47 U.S.C. § 560
Section 560 · Scrambling of cable channels for nonsubscribers
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 2 court decisions — leading case United States v. Playboy Entertainment Group, Inc. (2000)
Most recently applied in United States v. Playboy Entertainment Group, Inc. (May 2000)
(a) Subscriber request
Upon request by a cable service subscriber, a cable operator shall, without charge, fully scramble or otherwise fully block the audio and video programming of each channel carrying such programming so that one not a subscriber does not receive it.
(b) “Scramble” defined
As used in this section, the term “scramble” means to rearrange the content of the signal of the programming so that the programming cannot be viewed or heard in an understandable manner.