[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 61 (Thursday, March 30, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16155-16158]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-3086]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


Agency Information Collection Activities: Reinstatement of 
Existing Collection; Comment Request

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'' or ``Commission'') 
intends to conduct a survey of parents who have one or more children, 
aged eight to 16, who play video or personal computer games. The FTC 
will also survey children aged eight to 16, who play video or personal 
computer games. The surveys are a follow-up to the Commission's surveys 
conducted in 2000 on consumers' use of and familiarity with the 
Entertainment Software Rating Board (``ESRB'') electronic game rating 
system. The information collection requirements described below will be 
submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') for review, 
as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (``PRA'') (44 U.S.C. 3501-
3520).

DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 1, 2006.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties are invited to submit written comments. 
Comments should refer to ``Entertainment Industry Study: FTC File No. 
P994511'' to facilitate the organization of comments. A comment filed 
in paper form should include this reference both in the text and on the 
envelope and should be mailed or delivered, with two complete copies, 
to the following address: Federal Trade Commission/Office of the 
Secretary, Room H-135 (Annex E), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC 20580. Because U.S. Postal Mail is subject to lengthy 
delays due to heightened security precautions, please consider 
submitting your comments in electronic form (in ASCII format, 
WordPerfect, or Microsoft Word) as part of or as an attachment to e-
mail messages directed to the following e-mail box: [email protected]. 
However, if the comment contains any material for which confidential 
treatment is requested, it must be filed in paper form, and the first 
page of the document must be clearly labeled ``Confidential.'' \1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ Commission Rule 4.2(d), 16 CFR 4.2(d). The comment must be 
accompanied by an explicit request for confidential treatment, 
including the factual and legal basis for the request, and must 
identify the specific portions of the comment to be withheld from 
the public record. The request will be granted or denied by the 
Commission's General Counsel, consistent with applicable law and the 
public interest. See Commission Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Comments should also be submitted to: Office of Management and 
Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for the Federal Trade Commission. 
Comments should be submitted via facsimile to (202) 395-6974 because 
U.S. Postal Mail is subject to lengthy delays due to heightened 
security precautions.
    The FTC Act and other laws the Commission administers permit the 
collection of public comments to consider and use in this proceeding as 
appropriate. All timely and responsive public comments will be 
considered by the Commission and will be available, to the extent 
practicable, to the public on the FTC Web site at http://www.ftc.gov. 
As a matter of discretion, the FTC makes every effort to remove home 
contact information for individuals from the public comments it 
receives before placing those comments on the FTC Web site. More 
information, including routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, may 
be found in the FTC's privacy policy at http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/privacy.htm.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information, 
such as requests for copies of the proposed collection of information 
(Supporting Statement and related attachments), should be addressed to 
Keith R. Fentonmiller, (202) 326-2775, or Richard F. Kelly, (202) 326-
3304, Attorneys, Federal Trade Commission, Bureau of Consumer 
Protection, Division of Advertising Practices, 600 Pennsylvania Ave., 
NW., Washington, DC 20580.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 2000, OMB approved the FTC's request to 
conduct surveys on consumers' use of and familiarity with the rating or 
labeling systems of the motion picture, music recording, and video and 
personal computer game industries (OMB Control Number 3084-0120). After 
receiving OMB approval, the FTC conducted the consumer research and, in 
September 2000, the Commission issued a report requested by the 
President and Congress entitled, Marketing Violent Entertainment to 
Children: A Review of Self-Regulation and Industry Practices in the 
Motion Picture, Music Recording & Electronic Game Industries (hereafter 
``2000 Report'').\2\ The Commission found that the electronic game 
industry had engaged in widespread marketing of violent electronic 
games to children that: (1) Was inconsistent with the ESRB rating 
system; \3\ and (2) undermined parents' attempts to make informed 
decisions about their children's exposure to violent content. Similar 
results were found for the motion picture and music recording 
industries. The Commission also found that advertisements for 
electronic games frequently failed to contain rating information. 
Further, the Commission's national surveys of parents and children 
found that only 61% of parents were aware of the ESRB system, and 
nearly half of those parents reported that they rarely or never used 
the ESRB system.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ Available at http://www.ftc.gov/reports/violence/vioreport.pdf.
    \3\ As indicated on its Web site, http://www.esrb.org, the ESRB 
``is a self-regulatory body for the interactive entertainment 
software industry established in 1994 by the Entertainment Software 
Association, formerly the Interactive Digital Software Association. 
ESRB independently applies and enforces ratings, advertising 
guidelines, and online privacy principles adopted by the computer 
and video game industry. The ESRB rating system helps parents and 
other consumers choose the games that are right for their families. 
ESRB ratings have two parts: rating symbols that suggest what age 
group the game is best for, and content descriptors that indicate 
elements in a game that may have triggered a particular rating and/
or may be of interest or concern.''
    \4\ See 2000 Report, Appendix F at http://www.ftc.gov/reports/violence/appendicesviorpt.pdf. Appendix F also contains a detailed 
discussion of the underlying methodology and findings.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In April 2001,\5\ December 2001,\6\ June 2002,\7\ and July 2004,\8\ 
the Commission issued follow-up reports to assess changes in industry 
practices. The first two follow-up reports documented progress by the 
video game industry to limit advertising in popular teen media. The 
third follow-up report found that the game industry was in substantial 
compliance with ESRB standards governing ad placements and disclosure 
of rating information in advertising. There were, however, some 
advertisements for Mature-rated games \9\ placed on television programs 
with large numbers of teen viewers and continued placement of such ads 
in game enthusiast magazines with large youth readership. The 
Commission's July 2004 report found substantial compliance with ESRB 
standards governing ad placements and that

[[Page 16156]]

industry members generally were prominently disclosing rating 
information in advertising and on product packaging. A recent ``mystery 
shopper'' survey of video game retailers, conducted on behalf of the 
Commission between October 2005 and January 2006, showed that 42% of 
young teen shoppers (age 13-16) were able to purchase M-rated 
games.\10\ An additional mystery shopper study is planned for the 
summer of 2006.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \5\ Available at http://www.ftc.gov/reports/violence/violence010423.pdf.
    \6\ Available at http://www.ftc.gov/os/2001/12/violencereport1.pdf.
    \7\ Available at http://www.ftc.gov/reports/violence/mvecrpt0206.pdf.
    \8\ Available at http://www.ftc.gov/os/2004/07/040708kidsviolencerpt.pdf.
    \9\ According to the ESRB, Mature-rated games have content that 
may be suitable for persons 17 years of age and older. See http://www.esrb.org/esrbratings_guide.asp#symbols.
    \10\ Notably, the latest survey found that national sellers were 
much more likely to restrict sales of M-rated games to the shoppers, 
with only 35% of shoppers able to purchase a game. In contrast, 
regional or local sellers sold games to the shoppers 63% of the 
time. An earlier mystery shopper survey of retailers in 2003 found 
that 69% of young teen shoppers (age 13-16) were able to buy Mature-
rated games, an improvement from undercover shopping surveys 
conducted in 2000 and 2001. See July 2004 Report, Appendix B at 
http://www.ftc.gov/os/2004/07/040708kidsviolencerpt.pdf. The FTC's 
September 28, 2005 Notice, 70 FR 56703, erroneously indicates this 
appendix is available at http://www.ftc.gov/reports/violence/appendicesviorpt.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    There are continued concerns about parents' knowledge and use of 
the ESRB system, parents' agreement with the ratings that the ESRB has 
assigned to some games, and children's ability to purchase Mature-rated 
games at the retail level. In response to these concerns and as part of 
the agency's ongoing monitoring of the video game industry's self-
regulatory system, the FTC published a Notice seeking comments from the 
public concerning a new survey that would follow up on the 2000 survey 
with respect to the video game industry. See 70 FR 56703. Pursuant to 
the OMB regulations that implement the PRA (5 CFR part 1320), the FTC 
is providing this second opportunity for public comment while 
requesting that OMB reinstate the clearance for the survey. All 
comments should be filed as prescribed in the ADDRESSES section above, 
and must be received on or before May 1, 2006.

A. Comment Received From the ESRB

    In response to its first Notice, the FTC received one comment, from 
the ESRB, raising a concern that the study would not examine consumers' 
attitude toward the rating systems of other entertainment industries, 
and three additional concerns about the structure and content of the 
FTC's proposed consumer research.\11\ No other comments were received.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \11\ The ESRB comment is available at http://www.ftc.gov/os/comments/entertainindstrystudy/051123esrb.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Surveys' Exclusive Focus on Video Game Ratings

    The ESRB suggests that the FTC survey consumers' use and knowledge 
of not just the video game rating system, but other entertainment 
rating systems as well. The ESRB points out that the FTC's 2000 
research covered, in addition to the ESRB system, the rating systems 
for the motion picture and music recording industries. The ESRB asserts 
that the proposed research on the ESRB rating system will be 
significantly less useful than it would be if it also included the 
music and motion picture rating systems. However, each entertainment 
industry--whether music, movies, or video games--involves a distinct 
entertainment product and has a self-regulatory system tailored by its 
members. The self-regulatory challenges are not necessarily comparable 
across industries. The FTC's research will track changes in consumers' 
awareness and use of the ESRB system since 2000, and also will explore 
consumers' agreement with video game ratings. The FTC's gathering this 
data and tracking these changes is independent of consumers' use and 
awareness of the music and movie industry rating systems.
    The ESRB also asserts that the FTC's focus on the video game rating 
system creates the impression that the FTC is unduly scrutinizing the 
video game industry. The FTC's present focus on video game ratings 
responds, in part, to the recent increase in the popularity of video 
games and to concerns expressed by the public. Unlike the movie and 
music recording industries, the video game industry is relatively young 
and has experienced dramatic growth since the FTC's survey in 2000. 
Video game software sales in the United States exceeded $7 billion in 
2005, during which more than 228 million video games were sold.\12\ The 
ESA claims that the video game market has been the fastest growing 
sector of the entertainment industry over the past decade and that 
video game hardware and software sales now generate about $25 billion 
in global revenue.\13\ The ESA has forecasted that video games will 
eclipse music as the second most popular form of entertainment by 2008 
\14\ and has cited to research claiming that video games are capturing 
increasing amounts of Americans' leisure time at the expense of 
television and movies.\15\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \12\ See Entertainment Software Association (``ESA''), Top 10 
Industry Facts, available at http://www.theesa.com/facts/top_10_facts.php; ESA, Essential Facts about the Computer and Video Game 
Industry, at 11 (2005), available at http://www.theesa.com/files/2005EssentialFacts.pdf (last visited March 3, 2006).
    \13\ See ESA, ESA President Douglas Lowenstein Addresses 
Audience at China Joy Game Show in Shanghai, available at http://www.theesa.com/archives/2004/10/esa_president_d.php.
    \14\ Id.
    \15\ See ESA, Americans Playing More Games, Watching Less 
Television, available at http://www.theesa.com/archives/2004/05/esa_releases_re.php.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Although the proposed survey covers only video game ratings, the 
FTC continues to monitor and report on the marketing activities and 
self-regulatory efforts of the music and motion picture industries, and 
future consumer research may study the music or motion picture rating 
systems as well.

2. Ability To Study the ``Accuracy'' of Video Game Ratings

    The ESRB expresses concern that the FTC's research will attempt to 
study the ``accuracy'' of ESRB ratings, even though there is no 
universal, objective standard through which to verify the accuracy of 
video game ratings. The FTC is seeking, however, only to assess 
parents' general level of agreement with the ESRB ratings for games 
they have personally encountered through purchase or play with their 
children.
    The ESRB further contends that the FTC will not be able to study 
whether parents agree with ESRB ratings through a telephone survey. The 
ESRB claims that not showing parents footage of the games ``undermines 
the integrity of the research.'' The survey questions about agreement 
with game ratings will be posed to parents who are familiar with the 
ESRB system and will inquire only into those parents' direct, personal 
experiences in purchasing, playing, or viewing video games with their 
children. Thus, the survey is crafted to measure parental agreement 
with game ratings at the points parents actually have used game ratings 
and game content--that is, to measure parents' real life experiences at 
the point of purchase or in front of the video monitor.
    The FTC is aware that the survey data will depend upon parents' 
memories of game content they saw prior to the survey, unlike a study 
involving the display of video game footage akin to the annual validity 
studies commissioned by the ESRB.\16\ Although

[[Page 16157]]

different in design, the FTC's parental telephone survey, nonetheless, 
can provide useful information on this issue, and can serve to 
supplement the ESRB's validity studies as well as the ESRB's 2005 
telephone survey on parental awareness and use of its rating 
system.\17\ Indeed, several of the questions in the Commission's survey 
are very similar to questions from the ESRB's awareness and use survey, 
in particular, a question about how confident parents are that ESRB 
ratings reflect their own views about the age-appropriateness of game 
content and a question about parents' attitude toward games rated M for 
Mature. The FTC's survey probes more deeply into parents' responses to 
these general questions about their confidence in or agreement with 
ESRB ratings.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \16\ See http://www.esrb.org/downloads/validity_study_11_14_05.pdf; http://www.esrb.org/downloads/validity_study_11_22_04.pdf; http://www.esrb.org/downloads/study12_5_03.pdf. The ESRB's 
validity studies involve the display of one to two minute clips of 
video game play to parents of children who play video games. The 
brevity of these clips may limit the use of the results because 
games typically take many hours to complete. Moreover, it is unknown 
whether the content selected for these brief video clips fully 
represents the range and frequency of content that caused the ESRB 
(whose raters rely on more extensive footage of game play as well as 
the publisher's responses to a detailed questionnaire) to assign the 
game a particular rating.
    \17\ For information on the ESRB's awareness and use study, see 
http://www.esrb.org/downloads/awareness_use_5_5_05.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. Focus Group Design

    The ESRB expresses several concerns about the focus groups proposed 
in the initial Notice. After consultation with market research experts, 
the FTC determined that the potential benefit of focus groups in 
developing new questions for the telephone survey did not justify the 
time and expense of conducting them. Thus, monies for the focus groups 
have been reallocated to expand the size of the telephone surveys.

4. Telephone Surveys

    The FTC originally proposed to randomly call 1,000 households in 
order to survey 250 parents and 150 children; to be eligible to 
participate, parents needed to have had at least one child between the 
ages of 11 and 16. See 70 FR 56703 (September 28, 2005). The ESRB 
believed that the margin of error with these sample sizes would be too 
high and suggested a sample size closer to the size of the respondent 
pool in its own 2005 awareness and use survey (500 parents). The ESRB 
further stated that the survey is under-inclusive because it is limited 
to parents with at least one child between the ages of 11 and 16, 
thereby excluding parents of children between the ages of three and 11, 
who may be more likely to use ESRB ratings and restrict usage of Mature 
games than parents of older children. Last, the ESRB recommended 
against surveying children, given that its rating system is designed, 
not for children, but to help parents pick appropriate games for their 
children.
    The FTC has decided to substantially increase the sample sizes for 
both the parent and child surveys to 1,000 and 500, respectively. In 
addition, the FTC will expand the parent pool to include parents with 
at least one child between the ages of eight and 16 who play video 
games.
    The design of this survey makes it impractical to further expand 
the respondent pool to include parents who have children only between 
ages three and seven. The parent survey focuses on the parent's 
awareness and use of the ESRB system in relation to one particular 
child. After the parent survey, the child who was the subject of the 
parent survey will be surveyed (with parental permission). At the 
conclusion of all the parent and child surveys, each parent's responses 
will be compared to his or her child's responses to similar questions. 
Based on consultations with market research experts, the FTC has 
determined that it is impractical to conduct a telephone survey of 
children younger than eight. Moreover, because the survey will include 
parents with children as young as age eight, the respondent pool will 
include virtually all parents who have actually used or are most likely 
to use the ESRB system to decide whether it is appropriate for their 
youngest children to play games designed for more mature audiences 
(e.g., games rated T for Teen \18\ and M for Mature). The FTC believes 
that these design changes adequately address the ESRB's under-
inclusiveness concern and its concern about the margin of error for any 
results concerning the parent and children groups.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \18\ According to the ESRB, Teen-rated games have content that 
may be suitable for persons 13 years of age and older. See http://www.esrb.org/esrbratings_guide.asp#symbols.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The FTC's 2000 survey demonstrates that the child survey component 
will provide an important perspective on the results of the parent 
survey. The 2000 survey revealed significant discrepancies between the 
responses of parents and children in several key areas. For example, 
compared to their children, parents claimed a much greater role in 
their children's selection and purchase of video games.\19\ Also, 
compared to children, parents claimed to restrict the games their 
children could play much more often than their children reported.\20\ 
The 2000 child survey also yielded important information on whether: 
(1) Children had attempted to buy or play an M-rated game without their 
parents' permission; (2) store employees had tried to stop the 
unaccompanied child from buying the Mature-rated game; and (3) children 
had asked someone to buy or rent a game for them out of concern that 
they would be checked because of their age. In short, what children 
think about video game ratings and their ability to purchase games with 
certain ratings provide an important supplement to parents' views about 
video game ratings and their children's game playing habits.\21\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \19\ See 2000 Report, Appendix F, supra note 2, at 17.
    \20\ Id. at 18.
    \21\ The ESRB also is concerned that parents may be present at 
the time the children are surveyed, implying that children's 
responses may be compromised. The children's frank responses to the 
2000 survey, including responses that arguably contradicted their 
parents' claims about their degree of oversight of their children, 
does not support that concern. In any event, the survey interviewer 
will record whether the parent was on the telephone line with the 
child for the entire call, nearby for at least part of the call, or 
did not appear to be close by. The data can then be analyzed for any 
discrepancies based on the presence of parents during the child 
survey.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

B. Description of the Collection of Information and Proposed Use

    The FTC has developed two questionnaires and will survey a random 
sample of 1,000 adult respondents who are parents of one or more 
children, age eight to 16 years, who play video or personal computer 
games. The FTC intends to pretest the survey questions on 100 parent 
respondents to ensure that all questions are easily understood. In many 
respects, the questionnaire will be similar to the one used for the 
2000 Report. For example, the survey will continue to explore parents' 
awareness of and attitudes toward the ESRB system. In addition, the 
questionnaire includes questions regarding parents' level of agreement 
with ESRB ratings for games rated T for Teen and M for Mature that 
parents have personally encountered through buying, renting, playing, 
or watching games with their children.\22\ The FTC also has added 
questions about the number of different games that have been purchased 
or rented either by or for their children; content descriptors; 
parents' familiarity with the last video game purchased by or for 
children; and how regularly parents themselves play video games.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \22\ In the interest of brevity, the FTC has not included 
specific questions about parents' level of agreement with the ESRB 
ratings for games in other rating categories, such as E for Everyone 
or E10+ (Everyone Ten Plus). Nevertheless, the FTC has included a 
general question regarding how often video game ratings match 
parents' personal views of whether or not a game may be suitable for 
children in the age group indicated by the game's rating.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The FTC will also survey 500 children between the ages of eight and 
16 who play video or personal computer games.\23\ The survey will 
explore

[[Page 16158]]

children's video game habits and preferences; whether their parents 
restrict them from playing certain video games; their familiarity with 
the ESRB system; and whether they have attempted to purchase Mature-
rated games without their parents' permission or knowledge. As in the 
parent survey, questions on the child survey will be based upon those 
used for the 2000 Report, but some new questions have been added 
regarding their parents' attitudes toward games rated T for Teen and M 
for Mature; their attempts to purchase M-rated games on the Internet; 
and downloading games onto their cell phones.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \23\ The children will be selected from the same household as 
the adult survey respondents.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The FTC has contracted with a consumer research firm to provide 
guidance on developing the survey questionnaires and, subject to OMB 
approval, to conduct the surveys. The results of the surveys will help 
the FTC evaluate whether and how consumers use the ESRB rating system 
and whether consumers generally agree with ESRB ratings for games with 
which they are familiar.

2. Estimated Hours Burden

    For the parent telephone survey, the contractor will first identify 
eligible parents using screening questions in a telephone survey and 
then ask whether respondents, with a child between the ages of eight 
and 16, would participate in the children's survey. Allowing for non-
response, the screening questions will be asked of approximately 9,100 
respondents to provide a large enough random sample for the surveys. As 
noted, the child survey will be conducted as an adjunct to the parent 
survey, i.e., by speaking to a child in the same household as eligible 
adult respondents. As a result, the extra time required to screen for 
child respondents will be de minimis.
    The FTC estimates that the screening for the surveys will require 
no more than one minute of each respondent's time. Thus, cumulatively, 
screening should require a maximum of 152 hours (9,100 total 
respondents x 1 minute for each).
    The FTC intends to pretest the parent survey on 100 parents to 
ensure that all questions are easily understood. The pretests will take 
approximately 20 minutes per person. If the pretests do not lead to any 
material changes in the survey instruments, the data derived from the 
pretests will be used in the final analysis of the completed surveys. 
The hours burden imposed by the pretest will be approximately 33 hours 
(100 respondents x 20 minutes per survey). Answering the parent surveys 
will impose a burden per parent respondent of approximately 20 minutes 
and a burden per child respondent of approximately 10 minutes, totaling 
383 hours for all respondents to the surveys ((900 parent respondents x 
20 minutes per survey) + (500 child respondents x 10 minutes per 
survey)). Thus, the total hours burden attributable to the consumer 
research is approximately 568 hours (152 + 33 + 383).

3. Estimated Cost Burden

    The cost per respondent should be negligible. Calls will be made to 
respondents' homes so that the time involved will not conflict with 
regular work hours. 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.

Christian S. White,
Acting General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 06-3086 Filed 3-29-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P