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Bill
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Title II — Video policy reforms

S. 2799 · 113th Congress · Sep 11, 2014 · Lineage

II Video policy reforms

Sec. 201 Consumer protections in retransmission consent

(a)
Joint retransmission consent negotiations— Section 325(b)(3)(C) (47 U.S.C. 325(b)(3)(C)) is amended—
(1)
in clause (ii), by striking “and” at the end;
(2)
in clause (iii), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; and”; and
(3)
by adding at the end the following:

“(iv) prohibit a television broadcast station from coordinating negotiations or negotiating on a joint basis with another television broadcast station to grant retransmission consent under this section to a multichannel video programming distributor, unless such stations are directly or indirectly under common de jure control permitted by the Federal Communications Commission;”

(b)
Protections for significantly viewed and other television signals— Section 325(b)(3)(C) (47 U.S.C. 325(b)(3)(C)), as amended, is further amended by adding at the end the following:

“(v) prohibit a television broadcast station from limiting the ability of a multichannel video programming distributor to carry a television signal that has been deemed significantly viewed, within the meaning of section 76.54 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation, or any other television broadcast signal such distributor is authorized to carry under section 338 or 614 of this Act, into the local market of such station, unless such stations are directly or indirectly under common de jure control permitted by the Commission; and”

(c)
Per se violations— Section 325(b)(3)(C) (47 U.S.C. 325(b)(3)(C)), as amended, is further amended by adding at the end the following:

“(vi) following an expiration of a retransmission consent agreement between a television broadcast station and a multichannel video programming distributor under this section, permit the Commission—

“(I) to request from the parties such information as it deems necessary to ensure that neither party has committed a per se violation of its duty to negotiate in good faith under this paragraph; and

“(II) to determine, based on the information collected under subclause (I) and in accordance with this Act, that a party to a retransmission consent negotiation has committed a per se violation of its duty to negotiate in good faith.”

(d)
Good faith— Section 325(b)(3) (47 U.S.C. 325(b)(3)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

“(D) Update to good faith rules—The Commission shall commence a rulemaking to revise the regulations issued pursuant to subparagraph (C). That rulemaking shall—

“(i) consider whether each of the following constitutes a failure to negotiate in good faith as required by this paragraph—

“(I) the blocking of online content owned or controlled by a television broadcast station or a television network, or the act of soliciting, encouraging, or otherwise seeking to have another entity block access to online content, during retransmission consent negotiations or after the expiration of a retransmission consent agreement; and

“(II) allowing a television network to review and approve the rates, terms, and conditions of a retransmission consent agreement, or the material terms of such agreement, for any television broadcast station not wholly owned by such network; and

“(ii) review and update the Commission's totality of the circumstances test to ensure that such test encourages parties to a retransmission consent negotiation to present bona fide proposals on the material terms of a retransmission consent agreement during negotiations and engage in timely negotiations to reach an agreement.”

(e)
Conforming amendment— Section 325(b)(7) (47 U.S.C. 325(b)(7)) is amended—
(1)
in subparagraph (A), by striking “and” at the end;
(2)
in subparagraph (B), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; and”; and
(3)
by adding at the end the following:

“(C) television network means a television network in the United States which offers an interconnected program service on a regular basis for 15 or more hours per week to at least 25 affiliated broadcast stations in 10 or more States.”

(f)
Margin corrections—
(1)
Section 325(b)(3)(C) (47 U.S.C. 325(b)(3)(C)) is further amended by moving the margin of clause (iii) 4 ems to the left.
(2)
Section 325(b) (47 U.S.C. 325(b)) is amended by moving the margin of paragraph (7), as amended by this section, 4 ems to the left.

Sec. 202 Update to cable rates report

Section 623(k) (47 U.S.C. 543(k)) is amended to read as follows:

“(k) Reports on average prices

“(1) In general—The Commission shall annually publish statistical reports on the average rates for basic cable service and other cable programming, and for converter boxes, remote control units, and other equipment of cable systems that the Commission has found are subject to effective competition under subsection (a)(2) compared with cable systems that the Commission has found are not subject to such effective competition.

“(2) Inclusion in annual report—The Commission shall include in its report under paragraph (1), the aggregate average total amount paid by cable systems per community in compensation under section 325.”

Sec. 203 Competitive device availability

(a)
Termination of effectiveness—
(1)
New navigation devices— The authority provided by the second sentence of section 76.1204(a)(1) of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, terminates effective on the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act.
(2)
Revision of regulations— Not later than 910 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Communications Commission shall revise its regulations to strike the sentence described in paragraph (1) and make any necessary conforming revisions to its regulations.
(b)
Working Group—
(1)
In general— Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission shall convene a working group of technical experts representing a wide range of stakeholders, to identify and report performance objectives, technical capabilities, and technical standards of a non-burdensome, uniform, and technology- and platform-neutral software-based downloadable security system designed to promote the competitive availability of navigation devices in furtherance of section 629 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 549).
(2)
Report— Not later than 540 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the working group shall file a report with the Federal Communications Commission on its work under paragraph (1).
(3)
Commission assistance— The Chairperson of the Federal Communications Commission may appoint a member of the Commission's staff—
(A)
to moderate and direct the work of the working group under this subsection; and
(B)
to provide technical assistance to members of the working group, as appropriate.
(4)
Initial meeting— The initial meeting of the working group shall take place not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.

Sec. 204 Administrative reforms to effective competition petitions

Section 623 (47 U.S.C. 543) is amended by adding at the end the following:

“(o) Streamlined petition process for small cable operators

“(1) In general—Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the Satellite Television Access and Viewer Rights Act, the Commission shall complete a rulemaking to establish a streamlined process for filing of an effective competition petition pursuant to this section for small cable operators, particularly those who serve primarily rural areas.

“(2) Construction—Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to have any effect on the duty of a small cable operator to prove the existence of effective competition under this section.

“(3) Definition of small cable operator—In this subsection, the term small cable operator has the meaning given the term in subsection (m).”