I
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 Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Media Marketing Ac-
countability 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 mov-
ies, and playing video games. Specifically:
(A) Children ages 8 through 13 spend ap-
proximately 3 hours per week in a movie the-
ater, on average. In addition, 62 percent of chil-
dren 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 21⁄2 hours per day on av-
erage.
(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 prod-
ucts.
(4) Media violence can be harmful to children.
Most scholarly studies on the impact of media vio-
lence 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 mar-
keting plans for music recordings with explicit
content labels either explicitly mentioned chil-
dren under age 17 as part of the target audi-
ence or called for ad placement in media that
would reach a majority or substantial percent-
age of children under age 17.
(C) The Commission found that 70 percent
of Mature-rated video games studied were tar-
geted 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, uni-
form policies expressly prohibiting these practices
and to enforce these policies with real sanctions for
violations.
(7) To date, as the Commission noted in a fol-
low-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 con-
tinues to target its advertising of adult-rated prod-
ucts to children, there is need for narrowly targeted
legislation to prohibit, as a false and deceptive trade
practice, the targeting of children in the advertise-
(B) other policies to restrict, to the extent
feasible, the sale, rental, or viewing to or by mi-
nors 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 prohi-
bitions 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 sec-
tion 101.
(b) IN PARTICULAR.—The rules under subsection
(a)—
(1) shall specify criteria for determining wheth-
er 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 accord-
ance 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 pre-
vent 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 ju-
risdiction, powers, and duties as though all applica-
ble terms and provisions of the Federal Trade Com-
mission 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 Com-
mission 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 prod-
uct, 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 appro-
priate 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, ad-
vises 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 indi-
vidual below the age established under the rating or
labeling system in question to be an appropriate au-
dience 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 la-
beling system in question, the term means an indi-
vidual less than 17 years of age.
(3) ADULT.—The term ‘‘adult’’ means an indi-
vidual who is no longer a minor.
(4) ELECTRONIC GAME.—The term ‘‘electronic
game’’ means any interactive entertainment soft-
ware, 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 pic-
ture’’ 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 tele-
vision.
(6) MUSIC RECORDING.—The term ‘‘music re-
cording’’ 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 ENTER-
TAINMENT INDUSTRIES REGARDING ADULT-
RATED MATERIALS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Trade Commission
shall conduct a study of the advertising and other mar-
keting practices of the motion picture industry, music re-
cording industry, and electronic game industry regarding
adult-rated motion pictures, music recordings, and elec-
tronic 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 mar-
keting practices designed to attract minors to
such materials;