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HR 4756 101th Congress House

Satellite Viewers' Rights Act

Official title: To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for the competitive development of direct to home satellite television communications.

Introduced: October 5, 1990 See on congress.gov
Government Operations and Politics Cable televisionCommunication satellitesTelevision relay systems
This bill died when the 101st Congress ended
It never became law before the 101st Congress (1989–1990) adjourned, and bills don't carry over to the next Congress. It would have to be reintroduced. You can still save it for reference, but it won't receive updates.
 Everywhere this bill has been 3 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
May 29, 1990
Referred to the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Finance.
May 9, 1990
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
May 9, 1990
Introduced in House
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 Latest action May 29, 1990

Referred to the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Finance.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Satellite Viewers' Rights Act - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require providers of satellite-delivered television programming to: (1) make such programming available to home satellite users for private viewing; (2) establish reasonable and nondiscriminatory criteria for such programming when making it available through any other person for distribution so that non-cable distributors shall qualify to distribute such programming for private viewing by home satellite antenna users; and (3) establish prices, terms, and conditions for the wholesale distribution of satellite-delivered programming which do not discriminate in distribution to distributors for cable television subscribers and distributors to home satellite antenna users. Allows for the charging of different rates which are attributable to differences in cost, volume discounts, bona fide prior agreements, or to the transmission of network television programming by any person who encrypts such programming if such person is not engaged directly in retail distribution of programming to home satellite antenna users and is not affiliated with any cable television system operator.

Allows persons affected by violations of this Act to bring an action in a U.S. district court or other appropriate court. Provides remedies and fines for violations of this Act.

 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 2
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APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). H.R. 4756: Satellite Viewers' Rights Act. 101st Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/101-HR-4756/
MLA
"H.R. 4756: Satellite Viewers' Rights Act." 101st Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/101-HR-4756/.
Bluebook (legal)
H.R. 4756, 101st Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/101-HR-4756/.
Markdown link
[H.R. 4756: Satellite Viewers' Rights Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/101-HR-4756/)
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