Children may be able to easily thwart new technology that will allow parents to block objectionable programs from their television screens, one lawmaker predicts.
If parents are able to program the V-chip, "they'll (children) be able to deprogram it," Rep. Thomas Bliley, R-Va., said Tuesday.The congressman also predicted the V-chip will lead to more sex and violence on television.
"I believe it will give Hollywood a convenient excuse for even more violent programming, even more sexually suggestive scenes and stories," he said.
Under Bliley's reasoning, the TV industry could use the V-chip as a shield to do whatever it wants because people who object to certain types of programs will have the ability to zap them, aides explained.
Bliley is a primary architect of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, signed into law Feb. 8, which requires all new TV sets to contain a V-chip.
Against Bliley's wishes, the V-chip provisions were added to the House bill in an 11th-hour maneuver in August by Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass. The Senate had passed a bill in June containing a V-chip requirement.
The V-chip will recognize shows that are electronically labeled for sexual and violent content. Parents, using a remote control device, will be able to block individual shows or whole categories of programs.
Vice President Al Gore has said the V-chip and a TV ratings system that is to accompany it will reduce the amount of sex and violence on television. Cable TV mogul Ted Turner has predicted it will result in more bland fare, while ABC President Robert Iger has said it would not change program content.
The TV industry expects to begin rating broadcast and cable shows by January. New sets equipped with V-chips are not expected to be available for two more years.
President Clinton got a pledge from top television and entertainment executives last month to rate programs, a critical step to making the V-chip work. Since then the president and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton have demonstrated the technology to groups of parents and children.