the late twenties. The three main innovators were Niplow - who first developed a rotating disk with small holes arranged in a spiral pattern in 1884, Zworykin - who developed the Iconoscope which could scan pictures and break them into electronic signals (a primitive form of the Cathode Ray Tube) in 1923, and lastly Fansworth - who demonstrated for the first time that it was possible to transmit an electrical image in 1927. (Rollo, 2011) However, one of the many reasons why this medium was successful in the 50s was due to the fact that it became more accessible to the public. Television sets were more affordable to middle class citizens which created further interest in the new technology. Through an historical account of the medium, the spread of television across America throughout this particular decade will be examined.
10.) Gates, David. "A New Whack at the Borden Case." Newsweek, June 4, 1984: 12.
Censorship in television is a very debatable topic in today’s media and social realms. Nowadays what is considered appropriate by many may actually be considered explicit or unsuitable by the people in charge. Some may wonder ‘who is deemed so highly that they can decide what is and is not appropriate to watch. The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) is ‘responsible for administratively enforcing the law that governs what is and is not appropriate. Within this article I will discuss how the FCC decides what the American viewers are allowed to see.
Presently 98% of the households in the United States have one or more televisions in them. What once was regarded as a luxury item has become a staple appliance of the American household. Gone are the days of the three channel black and white programming of the early years; that has been replaced by digital flat screen televisions connected to satellite programming capable of receiving thousands of channels from around the world. Although televisions and television programming today differ from those of the telescreens in Orwell’s 1984, we are beginning to realize that the effects of television viewing may be the same as those of the telescreens.
M. h. Abrams. The. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, Inc, 1993. 726. The.
With an objective to capture light in a series of lines and beams, the television was introduced as a product of moving images. With the help of several investors, Philip T. Farnsworth invented the television in the 1920’s. With help from others including Vladimar Zworkyn, John Baird, and Charles Jenkins, the television underwent many trials and tests before its final completion. In a collaborative effort the previously mentioned men worked to establish a way to broadcast pictures through the colors of black and white to its present color TV. Television images are portrayed simultaneously around the network.” Accurate timing of devices and split-second movements of cameras are the essentials of television operation” (Television Volume III, 1938, p.1).
“Electronic television was first successfully demonstrated in San Francisco on September 7, 1927.” (Stephens) Television sets were designed by Philo Taylor, a 21 year old inelegant boy who had no electricity in the family home from the age 14 to 21. While Philo was still in school, he had took pictures of moving things in a form that he could code them onto radio waves, so it could go on a projector and bounce a picture onto the screen. The first image that was transmitted onto a signal line was invited by John Baird from New England, and Charles Jenkins from the United States, the image was transmitted on in the earlier in the 1920.