Computer underground Digest Thu Nov 6, 1997 Volume 9 : Issue 81
ISSN 1004-042X
Editor: Jim Thomas (
[email protected])
News Editor: Gordon Meyer (
[email protected])
Archivist: Brendan Kehoe
Shadow Master: Stanton McCandlish
Shadow-Archivists: Dan Carosone / Paul Southworth
Ralph Sims / Jyrki Kuoppala
Ian Dickinson
Field Agent Extraordinaire: David Smith
Cu Digest Homepage:
http://www.soci.niu.edu/~cudigest
CONTENTS, #9.81 (Thu, Nov 6, 1997)
File 1--The FCC Wants V-Chip in PCs too
File 2--Text of FCC "V-Chip Proposal"
File 3--Cu Digest Header Info (unchanged since 7 May, 1997)
CuD ADMINISTRATIVE, EDITORIAL, AND SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION APPEARS IN
THE CONCLUDING FILE AT THE END OF EACH ISSUE.
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Date: Mon, 3 Nov 1997 10:04:57 -0500 (EST)
From:
[email protected]
Subject: File 1--The FCC Wants V-Chip in PCs too
Source: Cyber-Liberties Update
Monday, November 3, 1997
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The FCC Wants V-Chip in PCs too
Mandating that all new televisions have built-in censorship technology
is not the only thing that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
is seeking, said ACLU Associate Director Barry Steinhardt, it is also
looking to require that the same technology be added to all new personal
computers.
Last year, culminating a protracted campaign against TV violence,
Congress passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996, a law requiring that
new televisions be equipped with the so-called V-chip. The V-chip is a
computerized chip capable of detecting program ratings and blocking
adversely rated programs from view.
Now, the FCC has announced that it is soliciting public comments through
November 24, on the idea of placing V-chips inside personal computers
since some are capable of delivering television programming.
At the time the V-chip was being considered we warned that with the
growing convergence between traditional television (broadcast and cable)
and the Internet, it was only a matter of time before the government
would move to require that the V-chip be placed in PC's. Now that has
happened, Steinhardt said.
Hardwiring censorship technology into the PC is part of the headlong
rush to
a scheme of rating and blocking Internet content that will turn the
Internet into a bland homogenized medium in which only large corporate
interest will have truly free speech, Steinhardt said.
The ACLU has criticized the mandatory requirement of V-chip arguing that
it is a form of censorship clearly forbidden by the First Amendment.
Although its supporters claim the V-chip gives parents control over
their
children's viewing habits, in fact it will function as a governmental
usurpation of parental control, said Solange Bitol, Legislative Counsel
for the ACLUs Washington National Office.
Under the legislation, it is the government (either directly or by
coercing private industry), and not the parents, that will determine how
programs will be rated. If a parent activates the V-chip, all programs
with a "violent" rating will be blocked. What kind of violence will be
censored? Football games? War movies? News reports? she added.
The ACLU is opposed to mandatory addition or use of censoring
technologies and we will be filing comments with the FCC later this
month. We believe people are smart enough to turn off their television
sets or PCs on their own if they dont like what they see.
Tell the FCC what you think. Submit comments to them online at
<
http://www.fcc.gov/vchip/>, and send us a copy as well so that we make
sure your voice is heard. E-mail them to
[email protected].
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Cyber-Liberties Update is a bi-weekly e-zine on cases and
controversies at the state and federal level. Questions or comments
about the Update should be sent to Cassidy Sehgal at
[email protected].
Past issues are archived at
<
http://www.aclu.org/issues/cyber/updates.html>
To subscribe to the ACLU Cyber-Liberties Update, send a message to
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[email protected] with "unsubscribe Cyber-Liberties" in the body.
To become a member of the American Civil Liberties Union, visit the ACLU
web site <
http://www.newmedium.com/aclu/join.html>
For general information about the ACLU, write to
[email protected].
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 02 Nov 97 15:33 CST
From: Jim Thomas <
[email protected]>
Subject: File 2--Text of FCC "V-Chip Proposal"
((MODERATORS' NOTE: Considering the brouhaha the FCC proposal
has caused, here's the full text and readers can judge for
themselves)).
Source:
http://www.fcc.gov/vchip/welcome.html
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Before the
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
Technical Requirements to Enable Blocking )
of Video Programming based on Program ) ET Docket No. 97-206
Ratings )
)
Implementation of Sections 551(c), (d) and )
(e) of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 )
NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING
Adopted: September 25, 1997 ; Released: September 26, 1997
Comment Date: [45 days after publication in Federal Register]
Reply Comment Date: [60 days after publication in Federal Register]
By the Commission:
I. INTRODUCTION
1. By this action, we propose to amend Part 15 of our Rules
to require t hat most television receivers be equipped with
features that enable viewers to block the display of video
programming with a common rating. In addition, we propose to
amend Parts 73, 74 and 76 of our Rules to ensure the ratings
information that is associated with a particular video program is
not deleted from transmission by broadcast television stations,
low power television stations, television translator and booster
stations, and cable tele vision systems. We also propose that
similar requirements should be placed on other services that can
be used to distribute video programming to the home, such as
Multipoint Distribution Servi ce (MDS) and Direct Broadcast
Satellite Service (DBS). We take this action in response to the
Parental Choice in Television Programming requirements contained
in Sections 551(c), (d) , and (e) of the Telecommunications Act
of 1996 (the Telecommunications Act), which amended Sections 303
and 330 of the Communications Act of 1934.
2. The proposals contained in this Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking are int ended to give parents the ability to block
video programming that they do not want their children to watch.
They are also intended to provide a regulatory framework that
will acco mmodate the possible development and use of multiple
ratings systems, giving parents the fl exibility to choose the
ratings system that best meets their needs.
II. BACKGROUND
3. In the Telecommunications Act, Congress determined that
parents shoul d be provided "with timely information about the
nature of upcoming video programmin g and with the technological
tools that allow them easily to block violent, sexual, or oth er
programming that they believe harmful to their children . . . ."
Accordingly, Congress (1) mandated the inclusion in most new
television receivers of the so-called "V-chip" technology , which
will enable viewers to block the display of all programs with a
common rating, and ( 2) authorized the Commission to "Prescribe .
. guidelines and recommended procedures for th e identification
and rating of [such] video programming, . . . ." if distributors
of video programming do not establish acceptable voluntary
procedures within one year.
4. With respect to V-chip technology, Section 551(c) of the
Telecommunic ations Act directs the Commission to adopt rules
requiring that any "apparatus designed to receive television
signals that are shipped in interstate commerce or manufactured
in t he United States and that have a picture screen 13 inches or
greater in size (measured diagonall y) . . . be equipped with a
feature designed to enable viewers to block display of all prog
rams with a common rating . . . ." Section 551(d) states that
the Commission must "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 . . . ." That
provision also instructs the C ommission to oversee "the adoption
of standards by industry for blocking technology," and to ensure
that blocking capability continues to be available to consumers
as technology advanc es.
5. With respect to the ratings, the Telecommunications Act
directs the C ommission, on the basis of the recommendations of
an advisory committee, to prescribe guid elines and recommended
procedures for the identification and rating of video
programming, but only if the Commission determines that
distributors of video programming have not: (1) established
voluntary rules for rating video programming that contains
sexual, violent, or other indecent material about which parents
should be informed before it is displayed to child ren, and such
rules are "acceptable to the Commission;" and, (2) agreed
voluntarily to broadc ast signals that contain ratings of such
programming. On January 17, 1997, the National Associa tion of
Broadcasters (NAB), the National Cable Television Association
(NCTA), and the M otion Picture Association of America (MPAA)
submitted a joint proposal to the Commiss ion describing a
voluntary ratings system for video programming (the "industry
prop osal"). We have opened a separate proceeding, CS Docket No.
97-55, to consider whether thi s joint proposal meets the
requirements of the Telecommunications Act. On August 1, 19 97,
NAB, NCTA, and MPAA submitted a revised industry proposal. The
revised filing provi des for the display and transmission of
certain content-based indicators in addition to the six age-based
ratings categories. We have issued a public notice seeking
comment on this rev ised proposal.
III. DISCUSSION
6. We are adopting this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to
begin the proce ss of requiring television manufacturers to
include blocking technology in their tele vision receivers and to
ensure that any ratings information that is provided with video
programm ing is transmitted to the television receiver intact and
without disruption by any bro adcast, cable television, satellite
or other video programming distribution service. We reco gnize
that, at this time, we have not yet determined whether any of the
voluntary ratings syst ems proposed by industry are acceptable
under the Telecommunications Act. Nevertheless, we believe that
it is appropriate at this time to propose the technical
transmission and manufa cturing standards into which future
decisions on the ultimate ratings system can be incorporated.
7. Blocking Technology Standard. The Telecommunications
Act requires th at our rules: 1) provide for Commission
oversight of the adoption of industry standar ds for blocking
technology; and 2) require television receivers to receive
ratings signals that are transmitted via line 21 of the
television vertical blanking interval (VBI) and which confor m to
industry standards. Line 21 of the VBI is currently used
primarily for transmission of closed captions that allow the
hearing impaired and other viewers to read a visual depiction of
the information simultaneously being presented on the aural
channel. On a secondary, space-ava ilable basis, line 21 field 2
may also be used to transmit other data information.
8. The Electronics Industry Association (EIA) has adopted
an industry st andard, EIA-608, "Recommended Practice for Line 21
Data Service," that contains informa tion on data formats and
specific data packets that may be sent using line 21. We have
relied upon this industry standard to provide the specific
information on how line 21 infor mation should be transmitted and
used. On February 12, 1996, the EIA prepared for ballot a r
evision of EIA-608 that included, among other things, a proposal
on how program ratings in formation could be transmitted on line
21 field 2. However, after recognizing that the v ideo
programming industry was beginning to develop a program ratings
system that mig ht differ somewhat from the specific ratings
system contained in the proposed revision, E IA prepared a
further revision of EIA-608 that deletes the detailed rating
system information . The ballots for these revisions were
approved within EIA. As a result, EIA-608 now provide s a
non-specific methodology on how program ratings information can
be incorporated int o other information that is transmitted on
line 21 field 2. This methodology can be mo dified to allow for
the use of one or more specific program ratings systems.
9. We previously have found industry standard EIA-608 to be
extremely he lpful -- it has allowed television programmers,
closed-captioning service providers and tel evision receiver
manufacturers to have a standard method for transmitting and
using dat a information transmitted on line 21. It ensures
compatibility between the various uses of t his information and
minimizes the need for government regulation in this area. Due
to its broa d acceptance within the industry and its
applicability to the transmission of data on line 2 1, we believe
that it is appropriate for us to rely on EIA-608 as providing the
methodology for tr ansmitting program ratings information.
Accordingly, we propose that our rules be amended to require that
all television receivers with picture screens 33 cm (13 inches)
or larger, measured diagonally, shipped in interstate commerce,
manufactured, assembled, or importe d from any country into the
United States, receive program ratings transmitted pursuant to
industry standard EIA-608 and block video programming, both the
video picture and the as sociated audio on both the main and
second audio program (SAP) channels, based on a rati ngs level
specified by the user of the television receiver. To accomplish
this, we propo se to incorporate the appropriate provisions of
EIA-608 into our regulations. Althou gh we have tentatively
concluded that EIA-608 is the appropriate standard to use, we
invit e comment on whether other technical standards for blocking
technology are being developed o r have been developed, and
whether they should be used instead of or in addition to EIA-608
