ABSTRACT
In the United States, new legislation was introduced in 1996 encouraging the television industry to create a voluntary code for rating programs or to have one imposed by the broadcast industry regulator, the Federal Communications Commission (Spitzer, 1996). This proposed ratings system was also to be linked with the so-called V-chip (viewer chip) technology installed in TV sets. Under the 1996 US Telecommunications Act, all new TV sets from 2000 on must include this technology. V-chips enable viewers to block out reception of programs rated as unsuitable for children.
