Satellite Home Viewer Protection Act of 1996
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Satellite Home Viewer Protection Act of 1996 - Amends Federal copyright law to require a satellite carrier that makes secondary transmissions of a primary transmission by a network station, prior to providing broadcasting signals to a subscriber, to provide such subscriber with a written statement describing and quoting the network territorial restrictions related to such retransmission.
Requires a satellite carrier, within 30 days of receipt of a challenge by a network station as to whether a subscriber is an unserved household within the predicted Grade B contour of such station, to: (1) inform the subscriber of the challenge; and (2) offer such subscriber the option of the satellite carrier conducting a measurement of the signal intensity of the subscriber's household to determine whether such household is an unserved household. Requires the satellite carrier to: (1) terminate service to such a household if its subscriber does not request a signal intensity measurement within 30 days of notification of the challenge from the satellite carrier; and (2) notify the network station that such service has been terminated. Outlines procedures to be taken after a signal measurement has been taken. Repeals a provision allowing a network station to challenge a subscriber outside the predicted Grade B contour of the network station.
Authorizes satellite carriers and network broadcasters to negotiate the terms and conditions of the signal intensity measurement described under this Act. Requires a complete description of such agreement to be filed with the Register of Copyrights within 30 days after its execution. Provides for arbitration of such an agreement if the parties cannot agree to terms and conditions within 30 days after the enactment of this Act.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property.
- Introduced in House Formatted Text PDF
Cite this page
U.S. Congress. (2026). H.R. 3192: Satellite Home Viewer Protection Act of 1996. 104th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/104-HR-3192/
"H.R. 3192: Satellite Home Viewer Protection Act of 1996." 104th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/104-HR-3192/.
H.R. 3192, 104th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/104-HR-3192/.
[H.R. 3192: Satellite Home Viewer Protection Act of 1996](https://openamerica.io/bill/104-HR-3192/)