[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 164 (Wednesday, August 25, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46392-46394]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-22016]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection: 
Comment Request

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: On June 1, 1999, the President of the United States requested 
that the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice conduct 
a study on the marketing practices of the entertainment industry to 
determine whether and to what extent the industry markets age-
restricted violent material to children. Before gathering this 
information, the FTC is soliciting public comments on proposed 
information requests to members of the following industries: (1) Motion 
picture; (2) recording; and (3) video, personal computer, and coin 
operated games. The FTC also is soliciting public comments on proposed 
consumer research. Comments will be considered before the FTC submits a 
request for Office of Management and Budget (OMB) review under the 
Paperwork Reduction Act.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before October 25, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Secretary, Federal Trade 
Commission, Room H-159, 600 Pennsylvania

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Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20580, or by e-mail to <[email protected]>. 
The submissions should include the submitter's name, address, telephone 
number, and , if available, FAX number and e-mail address. All 
submissions should be captioned ``Entertainment Industry Study''-FTC 
File No. P994511.''
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information 
should be addressed to Sally Forman Pitofsky, Attorney, Division of 
Financial Practices, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade 
Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20580. 
Telephone: (202) 326-3318, E-mail <[email protected]>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FTC invites comments on: (1) Whether the 
proposed collections of information are necessary for the proper 
performance of the functions of the FTC, including whether the 
information will have practical utility; (2) the accuracy of the FTC's 
estimate of the burden of the proposed collections of information; (3) 
ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be collected; and (4) ways to minimize the burden of collecting 
information on those who are to respond, including through the use of 
appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., 
permitting electronic submission of responses. The FTC will submit the 
proposed information collection requirements to OMB for review, as 
required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35, 
as amended).

A. Survey of the Motion Picture, Recording, and Video Game 
Industries

1. Description of the Collection of Information and Proposed Use

    The FTC proposes to send information requests to approximately 60 
to 75 members of the motion picture industry, the recording industry, 
and the video, personal computer, and coin operated game industry 
(``industry members'') to examine: (1) The voluntary systems used by 
industry members to rate or designate violent content in movies, 
recordings, and video or computer games; (2) how industry members 
market or advertise movies, recordings, and video or computer games 
with violent content; and (3) whether industry members have policies or 
procedures to restrict access by children or teenagers under 18 to 
movies, recordings, and video or computer games having violent content. 
The information sought will be obtained by interviews and document 
requests. The information will be sought on a voluntary basis, although 
the FTC has authority to compel production of this information under 
Section 6(b) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(b).

2. Estimated Hours Burden

a. Interviews
    Staff will conduct initial and follow-up interviews with individual 
industry members. The interviews will focus on the subject areas (1)--
(3) above. The interviews should total no more than 20 hours for each 
industry member, for a maximum total of approximately 1,500 hours.
b. Document Requests
    Staff will also ask each industry member to submit documents 
relating to the above subject areas. Because the members within each of 
the industries will necessarily vary in size, we have provided a range 
of the estimated hours burden. This range is between 225 hours and 450 
hours per member depending on the size of each. The total estimated 
burden of producing such documents per member is based on the 
following:

Organize document retrieval--25-50 hours
Identify requested information--100-200 hours
Retrieve responsive information--50-100 hours
Copy requested information--50-100 hours

    Thus, the cumulative hours burden to produce documents sought will 
be between: 16,875 (225 hours x 75 members) to 33,750 (450 hours x 75 
members)

3. Estimated Cost Burden

a. Interviews
    We have assumed that mid-management level personnel will handle the 
responses to interviews and have applied an average hourly wage of 
$150/hour for their labor. Thus, the total cost per member for the 
interviews should not exceed $3,000 or $225,000 for the 75 respondents. 
Staff further estimates that the capital costs associated with the 
industry interviews are minimal. The interviews are likely to require 
no capital expenditures.
b. Document Production
    It is not possible to calculate with precision labor costs 
associated with this document production as they entail varying 
compensation levels of management, and/or support staff among many 
companies of different sizes and in different industries. Individuals 
among some or all of those labor categories may be involved in the 
information collection process. Nonetheless, we have assumed that mid-
management level personnel will handle most of the tasks involved in 
gathering and producing responsive information, and have applied an 
average hourly wage of $150/hour for their labor. We also have applied 
an average hourly wage of $10 for the labor of clerical employees who 
will copy the responsive materials. Thus, the total labor cost per 
member should range between $26,750 and $53,500 per member depending on 
the size of each:
    $26,750 (175 hours to assemble and review the production x $150 per 
hour +50 hours for copying x $10 per hour) to $53,500 (350 hours to 
assemble and review the production x $150 per hour + 100 hours for 
copying x $10 per hour).
    Accordingly, the total labor costs for the 75 members should range 
between approximately $2 million and $4 million.
    Staff estimates that the capital or other non-labor costs 
associated with the information requests are minimal. While the 
information requests may necessitate that industry members store copies 
of the requested information provided to the Commission, industry 
members should already have in place the means to do so. Even if an 
industry member should find it necessary to purchase a storage device--
which conceivably might be served by a cardboard box or comparable 
item--the cost of any such device annualized over its useful life 
likely would be very minimal. In addition, industry members may have to 
purchase office supplies such as file folders, computer diskettes, 
photocopier toner, or paper in order to comply with the Commission's 
information requests. Staff estimates that each industry member would 
spend $500 for such costs regarding the information requests, for a 
total additional non-labor cost burden of $37,500 ($500 x 75 members).

B. Consumer Research

1. Description of the Collection of Information and Proposed Use

    The FTC also proposes to conduct focus groups of 150 children 
between the ages of 13 and 16, and survey 1,000 parents having a child 
between the ages of 7 and 17 in order to gather specific information on 
their perceptions of the entertainment rating or labeling systems. This 
information will be collected on a voluntary basis, and the identities 
of the consumers will remain confidential. The FTC will contract with a 
consumer research firm to identify

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consumers and conduct the focus groups and the survey. The results will 
assist the FTC in determining whether and how consumers use the rating 
or labeling systems of the motion picture, recording, and video, 
computer, and coin operated game industries.

2. Estimated Hours Burden

    The FTC will contract with a survey firm to: (1) Identify and 
conduct focus groups on 150 children between the ages of 13 and 16; and 
(2) identify and survey 1,000 parents with children between the ages of 
7 and 17. For the focus groups, the contractor will identify 
respondents either by drawing names from a pre-assembled teen list or 
by conducting telephone screening within the general population. If 
telephone screening, the contractor would contact parents and ask 
whether a child in the household between the ages of 13 and 16 will 
participate in a focus group. Staff estimates that the screener will be 
asked of approximately 2,500 respondents in order to obtain a large 
enough random sample for the focus groups.
    For the parental telephone survey, the contractor will first 
identify respondents using a screening question in its monthly omnibus 
telephone survey and then ask whether respondents, with a child between 
the ages of 7 and 17, would participate in the survey. Allowing for 
non-response, the screener question will be asked of approximately 
3,500 respondents, as screening that number will provide a large enough 
random sample for this survey.
    The FTC staff estimates that the screening for the focus groups and 
the survey will consume no more than two minutes of each respondent's 
time. Thus, cumulatively, screening should require approximately 200 
hours (6,000 total respondents x 2 minutes for each).
    The FTC will pretest the parental survey on 24 respondents to 
ensure that all questions are easily understood. This pretest will take 
approximately 15 minutes per person. The hours burden imposed by the 
pretest will be approximately 6 hours (24 respondents x 15 minutes per 
survey). Participating in the focus groups will take approximately one 
hour per respondent, with a total burden of 150 hours. Answering the 
parental survey will impose a burden per respondent of approximately 15 
minutes, totaling 250 hours for all respondents to the survey (1,000 
respondents x 15 minutes per survey). Thus, total hours burden 
attributable to the consumer research will approximate 606 hours (200 + 
6 + 150 + 250).

3. Estimated Cost Burden

    The cost per respondent should be negligible. Participation is 
voluntary, and will not require any labor expenditures by respondents. 
There are no capital, start-up, operation, maintenance, or other 
similar costs to the respondents.

    By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 99-22016 Filed 8-24-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P