II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2497

To provide for the development, use, and enforcement of an easily recognizable

system in plain English for labeling violent content in audio and visual

media products and services, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 2, 2000

Mr. MCCAIN (for himself and Mr. LIEBERMAN) 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

an easily recognizable system in plain English for labeling violent content in audio and visual media products

and services, 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 2000’’.
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1 SEC. 2. SYSTEM FOR LABELING VIOLENT CONTENT IN

2 AUDIO AND VISUAL MEDIA PRODUCTS AND

3 SERVICES.

4 (a) DECLARATION OF POLICY.—Section 2 of the Fed5 eral Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act (15 U.S.C.

6 1331) is amended—

7 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a) POLICY REGARDING CIGA8 RETTES.—’’ before ‘‘It is the policy of the Con9 gress’’; and

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

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

12 VISUAL MEDIA PRODUCTS AND SERVICES.—It is also the

13 policy of Congress, and the purpose of this Act, to provide

14 for the establishment, use, and enforcement of a consistent

15 and comprehensive system in plain English for labeling

16 violent content in audio and visual media products and

17 services (including labeling of such products and services

18 in the advertisements for such products and services),

19 whereby—

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

21 of—

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

23 depictions of violence in audio and visual media

24 products and services; and

25 ‘‘(B) matters needed to judge the appro26 priateness of the purchase, viewing, listening to,
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1 use, or other consumption of audio and visual

2 media products and services containing violent

3 content by minors of various ages; and

4 ‘‘(2) the public may be assured of—

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

6 system in labeling the nature, context, and in7 tensity of depictions of violence in audio and

8 visual media products and services; and

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

10 system in providing information on matters

11 needed to judge the appropriateness of the pur12 chase, viewing, listening to, use, or other con13 sumption of audio and visual media products

14 and services containing violent content by mi15 nors of various ages.’’.

16 (b) DEFINITION.—Section 3 of that Act (15 U.S.C.

17 1332) is amended by adding at the end the following:

18 ‘‘(10)(A) The term ‘audio and visual media

19 products and services’ means interactive video game

20 products and services, video program products, mo21 tion picture products, and sound recording products.

22 ‘‘(B) The term does not include television pro23 gramming, including any motion picture broadcast

24 on television.’’.
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1 (c) LABELING OF AUDIO AND VISUAL MEDIA PROD2 UCTS AND SERVICES.—That Act is further amended by

3 inserting after section 4 (15 U.S.C. 1333) the following

4 new section:

5 ‘‘LABELING OF AUDIO AND VISUAL MEDIA PRODUCTS

6 AND SERVICES

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

8 Manufacturers and producers of audio and visual media

9 products and services may submit to the Federal Trade

10 Commission a joint proposal for a system for labeling the

11 violent content in audio and visual media products and

12 services.

13 ‘‘(2) The proposal under this subsection should, to

14 the maximum extent practicable, meet the requirements

15 set forth in subsection (b).

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

17 joint discussion, consideration, review, action, or agree18 ment between or among manufacturers and producers re19 ferred to in paragraph (1) for purposes of developing a

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

21 paragraph.

22 ‘‘(B) For purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘anti23 trust laws’ has the meaning given such term in the first

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

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

26 45).
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1 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS FOR LABELING SYSTEM.—A

2 system for labeling the violent content in audio and visual

3 media products and services under this section shall meet

4 the following requirements:

5 ‘‘(1) The label of a product or service shall con6 sist of a single format which provides a product-spe7 cific or service-specific description in plain English

8 of the nature, context, and intensity of the depic9 tions of violence in the product or service.

10 ‘‘(2) The content description of a product or

11 service under paragraph (1) shall specify a minimum

12 age in years for the purchase, viewing, listening to,

13 use, or other consumption of the product or service

14 in light of the totality of all depictions of violence in

15 the product or service.

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

17 services shall—

18 ‘‘(A) incorporate each label provided for

19 under paragraphs (1) and (2);

20 ‘‘(B) include product-specific or service21 specific written text in plain English; and

22 ‘‘(C) be identical in visual format for each

23 given label provided under paragraphs (1) and

24 (2), regardless of the type of product or service

25 involved.
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1 ‘‘(4) In the case of a product or service sold in

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

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

4 in a conspicuous manner.

5 ‘‘(5) In the case of a time-sequenced product or

6 service that is intended to be viewed, the label

7 shall—

8 ‘‘(A) appear before the commencement of

9 the product or service;

10 ‘‘(B) appear in both visual and audio form;

11 and

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

13 seconds.

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

15 shall include a label of the product or service in ac16 cordance with the applicable provisions of this sub17 section.

18 ‘‘(c) FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION RESPONSIBIL19 ITIES.—(1)(A) If the manufacturers and producers re20 ferred to in subsection (a) submit to the Federal Trade

21 Commission a proposal for a labeling system referred to

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

23 of the enactment of the Media Violence Labeling Act of

24 2000, the Commission shall review the labeling system

25 contained in the proposal to determine whether the label-
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1 ing system meets the requirements set forth in subsection

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

3 in section 2(b).

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

5 review of the proposal for a labeling system under sub6 paragraph (A), the Commission shall issue a labeling sys7 tem for purposes of this section. The labeling system

8 issued under this subparagraph may include such modi9 fications of the proposal as the Commission considers ap10 propriate in order to assure that the labeling system meets

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

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

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

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

15 proposal for a labeling system referred to in that sub16 section within the time provided under paragraph (1)(A),

17 the Commission shall prescribe regulations to establish a

18 labeling system for purposes of this section that meets the

19 requirements set forth in subsection (b).

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

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

22 the enactment of the Media Violence Labeling Act of

23 2000.

24 ‘‘(d) PROHIBITION ON SALE OR DISTRIBUTION

25 WITHOUT LABEL.—Except as provided in subsection (f),
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1 commencing one year after the date of the enactment of

2 the Media Violence Labeling Act of 2000, a person may

3 not manufacture or produce for sale or distribution in

4 commerce, package for sale or distribution in commerce,

5 or sell or distribute in commerce any audio or visual media

6 product or service unless the product or service bears a

7 label in accordance with the labeling system issued or pre8 scribed by the Federal Trade Commission under sub9 section (c).

10 ‘‘(e) PROHIBITION ON SALE IN VIOLATION OF AGE

11 RESTRICTION.—Except as provided in subsection (f), com12 mencing one year after the date of the enactment of the

13 Media Violence Labeling Act of 2000, a person may not

14 sell in commerce any audio or visual media product or

15 service to an individual whose age in years is less than

16 the age specified as the minimum age in years for a pur17 chaser and consumer of the product or service, as the case

18 may be, under the labeling system issued or prescribed by

19 the Federal Trade Commission under subsection (c).

20 ‘‘(f) DEFENSES.—(1) It shall be a defense to a viola21 tion of subsection (d) or (e) that the person made a good

22 faith effort to comply with subsection (d) or (e), as the

23 case may be.
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1 ‘‘(2) In the case of a person who is an employer, it

2 shall be a defense to a violation of subsection (e) by an

3 employee of such person that such person—

4 ‘‘(A) carried out a program designed to train

5 employees of such person in techniques and proce6 dures necessary to ensure compliance with sub7 section (e); and

8 ‘‘(B) enforced the compliance of such employees

9 with such techniques and procedures.

10 ‘‘(g) INVESTIGATIONS OF IMPROPER LABELING.—(1)

11 The attorney general of a State shall have the authority

12 to receive and investigate allegations that an audio or vis13 ual media product or service within such State does not

14 bear a label under the labeling system issued or prescribed

15 by the Commission under subsection (c) that is appro16 priate for the product or service, as the case may be, given

17 the nature, context, and intensity of the depictions of vio18 lence in the product or service.

19 ‘‘(2) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘attor20 ney general’, in the case of a State, means the chief legal

21 officer of the State.’’.

22 (d) CIVIL PENALTY.—That Act is further amended

23 by inserting after section 10 (15 U.S.C. 1338) the fol24 lowing new section:
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1 ‘‘CIVIL PENALTY

2 ‘‘SEC. 10A. (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in

3 subsection (f) of section 4A, any person who violates sub4 section (d) or (e) of section 4A shall be subject to a civil

5 penalty in an amount not to exceed $10,000 for each such

6 violation.

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

8 audio or visual media product or service determined to vio9 late section 4A(d), each day from the date of the com10 mencement of sale or distribution of the product or serv11 ice, as the case may be, to the date of the determination

12 of the violation shall constitute a separate violation of sub13 section (a), and all such violations shall be aggregated to14 gether for purposes of determining the total liability of

15 the manufacturer or producer of the product or service,

16 as the case may be, for such violations under that sub17 section.’’.

18 (e) SHORT TITLE OF ACT.—The first section of that

19 Act (15 U.S.C. 1331 note) is amended to read as follows:

20 ‘‘That this Act may be cited as the ‘Federal Cigarette and

21 Media Violence Labeling and Advertising Act’ ’’.

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