
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, July 2, 1993                   TAG: 9307020049
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

LAWMAKERS WANT DEVICES TO BLOCK TV VIOLENCE

Parental advisories on violent TV programs won't do much good if parents aren't home to change the channels, lawmakers said Thursday. They want a blocking device in each TV set.

But network executives, who a day earlier announced they'd warn parents and TV publications in advance of potentially disturbing programs, said Congress shouldn't insist on that technology yet.

The public first should be given the chance to determine whether the advisories will suffice, the executives told a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce telecommunications subcommittee.

The proposed "V-block" is nonetheless an idea gaining popularity among congressmen who think the advisories are a weak solution to a big problem.

It would enable viewers to stop any show electronically coded as violent from appearing on the TV screen, through a fairly simple home programming system.

All new TVs already are equipped with the technology because it is included on the computer chip that must be in sets to decode captioning for the hearing impaired.

To activate it for violence, however, the networks would have to electronically code their shows.

Executives from ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and the motion picture industry all panned the plan.

There is bad violence and good violence, said Warren Littlefield, NBC president of entertainment.

Bad violence is gratuitous or glamorized, he said, adding "We will eliminate it from our airwaves." In shows with good violence, "we take on socially relevant issues, like incest, date rape, the dangers of maniacal cult leaders," he said.

by CNB