47 U.S.C. § 330 — Prohibition against shipment of certain television receivers

(a) No one can ship this apparatus (described in section 303(s)) across state lines, or import it into the U.S., to sell or resell to the public — unless it follows rules the Commission writes under that subsection. This doesn't apply to carriers just transporting the equipment without trading it. (b) No one can ship across state lines, manufacture, assemble, or import equipment described in section 303(u) and (z) — mainly TVs — except by following Commission rules written under that section. Those rules must set performance and display standards for: built-in circuitry that displays closed captions; delivery of video description services; and conveying emergency information required under section 303. The rules must also require that this equipment can receive and display closed captions sent through "line 21" of the signal, matching the technical specs set by the Public Broadcasting System in 1980 (as updated by the National Captioning Institute in 1985). As video technology changes, the Commission must act as it thinks necessary to keep closed captioning and video description available to consumers. This subsection doesn't apply to carriers just transporting the equipment without trading it. (c) (1) Except as (2) allows, no one can ship across state lines or manufacture in the U.S. equipment described in section 303(x) — this covers V-chip blocking technology — except by following Commission rules written under that section. (2) This doesn't apply to carriers just transporting the equipment without trading it. (3) The Commission's rules must oversee the industry's adoption of blocking-technology standards. The equipment must be able to receive rating signals sent through line 21, matching the technical specs the industry sets under Commission supervision. (4) As video technology changes, the Commission must act as needed to keep blocking service available. If the Commission finds an alternative blocking technology that: (A) lets parents block unrated programs; (B) costs about the same as technology that blocks by common ratings; and (C) lets parents block a wide range of programs on a multichannel system as effectively and easily as ratings-based blocking — then the Commission must update its section 303(x) rules to require equipment with either the original blocking technology or this alternative. (d) For this section and sections 303(s), 303(u), and 303(x): (1) "Interstate commerce" means: commerce between a state, D.C., Puerto Rico, or a U.S. possession and any place outside it that's still within the United States; commerce between points in the same state, D.C., Puerto Rico, or possession but passing through somewhere outside it; or commerce entirely within D.C. or a U.S. possession. (2) "United States" means the states, D.C., Puerto Rico, and U.S. possessions — but not the Canal Zone.