Electronic device blocks objectionable words on television

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Posted 6:07AM on Monday, April 15, 2002

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Rebekah Renfrow is mad as uh, heck, and she's not going to take it anymore. Her breaking point came when she watched an episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond" with her four young children and heard a certain derogatory reference to women that made her cringe. "I don't want to be overprotective but there is no need to have it coming in my house," Renfrow said. "I really don't want my kids hearing that kind of language." Renfrow was a waiting buyer weeks later when one of her children came home from school with a promotional flier about ProtecTV. The new electronic device -- a hand-sized box selling for $79.95 -- selectively mutes words and phrases that television viewers like Renfrow consider objectionable. Besides blocking the obvious lexicon of four-letter curse words, the device mutes or edits from closed-captioning scripts words such as stupid, moron, cocaine, horny, intercourse, hell and shut up. Every time a word is spoken it is compared to a dictionary of more than 400 offensive words and phrases and if the word matches, it is deleted from the soundtrack and captioning. The viewer will experience a momentary gap in the audio and for viewers reading the captions, the undesirable written word is replaced by XXXX's. The boxes, made by Global Cable Inc. of Trenton, Ga., can be connected to a television, VCR, cable box, DVD player or a satellite TV system. Global Cable Vice President Allan Ward said the company purchased worldwide rights to manufacture and sell ProtecTV last year after he saw it demonstrated at a cable product show in Toronto. Diane LaPierre, a former forklift operator from Calgary, Alberta, developed and patented the technology after trying to use closed captioning to help her teach her son to read. Ward said he and Global Cable owner Jim Gee talked to a few people about using the technology to create ProtecTV "and everyone saw the value." "If you have ever sat down with one of your kids and watched an evening television show, a lot of times you end up answering a lot of questions that you don't want to answer," Ward said. "I have nothing against prime-time television but it's not for children." Ward and Gee approached Hamilton County school board member Marty Puryear about test marketing the product through an agreement with the Chattanooga-area schools. Global Cable would give 2,800 devices to public schools to connect to classroom televisions in exchange for officials allowing thousands of students to take fliers home to their parents advertising the product. The school system would also receive $33 for each ProtectTV box sold during the two-month sales promotion that coincided with the startup of marketing the devices in January. "It just seemed like something that would work. You are helping public education and it gives you a chance to test market your product," Puryear said. The school board agreed, and Ward sold about 225 devices and the school system got more than $7,000. Ward said he has sold ProtecTV on some television shopping networks and has approached retailers about carrying it. The device also is available on the company's Web site. Renfrow, who describes herself as a "stay-at-home mom," said she connected the ProtectTV box to a television in a basement room where her 9-year-old daughter and three sons -- ages 3, 5 and 8 -- often watch television while she is doing other things. "I can send them downstairs to watch TV and don't have to worry," she said. "If I am not sitting there I want it protected." Dana McClintock, vice president of CBS communications in New York, defended the use of the word Renfrow found objectionable in the "Everybody Loves Raymond" episode. "These decisions are made on a case-by-case basis," McClintock said. "We don't allow profanity that is gratuitous or exploitive. We make sure that it is somehow organic to the show and that it is appropriate for the character or for the situation." She said program viewers have every right to block any part of a show they choose. Alan Wurtzel, chief of standards at NBC, said there is a diversity of tastes when it comes to television viewing. "When you are broadcasting to 15 or 20 million people, there is no way you are going to make everybody happy," Wurtzel said. "We sort of rely on our own judgment and standards."