Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010
Latest action. Read twice. Placed on Senate legislative calendarThe list of measures reported out of committee and eligible for floor action. Being on the calendar is not a promise of a vote.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) under General Orders. Calendar No. 513.
Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 - (Sec. 2) States that no person shall be liable for a violation of this Act with respect to video programming, online content, applications, services, advanced communications services, or equipment used to provide or access advanced communications services to the extent such person: (1) transmits, routes, or stores in intermediate or transient storage the communications made available through the provision of advanced communications services by a third party; or (2) provides an information location tool through which an end user obtains access to such video programming, online content, applications, services, advanced communications services, or equipment used to provide or access advanced communications services.
Makes such limitation on liability inapplicable to any person to the extent such person relies on third party applications, services, software, hardware, or equipment to comply with the requirements of this Act.
(Sec. 3) States that no action taken by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to implement this Act shall mandate the use or incorporation of proprietary technology.
Title I: Communications Access - (Sec. 102) Amends the Communications Act of 1934 (the Act) to direct the FCC to require that customer premises equipment provide internal means for effective use with hearing aids that are designed to be compatible with telephones which meet established technical standards for hearing aid compatibility. Describes "customer premises equipment" as: (1) all essential telephones (coin-operated telephones, telephones provided for emergency use, and other telephones frequently needed for use by persons using such hearing aids); (2) all U.S telephones (other than for export) manufactured more than one year after the date of enactment of the Hearing Aid Compatibility Act of 1988 or imported for use in the United States more than one year after such date; and (3) all customer premises equipment used with advanced communications services that is designed to provide two-way voice communication via a built-in speaker intended to be held to the ear in a manner functionally equivalent to a telephone.
The summary continues for 26 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed House amended" stage on July 26, 2010. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on August 5, 2010: Read twice. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 513.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 111th Congress (2009-10), 383 of the 10,778 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.6 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Edward Markey (D-MA) introduced it on June 26, 2009, and 53 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 51 Democrats, 2 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on June 26, 2009, 6285 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 5880 days ago, on August 5, 2010.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 111th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2011 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers