Search words: origins of v-chip, history of the v-chip, why was the v-chip invented

Search engine: I used ask.com because in class I discovered how useful the side bar of suggested search terms was. It is organized and does the job of google and yahoo combined.

Useful site 1: http://library.thinkquest.org/5676/home.html

· The creators of this site appears to be a group of students who had to put together a website project about television violence prevention.

· Funding is unstated, but I am assuming since it was a class project, not much funding was or will be needed.

· There are also no dates. It sounds non-credible from this description so far, but there are great facts and all the research is listed. There are also interviews, including and interview from the creator of the v-chip, Tim Collings.

· The problem with this site is that only one side to the controversy is portrayed. The site is an advocacy site for the monitoring of television violence. The missing portion is regarding the protection of freedom of speech/freedom of the press. The other side of the controversy focuses on why v-chips may not be necessary.

· Typically .org sites are strongly rooted in opinion and are advocating a particular side to a controversy, so an objective site, maybe government rooted, or even another .org site focusing on the negative side to the v-chip would be useful to get a complete picture of the issue.

There is a lot of information about the origins of the v-chip on this site. It takes the reader through a timeline of the history of the TV, which inevitably is a crucial part to the creation of the v-chip. Televisions were initially created for educational purposes, and it was a technological break through that not many people had in their houses. In the 60’s, however, television became very common, and with the Vietnam War in full effect, it was brought straight to the living room of millions of Americans. Violence and killing in the war was the start to desensitization of Americans. The days of “Father Knows Best” and similar cheeky family sitcoms were over. Good no longer always prevailed over evil on television, and content drifted from being suitable for all ages. Here lies the basis for such a devices as the V-chip and a television rating system. The inventor of the chip originally meant for it to be a simple tool that parents could use if they felt strongly about monitoring their children’s television viewing. He had no idea it would soon be involved with very important legislations.

Useful site 2: http://www.fcc.gov/vchip/

· The Federal Communications Commission is the founder of this site.

· The FCC is an independent government bureaucracy so the funding comes from the government.

· The site is regularly updated when necessary and the most recent update is stamped at 4/9/2010.

· The site is purely objective, therefore it is missing a lot of the social background of the topic. There is no talk of what inspired the creation of the chip or what people think about it. The site focuses more on the legislative journey of the v-chip and TV rating system.

Some of the useful information includes a timeline of legislation passed to make a standardized TV rating system uniform and mandatory for all shows to be rated on. It also focuses on the original legislation passed, along with all the revisions and add-ons up until the most recent one. The main act is called the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Over time, TV manufacturers became required to include a V-chip in every television set along with other new requirments.