United States · Bill · S
S. 1618 (99th)
Satellite Television Viewing Rights Act of 1985
Introduced
10 September 1985
Last action
—
Status
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce.
Sponsors
—
Subjects
Discovery layer
Source updated
29 August 2025
Summary
Satellite Television Viewing Rights Act of 1985 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to allow any person to receive encrypted satellite cable programming decoded for private viewing upon compliance with prices, terms, and conditions established in the marketplace or by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Prohibits any person from: (1) denying the availability of such programming for private viewing to consumers or to bona fide distributors of such programming; (2) substantially restricting the availability of such programming for private viewing through pricing or other terms or conditions; (3) discriminating in price between different distributors offering comparable distribution services; or (4) requiring a person to purchase or lease decoding equipment from a specific source in order to receive such programming. Directs the FCC, if petitioned, to establish reasonable prices, terms, and conditions for the private viewing of such programming in a market by any person who: (1) has been denied viewing rights for at least ten days; (2) has been offered such rights on terms or conditions which substantially restrict the availability of programming; (3) resides in the franchised area of a cable television system where the operator is the sole source of such programming; or (4) resides outside of the franchised area of a cable system where the price for viewing rights is higher than the price paid by subscribers within the market. Sets forth factors to be considered by the FCC in establishing prices.
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Documents
1 official file
Introduced in Senate
summary · EN · 10 September 1985
Sponsors
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Sources
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- Official source: https://www.congress.gov/bill/99th-congress/senate-bill/1618
- Open data entity: https://api.congress.gov/v3/bill/99/s/1618