II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1228

To provide for the development, use, and enforcement of a system for labeling

violent content in audio and visual media products, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 16, 1999

Mr. MCCAIN (for himself, Mr. LIEBERMAN, Mr. LOTT, and Mr. CONRAD) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

A BILL

To provide for the development, use, and enforcement of

a system for labeling violent content in audio and visual

media products, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Media Violence Label5 ing Act of 1999’’.
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1 SEC. 2. SYSTEM FOR LABELING VIOLENT CONTENT IN

2 AUDIO AND VISUAL MEDIA PRODUCTS.

3 (a) DECLARATION OF POLICY.—Section 2 of the Fed4 eral Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act (15 U.S.C.

5 1331) is amended—

6 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a) POLICY REGARDING CIGA7 RETTES.—’’ before ‘‘It is the policy of the Con8 gress’’; and

9 (2) by adding at the end the following:

10 ‘‘(b) POLICY REGARDING VIOLENCE IN AUDIO AND

11 VISUAL MEDIA PRODUCTS.—It is also the policy of Con12 gress, and the purpose of this Act, to provide for the es13 tablishment, use, and enforcement of a consistent and

14 comprehensive system for labeling violent content in audio

15 and visual media products (including labeling of such

16 products in the advertisements for such products),

17 whereby—

18 ‘‘(1) the public may be adequately informed

19 of—

20 ‘‘(A) the nature, context, and intensity of

21 depictions of violence in audio and visual media

22 products; and

23 ‘‘(B) matters needed to judge the appro24 priateness of the purchase, viewing, listening to,

25 use, or other consumption of audio and visual
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1 media products containing violent content by

2 minors of various ages; and

3 ‘‘(2) the public may be assured of—

4 ‘‘(A) the accuracy and consistency of the

5 system in labeling the nature, context, and in6 tensity of depictions of violence in audio and

7 visual media products; and

8 ‘‘(B) the accuracy and consistency of the

9 system in providing information on matters

10 needed to judge the appropriateness of the pur11 chase, viewing, listening to, use, or other con12 sumption of audio and visual media products

13 containing violent content by minors of various

14 ages.’’.

15 (b) LABELING OF AUDIO AND VISUAL MEDIA PROD16 UCTS.—That Act is further amended by inserting after

17 section 4 (15 U.S.C. 1333) the following new section:

18 ‘‘LABELING OF AUDIO AND VISUAL MEDIA PRODUCTS

19 ‘‘SEC. 4A. (a) VOLUNTARY LABELING SYSTEM.—(1)

20 Manufacturers and producers of interactive video game

21 products and services, video program products, motion

22 picture products, and sound recording products may sub23 mit to the Federal Trade Commission a joint proposal for

24 a system for labeling the violent content in interactive

25 video game products and services, video program products,

26 motion picture products, and sound recording products.
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1 ‘‘(2) The proposal under this subsection should, to

2 the maximum extent practicable, meet the requirements

3 set forth in subsection (b).

4 ‘‘(3)(A) The antitrust laws shall not apply to any

5 joint discussion, consideration, review, action, or agree6 ment between or among manufacturers and producers re7 ferred to in paragraph (1) for purposes of developing a

8 joint proposal for a system for labeling referred to in that

9 paragraph.

10 ‘‘(B) For purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘anti11 trust laws’ has the meaning given such term in the first

12 section of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12) and includes

13 section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C.

14 45).

15 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS FOR LABELING SYSTEM.—A

16 system for labeling the violent content in interactive video

17 game products and services, video program products, mo18 tion picture products, and sound recording products under

19 this section shall meet the following requirements:

20 ‘‘(1) The label of a product or service shall con21 sist of a single label which—

22 ‘‘(A) takes into account the nature, con23 text, and intensity of the depictions of violence

24 in the product or service; and
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1 ‘‘(B) assesses the totality of all depictions

2 of violence in the product or service.

3 ‘‘(2) The label of a product or service shall

4 specify a minimum age in years for the purchase,

5 viewing, listening to, use, or consumption of the

6 product or service in light of the totality of all depic7 tions of violence in the product or service.

8 ‘‘(3) The format of the label for products and

9 services shall—

10 ‘‘(A) incorporate each label provided for

11 under paragraphs (1) and (2);

12 ‘‘(B) include a symbol or icon, and written

13 text; and

14 ‘‘(C) be identical for each given label pro15 vided under paragraphs (1) and (2), regardless

16 of the type of product or service involved.

17 ‘‘(4) In the case of a product or service sold in

18 a box, carton, sleeve, or other container, the label

19 shall appear on the box, carton, sleeve, or container

20 in a conspicuous manner.

21 ‘‘(5) In the case of a product or service that is

22 intended to be viewed, the label shall—

23 ‘‘(A) appear before the commencement of

24 the product or service;
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1 ‘‘(B) appear in both visual and audio form;

2 and

3 ‘‘(C) appear in visual form for at least five

4 seconds.

5 ‘‘(6) Any advertisement for a product or service

6 shall include a label of the product or service in ac7 cordance with the applicable provisions of this sub8 section.

9 ‘‘(c) FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION RESPONSIBIL10 ITIES.—(1)(A) If the manufacturers and producers re11 ferred to in subsection (a) submit to the Federal Trade

12 Commission a proposal for a labeling system referred to

13 in that subsection not later than 180 days after the date

14 of the enactment of the Media Violence Labeling Act of

15 1999, the Commission shall review the labeling system

16 contained in the proposal to determine whether the label17 ing system meets the requirements set forth in subsection

18 (b) in a manner that addresses fully the purposes set forth

19 in section 2(b).

20 ‘‘(B) Not later than 180 days after commencing a

21 review of the proposal for a labeling system under sub22 paragraph (A), the Commission shall issue a labeling sys23 tem for purposes of this section. The labeling system

24 issued under this subparagraph may include such modi25 fications of the proposal as the Commission considers ap-
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1 propriate in order to assure that the labeling system meets

2 the requirements set forth in subsection (b) in a manner

3 that addresses fully the purposes set forth in section 2(b).

4 ‘‘(2)(A) If the manufacturers and producers referred

5 to in subsection (a) do not submit to the Commission a

6 proposal for a labeling system referred to in that sub7 section within the time provided under paragraph (1)(A),

8 the Commission shall prescribe regulations to establish a

9 labeling system for purposes of this section that meets the

10 requirements set forth in subsection (b).

11 ‘‘(B) Any regulations under subparagraph (A) shall

12 be prescribed not later than one year after the date of

13 the enactment of the Media Violence Labeling Act of

14 1999.

15 ‘‘(e) PROHIBITION ON SALE OR DISTRIBUTION

16 WITHOUT LABEL.—Commencing one year after the date

17 of the enactment of the Media Violence Labeling Act of

18 1999, a person may not manufacture or produce for sale

19 or distribution in commerce, package for sale or distribu20 tion in commerce, or sell or distribute in commerce any

21 interactive video game product or service, video program

22 product, motion picture product, or sound recording prod23 uct unless the product or service bears a label in accord24 ance with the labeling system issued or prescribed by the

25 Federal Trade Commission under subsection (d) which—
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1 ‘‘(1) is appropriate for the nature, context, and

2 intensity of the depictions of violence in the product

3 or service; and

4 ‘‘(2) specifies an appropriate minimum age in

5 years for purchasers and consumers of the product

6 or service.

7 ‘‘(f) PROHIBITION ON SALE IN VIOLATION OF AGE

8 RESTRICTION.—Commencing one year after the date of

9 the enactment of the Media Violence Labeling Act of

10 1999, a person may not sell in commerce an interactive

11 video game product or service, video program product, mo12 tion picture product, or sound recording product to an in13 dividual whose age in years is less than the age specified

14 as the minimum age in years for a purchaser and con15 sumer of the product or service, as the case may be, under

16 the labeling system issued or prescribed by the Federal

17 Trade Commission under subsection (d).

18 ‘‘(g) INVESTIGATIONS OF IMPROPER LABELING.—

19 The Federal Trade Commission shall have the authority

20 to receive and investigate allegations that an interactive

21 video game product or service, video program product, mo22 tion picture product, or sound recording product does not

23 bear a label under the labeling system issued or prescribed

24 by the Commission under subsection (d) that is appro25 priate for the product or service, as the case may be, given
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1 the nature, context, and intensity of the depictions of vio2 lence in the product or service.’’.

3 (c) CIVIL PENALTY.—That Act is further amended

4 by inserting after section 10 (15 U.S.C. 1338) the fol5 lowing new section:

6 ‘‘CIVIL PENALTY

7 ‘‘SEC. 10A. (a) IN GENERAL.—Any person who vio8 lates subsection (e) or (f) of section 4A shall be subject

9 to a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed $10,000 for

10 each such violation.

11 ‘‘(b) DURATION OF VIOLATION.—In the case of an

12 interactive video game product or service, video program

13 product, motion picture product, or sound recording prod14 uct determined to violate section 4A(e), each day from the

15 date of the commencement of sale or distribution of the

16 product or service, as the case may be, to the date of the

17 determination of the violation shall constitute a separate

18 violation of subsection (a), and all such violations shall be

19 aggregated together for purposes of determining the total

20 liability of the manufacturer or producer of the product

21 or service, as the case may be, for such violations under

22 that subsection.’’.

23 (d) SHORT TITLE OF ACT.—The first section of that

24 Act (15 U.S.C. 1331 note) is amended to read as follows:
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1 ‘‘That this Act may be cited as the ‘Federal Cigarette and

2 Media Violence Labeling and Advertising Act’ ’’.

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