V-chip
From Free net encyclopedia
V-chip is a generic term used for a feature of television receivers allowing the blocking of programs based on their ratings category. It is intended for use by parents to manage their children's television viewing. All 13-inch and larger televisions manufactured for the U.S. market since January 1, 2000 are required to have the V-chip technology. Many devices similar to the V-chip have been produced, including Blockxxx.
The rated programs' signals are encoded according to the rating, on line 21 of the broadcast signal's vertical blanking interval using the XDS protocol, and this is detected by the television set's V-chip. If the program's rating is outside the level configured as acceptable on that particular television, the program is blocked.
The V-chip technology was developed by Tim Collings of Simon Fraser University.
The V-chip has a 4 digit numerical password in order to keep older children from changing its settings. However, it can be overridden by savvier youth patient enough to read the television's manual to find out how to reset the password to 0000 (built into the V-chip in case the parents themselves forget the password that they set).
The name V-chip is widely believed to come from the word "violence," although there has been some debate. The other suggested meaning is "verboten," the German word for "forbidden." Template:Ref
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Parodies and spoofs
The V-chip was parodied in the film South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.
Eric Cartman, an nine-year-old boy, was constantly swearing as a result of watching the fictional R-rated Terrance and Phillip film Asses of Fire. As a result, a 'V-chip' was implanted in Cartman's brain that delivered an electric shock whenever he swore. The scene where the chip's effect is displayed to the public is a parody of A Clockwork Orange. The chip later malfunctioned and this helped the heroes defeat Saddam Hussein as he tried to invade the world. (Oddly, the final word to deliver the killing strike was not an actual curse word, but "Barbra Streisand".) South Park is well known for making political statements and social commentary, and presumably the writers were trying to point out that using technology (in this case the V-chip) to forcibly change children's behavior doesn't necessarily improve that behavior or eliminate the perceived underlying cause. Template:Endspoiler The V-chip is also mentioned in the song "Spiders" performed by System Of A Down (".... the V-chip gives them sight, dreams are made winding through my head...")