V-chip is a technology used in television set receivers in Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and the United States, that allows the blocking of programs based on their ratings category. It is intended for use by parents to manage their children's television viewing based on blocking systems. Televisions manufactured for the United States market since January 2000 are required to have the V-chip technology. Since the idea for blocking programs in this way was patented and tested in Canada by Brett West and John P. Gardner in 1994, the device remains in use into the age of digital television, however it only blocks programming from standard cable and broadcast television and does not block news, sportscasting, movies on premium cable channels, or streamed programs via the internet. Analog V-chip technology works much like closed captioning and uses the vertical blanking interval in the television signal. The system receives a special code in the broadcast signal that indicates the show's score according to a simple numerical rating system for violence, sex, and language. The programs' signals are encoded based on their rating, on line 21 of the broadcast signal's vertical blanking interval using the XDS protocol, and this is detected by the television set's V-chip. If the program rating is outside the level configured as acceptable on that particular television, the program will be blocked. The V-chip does not block infomercial, news or sportscasts, which are unrated. The V-chip has a four-digit numerical password in order to keep older children from changing its settings. The V-chip can be overridden by anyone who reads the television's instruction and finds out how to reset the password to 0000 (built into the V-chip in case the parents themselves forget the password that they set). The phrase "V-chip" was purportedly coined by then-Representative Ed Markey of Massachusetts. According to him the "V" stands for "violence". By contrast, in an interview with Tim Collings, one of the people who claim to have invented the device, he said that it was intended to stand for "viewer control".
History In 1975, the Family Viewing Hour was introduced in the United States, in which broadcasters had to play TV content suitable for all ages. This idea was quickly abandoned because broadcasters felt it violated their First Amendment rights by restricting what content they could play. The inventor of the V-chip technology originally meant for it to be a simple tool that parents could use to restrict their children's television viewing. He did not expect it would become a national standard for all televisions.
Implementation In 1993, Keith Spicer met with top American executives and disclosed information about the V-Chip Technology. "Tim Collings' creation holds promise in the future of the television industry, and the more exposure achieved, the more nations are able to benefit." Discussions took place about the increasing amount of violence on TV and the importance of monitoring and blocking shows. This sparked interest, but no steps were taken for implementation. In 1994 the technology was presented at a Violence on TV conference in France and later again at a conference in Belgium. This is where Al Gore first became familiarized with the concept of the V-Chip and the exposure helped him to advise Bill Clinton, which led to the decision to pass the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Once the V-Chip gained the ability to block multiple shows at the same time interest in the technology expanded significantly. In January 1998 exclusive rights to the V-Chip were sold to Tri-Vision Electronics Inc.
Forces leading to development
Scientific-technical While at Colombia College, Joseph N. Jackson created the idea for a programmable device that could block viewing at certain times. This eventually became the precursor to the V-chip. In Canada in the early 1990s, studies on the possible effects of television on violence were conducted by the Canadian Radio-Television Commission, a committee of Parliament, and Heritage Canada. The reports all concluded that violence on television in Canada was a serious problem. The V-chip gained popularity when it was revealed at a Technology Exposition at the G7 meetings in Brussels in 1995.
Political One of the driving forces of the development of the V-chip was the signing of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 by President Bill Clinton. The television industry was given the opportunity to establish ratings for its programming. The act also ordered that half of all television sets at least 13″ after July 1, 1999, had to have the V-chip installed and that all television sets at least 13″ after January 1, 2000, had to have it installed. In addition, the Federal Communications Commission supported the act and worked to enforce it.
The Telecommunications Act The V-chip was an added provision in Bill Clinton's Telecommunications Act of 1996. He said, "If every parent uses this chip wisely, it can become a powerful voice against teen violence, teen pregnancy, teen drug use, and for both learning and entertainment," as he signed the law on February 8, 1996. "We're handing the TV remote control back to America's parents so that they can pass on their values and protect their children." The addition of the V-chip into the Telecommunications Act was helpful to attract American voters for the 1996 Clinton-Gore campaign. The portion of the overall act that affects the V-chip is of Title V. This section, "Obscenity and Violence," addresses the influence parents may have over their children's viewing capabilities on cable television. Section 551, Parental Choice in Television Programming, outlines the effects that violence has on the youth of a nation and addresses how parents should exercise the control to limit and/or block what information their children are in fact viewing and what is being broadcast into their private homes. Also addressed is the inclusion of the implementation of a rating code for violence within television programming. Parents should be informed of the content of a program prior to its airing so that appropriate precautions may be made to protect their children from said material. The V-Chip technology would be employed in such an event.
Ratings
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