Solveig Bernstein

In February 1996, President Bill Clinton signed a law requiring that within a few years new television sets should be equipped with a V-chip (technology that blocks out designated broadcast programming). The legislation also called for the creation of a ratings system to work in conjunction with the V-chip, to be devised by either the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) or by the television industry, subject to FCC approval. The age- based ratings system the television industry introduced on a trial basis in December 1996 was criticized by many for failing to include more information on the content of television programs; it was also the subject of congressional hearings in February 1997. In the following viewpoint, Solveig Bernstein (now Solveig Singleton) asserts that these congressional hearings demonstrate that the V-chip and television ratings provisions of the 1996 law open the...