Martin: Pryor Safe TV Bill Not Good Enough

On Monday night, the Senate sent President Bush the Child Safe Viewing Act, sponsored by Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Arkansas). Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin on Tuesday mildly criticized the bill that would require his agency to study parents' access to technologies that are capable of shielding children from inappropriate content on television and the Internet. "In general, I would say I support it. I'm not sure that it goes far enough to actually empower parents the way that they need to be, to end up addressing all the concerns they might have," Chairman Martin told reporters. the legislation would have the FCC conduct and deliver the study to Congress within 270 and its analysis could not recommend technologies that "affect the packaging or pricing of a content provider's offering." That restriction probably explains Martin's problems with Pryor's bill. Martin has stated repeatedly that the best way for consumers to exclude violent and indecent programming is for pay-TV distributors to retail channels on an a la carte basis in lieu packages with dozens of channels.