• Multichannel News, Tuesday, August 7, 2007 10:45 AM

The Senate Commerce Committee has passed a bill requiring the Federal Communications Commission to look at the possibility of making media companies provide "advanced blocking technologies" to filter TV programming, along with Internet content. If it passes the full Senate, it would give the FCC would 90 days to initiate -- and 270 days to conclude -- a notice of inquiry that results in a report to Congress. But it would not authorize the FCC to adopt rules.

"It's an uphill battle for parents trying to protect their kids from viewing inappropriate programming," says sponsor Sen. David Pryor, an Arkansas Democrat. "I believe there is a whole new generation of technology that can provide an additional layer of help for these parents. My bill simply lights a fire under the FCC to take a fresh look at new options in the marketplace." While FCC chairman Kevin Martin backs an "a la carte" sale of cable networks as one solution to parental concerns, Pryor's approach wants regulators to seek other alternatives that don't "affect the packaging or pricing of a content provider's offering."

And the industry likes it too. Says Brian Dietz, a spokesman for the National Cable & Telecommunications Association: "Cable companies already provide customers with advanced parental-control technologies, and our industry is working hard to improve these tools so parents can easily monitor and screen out unwanted programming."

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