STATEMENT OF 
CHAIRMAN JULIUS GENACHOWSKI
Re: Implementation of the Child Safe Viewing Act; Examination of Parental Control 
Technologies for Video or Audio Programming, MB Docket No. 09-26 
In the Child Safe Viewing Act of 2007, Congress instructed the Commission to conduct an 
inquiry into parental control technologies.  Over the past six months, the Commission has 
compiled a record on existing technologies as well as technologies still in development.  This 
report summarizes our findings.  
I cannot think of a more critical topic for the Commission to be considering right now than 
how to ensure that our children are protected from inappropriate content.  Government has a vital 
role to play in helping parents and protecting children, while honoring and abiding by the First 
Amendment.  For decades, parents have worried about shielding their children from harmful 
material on television and in our popular culture.  In recent years, the explosion of new 
technologies has significantly increased the availability of inappropriate content and elevated 
parents’ concerns. 
We recognize that technology has created profound new challenges for parents by vastly 
expanding the scope and quantity of media available to our children.  But technology also can—
and must—be part of the solution.  Parents must have access to control technologies that can 
appropriately limit their children’s exposure to unsuitable material.   
And we must encourage the development of parental control technologies so that they keep 
pace with innovation in the rest of the technology and information marketplace.  It seems that 
every time we step into a consumer electronics store, there are a vast new array of devices and 
inventions that improve on what was available just months ago.  As a society, we must find ways 
to promote that same rapid and ongoing improvement for the tools that we rely upon to protect 
our children.  
The report that we issue today details the technologies that are available to parents today – as well 
as technologies that are in development – to control their children’s access to media.  While the 
record that was created in response to inquiry contains some important information for parents, it 
also raises important questions and exposes the need for further study of this essential issue.  In 
the days ahead, the Commission will initiate a new notice of inquiry that will seek to gather new 
information on this topic as well as others related to children and media in the digital age.