A bill (Projeto de Lei 256/91) drafted by Deputy Jandira Feghali (PC do B, Rio de Janeiro) and due for debate by the Communications Committee of the lower house would require broadcasters to air independent programming and full-length Brazilian movies at least once a week. It would also prohibit inclusion of foreign content in video-on-demand by pay-TV and telecom operators, which would be obliged to carry an arts channel with independent content. This latter requirement is similar to a rule in force for cable, albeit not identical. The committee was to have voted on the bill Wednesday, December 4, but the item was taken off the order of business for lack of agreement on the wording. Dep. Marcelo Barbieri (PMDB, Rio de Janeiro), the rapporteur, met with Dep. Feghali and industry representatives before lunch in an effort to thrash out a new draft. They scheduled another meeting for Tuesday, December 10, when they hope to agree a text on which the committee can vote the following day. They said the previous draft contains a number of inconsistencies that need to be ironed out.
Media regulation
