47 U.S.C. § 558 — Criminal and civil liability

Page 308 TITLE 47—TELECOMMUNICATIONS § 556 § 556. Coordination of Federal, State, and local authority (a) Regulation by States, political subdivisions, State and local agencies, and franchising au- thorities Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to affect any authority of any State, political subdivision, or agency thereof, or franchising authority, regarding matters of public health, safety, and welfare, to the extent consistent with the express provisions of this subchapter. (b) State jurisdiction with regard to cable serv- ices Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to restrict a State from exercising jurisdiction with regard to cable services consistent with this subchapter. (c) Preemption Except as provided in section 557 of this title, any provision of law of any State, political sub- division, or agency thereof, or franchising au- thority, or any provision of any franchise grant- ed by such authority, which is inconsistent with this chapter shall be deemed to be preempted and superseded. (d) ‘‘State’’ defined For purposes of this section, the term ‘‘State’’ has the meaning given such term in section 153 of this title. (June 19, 1934, ch. 652, title VI, § 636, as added Pub. L. 98–549, § 2, Oct. 30, 1984, 98 Stat. 2800; amended Pub. L. 104–104, § 3(d)(3), Feb. 8, 1996, 110 Stat. 61.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT This chapter, referred to in subsec. (c), was in the original ‘‘this Act’’, meaning act June 19, 1934, ch. 652, 48 Stat. 1064, known as the Communications Act of 1934, which is classified principally to this chapter. For com- plete classification of this Act to the Code, see section 609 of this title and Tables. AMENDMENTS 1996—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 104–104 substituted ‘‘section 153’’ for ‘‘section 153(v)’’. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Section effective 60 days after Oct. 30, 1984, except where otherwise expressly provided, see section 9(a) of Pub. L. 98–549, set out as a note under section 521 of this title. § 557. Existing franchises (a) The provisions of— (1) any franchise in effect on the effective date of this subchapter, including any such provisions which relate to the designation, use, or support for the use of channel capacity for public, educational, or governmental use, and (2) any law of any State (as defined in sec- tion 153 of this title) in effect on October 30, 1984, or any regulation promulgated pursuant to such law, which relates to such designation, use or support of such channel capacity, shall remain in effect, subject to the express provisions of this subchapter, and for not longer than the then current remaining term of the franchise as such franchise existed on such effec- tive date. (b) For purposes of subsection (a) and other provisions of this subchapter, a franchise shall be considered in effect on the effective date of this subchapter if such franchise was granted on or before such effective date. (June 19, 1934, ch. 652, title VI, § 637, as added Pub. L. 98–549, § 2, Oct. 30, 1984, 98 Stat. 2800; amended Pub. L. 104–104, § 3(d)(3), Feb. 8, 1996, 110 Stat. 61.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT For ‘‘the effective date of this subchapter’’ and ‘‘such effective date’’, referred to in subsecs. (a) and (b), as 60 days after Oct. 30, 1984, except where otherwise ex- pressly provided, see section 9(a) of Pub. L. 98–549, set out as an Effective Date note under section 521 of this title. AMENDMENTS 1996—Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 104–104 substituted ‘‘sec- tion 153’’ for ‘‘section 153(v)’’. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Section effective 60 days after Oct. 30, 1984, except where otherwise expressly provided, see section 9(a) of Pub. L. 98–549, set out as a note under section 521 of this title. § 558. Criminal and civil liability Nothing in this subchapter shall be deemed to affect the criminal or civil liability of cable pro- grammers or cable operators pursuant to the Federal, State, or local law of libel, slander, ob- scenity, incitement, invasions of privacy, false or misleading advertising, or other similar laws, except that cable operators shall not incur any such liability for any program carried on any channel designated for public, educational, gov- ernmental use or on any other channel obtained under section 532 of this title or under similar arrangements unless the program involves ob- scene material. (June 19, 1934, ch. 652, title VI, § 638, as added Pub. L. 98–549, § 2, Oct. 30, 1984, 98 Stat. 2801; amended Pub. L. 102–385, § 10(d), Oct. 5, 1992, 106 Stat. 1486.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 1992—Pub. L. 102–385 inserted before period at end ‘‘unless the program involves obscene material’’. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1992 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 102–385 effective 60 days after Oct. 5, 1992, see section 28 of Pub. L. 102–385, set out as a note under section 325 of this title. EFFECTIVE DATE Section effective 60 days after Oct. 30, 1984, except where otherwise expressly provided, see section 9(a) of Page 309 TITLE 47—TELECOMMUNICATIONS § 562 Pub. L. 98–549, set out as a note under section 521 of this title. § 559. Obscene programming Whoever transmits over any cable system any matter which is obscene or otherwise unpro- tected by the Constitution of the United States shall be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both. (June 19, 1934, ch. 652, title VI, § 639, as added Pub. L. 98–549, § 2, Oct. 30, 1984, 98 Stat. 2801; amended Pub. L. 104–104, title V, § 503, Feb. 8, 1996, 110 Stat. 136.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 1996—Pub. L. 104–104 substituted ‘‘under title 18’’ for ‘‘not more than $10,000’’. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Section effective 60 days after Oct. 30, 1984, except where otherwise expressly provided, see section 9(a) of Pub. L. 98–549, set out as a note under section 521 of this title. § 560. Scrambling of cable channels for nonsub- scribers (a) Subscriber request Upon request by a cable service subscriber, a cable operator shall, without charge, fully scramble or otherwise fully block the audio and video programming of each channel carrying such programming so that one not a subscriber does not receive it. (b) ‘‘Scramble’’ defined As used in this section, the term ‘‘scramble’’ means to rearrange the content of the signal of the programming so that the programming can- not be viewed or heard in an understandable manner. (June 19, 1934, ch. 652, title VI, § 640, as added Pub. L. 104–104, title V, § 504, Feb. 8, 1996, 110 Stat. 136.) § 561. Scrambling of sexually explicit adult video service programming (a) Requirement In providing sexually explicit adult program- ming or other programming that is indecent on any channel of its service primarily dedicated to sexually-oriented programming, a multichannel video programming distributor shall fully scramble or otherwise fully block the video and audio portion of such channel so that one not a subscriber to such channel or programming does not receive it. (b) Implementation Until a multichannel video programming dis- tributor complies with the requirement set forth in subsection (a), the distributor shall limit the access of children to the programming referred to in that subsection by not providing such pro- gramming during the hours of the day (as deter- mined by the Commission) when a significant number of children are likely to view it. (c) ‘‘Scramble’’ defined As used in this section, the term ‘‘scramble’’ means to rearrange the content of the signal of the programming so that the programming can- not be viewed or heard in an understandable manner. (June 19, 1934, ch. 652, title VI, § 641, as added Pub. L. 104–104, title V, § 505(a), Feb. 8, 1996, 110 Stat. 136.) Editorial Notes CONSTITUTIONALITY For information regarding the constitutionality of this section, see the Table of Laws Held Unconstitu- tional in Whole or in Part by the Supreme Court on the Constitution Annotated website, constitu- tion.congress.gov. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Pub. L. 104–104, title V, § 505(b), Feb. 8, 1996, 110 Stat. 136, provided that: ‘‘The amendment made by sub- section (a) [enacting this section] shall take effect 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act [Feb. 8, 1996].’’ § 562. Requirements relating to charges for cov- ered services (a) Consumer rights in sales (1) Right to transparency Before entering into a contract with a con- sumer for the provision of a covered service, a provider of a covered service shall provide the consumer, by phone, in person, online, or by other reasonable means, the total monthly charge for the covered service, whether offered individually or as part of a bundled service, se- lected by the consumer (explicitly noting the amount of any applicable promotional dis- count reflected in such charge and when such discount will expire), including any related ad- ministrative fees, equipment fees, or other charges, a good faith estimate of any tax, fee, or charge imposed by the Federal Government or a State or local government (whether im- posed on the provider or imposed on the con- sumer but collected by the provider), and a good faith estimate of any fee or charge that is used to recover any other assessment im- posed on the provider by the Federal Govern- ment or a State or local government. (2) Right to formal notice A provider of a covered service that enters into a contract described in paragraph (1) shall, not later than 24 hours after entering into the contract, send the consumer, by email, online link, or other reasonably com- parable means, a copy of the information de- scribed in such paragraph. (3) Right to cancel A provider of a covered service that enters into a contract described in paragraph (1) shall permit the consumer to cancel the contract, without paying early cancellation fees or other disconnection fees or penalties, during the 24-hour period beginning when the pro- vider of the covered service sends the copy re- quired by paragraph (2).