[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2246 Introduced in House (IH)]
107th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2246
To prohibit the targeted marketing to minors of adult-rated media as an
unfair or deceptive practice, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 20, 2001
Mr. Israel (for himself and Mr. Osborne) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit the targeted marketing to minors of adult-rated media as an
unfair or deceptive practice, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Media Marketing Accountability Act
of 2001''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Children have easy access to a variety of media and
entertainment options without leaving their own homes. The vast
majority of homes with children have a VCR, a CD player, and
either a video game console or a personal computer.
(2) Children, and especially teenagers, spend a large
amount of time listening to music, seeing movies, and playing
video games. Specifically:
(A) Children ages 8 through 13 spend approximately
3 hours per week in a movie theater, on average. In
addition, 62 percent of children ages 9 through 17
spent an average of 52 minutes per day watching video
tapes.
(B) 82 percent of children play video games, and do
so for 33 minutes per day, on average.
(C) Children ages 14 through 18 listen to music
approximately 2\1/2\ hours per day on average.
(3) Teenagers spend tens of millions of dollars annually on
movies, music, and video games, making them a highly valuable
demographic group to the producers and distributors of
entertainment products.
(4) Media violence can be harmful to children. Most
scholarly studies on the impact of media violence find a high
correlation between exposure to violent content and aggressive
or violent behavior. Additional studies find a high correlation
between exposure to violent content and a desensitization to
and acceptance of violence in society.
(5) On September 11, 2000, the Federal Trade Commission
reported that companies in the music, movie, and video game
industries routinely target children under age 17 in the
advertisement of adult-rated products. Specifically:
(A) The Commission found that 80 percent of the R-
rated movies studied had been targeted to children. In
addition, marketing plans for 64 percent of the R-rated
movies studied explicitly mentioned children under age
17 as part of the target audience.
(B) The Commission found that all marketing plans
for music recordings with explicit content labels
either explicitly mentioned children under age 17 as
part of the target audience or called for ad placement
in media that would reach a majority or substantial
percentage of children under age 17.
(C) The Commission found that 70 percent of Mature-
rated video games studied were targeted to children
under age 17, and 51 percent explicitly mentioned
children under age 17 as part of the target audience.
Additionally, the Commission found that 91 percent of
the video game manufacturers studied had at one time
expressly identified children under age 17 as the core,
primary, or secondary audience of an M-rated game.
(6) To correct this problem, the Commission called on these
industries to adopt voluntary, uniform policies expressly
prohibiting these practices and to enforce these policies with
real sanctions for violations.
(7) To date, as the Commission noted in a follow-up report
released on April 24, 2001, only the video game industry has
agreed to adopt such a marketing code. The Commission also
noted that, despite some encouraging changes in behavior since
the release of the Commission's original report in 2000, a
number of companies in all three industries have nevertheless
continued to market adult-rated products in venues popular with
children.
(8) Because the entertainment industry continues to target
its advertising of adult-rated products to children, there is
need for narrowly targeted legislation to prohibit, as a false
and deceptive trade practice, the targeting of children in the
advertisement and other marketing of products rated for adults,
and to authorize the Federal Trade Commission to stop these
practices.
TITLE I--TARGETED MARKETING OF ADULT-RATED MEDIA TO CHILDREN
SEC. 101. PROHIBITION ON TARGETED MARKETING TO MINORS OF ADULT-RATED
MEDIA AS UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE PRACTICE.
(a) In General.--The targeted advertising or other marketing to
minors of an adult-rated motion picture, music recording, or electronic
game, in or affecting commerce, shall be treated as a deceptive act or
practice within the meaning of section 5 of the Federal Trade
Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45), and is hereby declared unlawful.
(b) Treatment as Targeted Advertising or Marketing to Minors.--For
purposes of this section, the advertising or other marketing of an
adult-rated motion picture, music recording, or electronic game shall
be treated as targeted advertising or other marketing of such product
to minors if--
(1) the advertising or marketing--
(A) is intentionally directed to minors; or
(B) is presented to an audience of which a
substantial proportion is minors; or
(2) the Commission determines that the advertising or
marketing is otherwise directed or targeted to minors.
SEC. 102. SAFE HARBOR.
(a) In General.--The advertising or other marketing to minors of an
adult-rated motion picture, music recording, or electronic game shall
not be treated as targeted advertising or other marketing to minors,
for purposes of section 101, if the producer or distributor responsible
for the advertising or marketing adheres to a voluntary self-regulatory
system with respect to such product that satisfies the criteria under
subsection (b) and is subject to the sanctions referred to in
subsection (b)(3).
(b) Criteria.--The Federal Trade Commission shall, by rule,
establish the criteria referred to in subsection (a). Under such
criteria, a voluntary self-regulatory system shall include the
following elements:
(1) An age-based rating or labeling system for the product
in question.
(2) For all products that are rated or labeled as adult-
rated under such system--
(A) prohibitions on the targeted advertising or
other marketing to minors of such products; and
(B) other policies to restrict, to the extent
feasible, the sale, rental, or viewing to or by minors
of such products.
(3) Procedures, including sanctions for non-complying
producers and distributors, meeting such requirements as the
Commission includes in such criteria in order to assure
compliance with the prohibitions and other policies referred to
in paragraph (2).
SEC. 103. REGULATIONS.
(a) In General.--The Federal Trade Commission shall prescribe rules
that define with specificity the acts or practices that are deceptive
acts or practices under section 101.
(b) In Particular.--The rules under subsection (a)--
(1) shall specify criteria for determining whether or not
an audience is comprised of a substantial proportion of minors
for purposes of section 101(b)(1)(B); and
(2) may include requirements for the purpose of preventing
acts or practices that are deceptive acts or practices under
section 101.
SEC. 104. MATTERS RELATING TO REGULATIONS.
(a) In General.--The Federal Trade Commission shall prescribe rules
under sections 102 and 103 in accordance with the provisions of section
553 of title 5, United States Code.
(b) Time Limit.--The Commission shall prescribe the regulations
required under sections 102 and 103(b)(1) not later than 12 months
after the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 105. ENFORCEMENT.
(a) In General.--This title shall be enforced by the Federal Trade
Commission under the provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15
U.S.C. 41 et seq.).
(b) Actions by Commission.--
(1) In general.--The Commission shall prevent any person
from violating section 101, or a rule of the Commission under
section 103, in the same manner, by the same means, and with
the same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though all
applicable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade Commission
Act were incorporated into and made a part of this title.
(2) Particular rules.--A rule prescribed under section
103(b)(1) shall be treated as a rule prescribed under section
18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C.
57a(a)(1)(B)), and any violation of a rule prescribed under
such section 103 shall be treated as a violation of a rule
respecting unfair or deceptive acts or practices under section
5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45).
(3) Rights and liabilities of parties.--Any person or
entity that violates section 101, or a rule of the Commission
under section 103, shall be subject to the penalties, and
entitled to the privileges and immunities, provided in the
Federal Trade Commission Act in the same manner, by the same
means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as
though all applicable terms and provisions of that Act were
incorporated into and made a part of this title.
(c) Effect on Other Laws.--Nothing in this title shall be construed
to limit the authority of the Commission under any other provision of
law.
SEC. 106. DEFINITIONS.
In this title:
(1) Adult-rated.--The term ``adult-rated'', in the case of
a motion picture, music recording, or electronic game, means a
rating or label voluntarily assigned by the producer or
distributor of such product, including a rating or label
assigned pursuant to an industry-wide rating or labeling
system, which rating or label--
(A) indicates or signifies that--
(i) such product is or may be appropriate
or suitable only for adults; or
(ii) access to such product by minors
should be restricted; or
(B) in the case of a music recording, advises or
signifies that such product may contain explicit
content, including strong language or expressions of
violence, sex, or substance abuse.
(2) Minor.--The term ``minor'' means an individual below
the age established under the rating or labeling system in
question to be an appropriate audience for adult-oriented
material, but in no event includes an individual 17 years of
age or older. If no specific age is so established under the
rating or labeling system in question, the term means an
individual less than 17 years of age.
(3) Adult.--The term ``adult'' means an individual who is
no longer a minor.
(4) Electronic game.--The term ``electronic game'' means
any interactive entertainment software, including any computer
game, video game, or on-line game, sold or rented on any
tangible medium or by any electronic or on-line medium by which
the right to play a specified interactive-entertainment-software
product is purchased.
(5) Motion picture.--The term ``motion picture'' means any
theatrical motion picture shown in a commercial theater or sold
or rented by videotape, digital recording, or other tangible
medium or by any electronic or on-line medium by which the
right to play an individual theatrical motion picture is
purchased, except that such term shall not include anything
shown on broadcast television or cable television.
(6) Music recording.--The term ``music recording'' means
any recording of music sold or rented on compact disk, tape
cassette, vinyl record, music video, or other tangible medium
or by any electronic or on-line medium by which the right to
hear a specified work of music is purchased, except that such
term shall not include anything shown on broadcast television
or cable television.
SEC. 107. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This title shall take effect 90 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
TITLE II--OTHER MATTERS
SEC. 201. STUDY OF MARKETING PRACTICES OF ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRIES
REGARDING ADULT-RATED MATERIALS.
(a) In General.--The Federal Trade Commission shall conduct a study
of the advertising and other marketing practices of the motion picture
industry, music recording industry, and electronic game industry
regarding adult-rated motion pictures, music recordings, and electronic
games.
(b) Matters To Be Studied.--In conducting the study under
subsection (a), the Commission may examine--
(1) whether and to what extent the industries referred to
in that subsection direct to minors the advertising and
marketing of adult-rated materials, including--
(A) whether such materials are advertised or
promoted in media outlets in which minors are present
in substantial numbers or comprise a substantial
percentage of the audience; and
(B) whether such industries use other marketing
practices designed to attract minors to such materials;
(2) whether and to what extent retail merchants, movie
theaters, or others who engage in the sale or rental for a fee
of products of such industries--
(A) have policies to restrict the sale, rental, or
viewing to or by minors of adult-rated materials; and
(B) have procedures to ensure compliance with such
policies;
(3) whether and to what extent such industries require,
monitor, or encourage the enforcement of their voluntary rating
or labeling systems by industry members, retail merchants,
movie theaters, or others who engage in the sale or rental for
a fee of the products of such industries;
(4) whether and to what extent such industries engage in
activities to educate the public in the existence, use, or
efficacy of their voluntary rating or labeling systems; and
(5) whether and to what extent the policies and procedures
referred to in paragraph (2), any activities referred to in
paragraphs (3) and (4), and any other activities of such
industries are effective in restricting the access of minors to
adult-rated materials.
(c) Factors in Determination.--In determining whether the products
of an industry are adult-rated for purposes of subsection (b), the
Commission shall use the voluntary industry rating or labeling system
of the industry, both as in effect on the date of the enactment of this
Act and as modified after that date.
(d) Authorities.--In conducting the study under subsection (a), the
Commission may use its authority under section 6(b) of the Federal
Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 46(b)) to require the filing of reports
or answers in writing to specific questions, as well as to obtain
information, oral testimony, documentary material, or tangible things.
(e) Reports.--
(1) Requirement.--The Commission shall submit to Congress
and the public two reports on the study under subsection (a),
as follows:
(A) An initial report, not later than two years
after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(B) A final report, not later than six years after
that date.
(2) Elements.--Each report under paragraph (1) shall
include--
(A) a description of the study conducted under
subsection (a) during the period covered by the report;
(B) any findings and recommendations of the
Commission arising out of the study as of the end of
that period; and
(C) the identification of the particular producers
and distributors, if any, engaged in advertising or
other marketing practices relevant to such findings and
recommendations.
(f) Definitions.--In this section, the terms ``adult-rated'',
``electronic game'', ``motion picture'', ``music recording'', and
``minor'' have the meanings given those terms in section 106.
SEC. 202. SEPARABILITY.
If any provision of this Act, or the application of such provision
to any person, partnership, corporation, or circumstance, is held
invalid, the remainder of this Act, and the application of such
provision to any other person, partnership, corporation, or
circumstance, shall not be affected thereby.
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