By seeking reconsideration of the FCC order on a V- chip and pare...

in the U.S.,” said consultant and columnist Richard Kahlenberg. In opposing the CEA petition, Kahlenberg said that for 15 years he has published weekly TV viewing recommendations in the L.A. Times and other major newspapers for parents of elementary, middle and high school age. He said he also served as the administrative dir. of the American Film Institute’s Center for Advanced Film & TV Studies. He said the CEA petition “seems intent on introducing a very serious constraint on the technology available to broadcasters to meet their obligations to children and families.” The CE industry “is spending considerable resources to provide consumers in America with increased quality in the sound and picture, portability and storage of television content,” Kahlenberg said. CEA “should be asked to balance its charge that V-chip is a burdensome cost to the American consumer with parallel statistics about how much the marketing campaigns of the electronics firms add to the cost of a digital television,” he said. “Those figures would dwarf any sum devoted to providing the parental-choice features” provided for in the Commission’s order, he said. CEA had asked the Commission to probe the licensing practices of Canadian V-chip patent holder Tri- Vision because the company stood to gain a potential profit “windfall” that U.S. consumers would have to bear. Kahlenberg said he couldn’t understand why CEA would “single out” Tri-Vision as a particular company that might profit from the DTV transition when “many companies in the CEA’s large membership stand to profit.” Kahlenberg said he owns no shares in Tri-Vision or any other CEA member company.