STATEMENT OF
COMMISSIONER ROBERT M. MCDOWELL
Re: Implementation of the Child Safe Viewing Act; Examination of Parental Control 
Technologies for Video or Audio Programming, MB Docket No. 09-26 
I am pleased to join with my colleagues in delivering – on time – our Report to Congress 
pursuant to the Child Safe Viewing Act.  Spearheaded by the efforts of Senator Mark Pryor of 
Arkansas, Congress directed us to report on the existence and efficacy of various “advanced 
blocking technologies” that permit parents to shield their children from inappropriate video and 
audio content when such content is distributed across a wide range of electronic communications 
systems.  Thanks to the labor of staffers across the Commission – including those in the Media 
Bureau, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, Wireline Competition Bureau, Office of 
Engineering and Technology and Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis – the agency 
has produced a comprehensive overview of the information submitted in the docket.  
Our 90-page Report makes plain that an array of filtering technologies have proliferated 
across broadcasting, cable, satellite, wireless, and Internet platforms.  As the father of three young 
children, I am keenly interested in the availability and usefulness of parental-control mechanisms.  
As a regulator, I note that many of the most innovative new systems and devices have come into 
being in response to consumer demand rather than government mandate.  The Report, by bringing 
much wide-ranging data together in one document, should provide a solid empirical foundation 
for future inquiry in this arena.  The Report also makes plain that despite what we now know 
about existing parental-control technologies, we still lack data and analysis required to grapple 
with such thorny issues as the need for possible improvements, if any, to existing systems and the 
scope of our legal authority to take actions that some may see as desirable.
Again, I thank the Commission staff for its work in helping us to produce a data-filled document.  
I hope that Members of Congress find it useful in getting up to speed on the technological 
advancements that communication service and content providers have delivered to date to help 
American parents guide and protect their children.