II
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 5350
To exempt agreements relating to voluntary guidelines governing telecast
material, movies, video games, Internet content, and music lyrics from
the applicability of the antitrust laws.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 2, 2000
Mr. SMITH of Texas (for himself and Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To exempt agreements relating to voluntary guidelines gov-
erning telecast material, movies, video games, Internet
content, and music lyrics from the applicability of the
antitrust laws.
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 ‘‘Children’s Protection
Act of 2000’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Television is seen and heard in nearly every
United States home and is a uniquely pervasive
presence in the daily lives of Americans. The average
American home has 2.5 televisions, and a television
is turned on in the average American home 7 hours
every day.
(2) Television plays a particularly significant
role in the lives of children. Figures provided by
Nielsen Research show that children between the
ages of 2 years and 11 years spend an average of
21 hours in front of a television each week.
(3) Television has an enormous capability to in-
fluence perceptions, especially those of children, of
the values and behaviors that are common and ac-
ceptable in society.
(4) The influence of television is so great that
its images and messages often can be harmful to the
development of children. Social science research
amply documents a strong correlation between the
exposure of children to televised violence and a num-
ber of behavioral and psychological problems.
(5) Hundreds of studies have proven conclu-
sively that children who are consistently exposed to
violence on television have a higher tendency to ex-
hibit violent and aggressive behavior, both as chil-
dren and later in life.
(6) Such studies also show that repeated expo-
sure to violent programming causes children to be-
come desensitized to and more accepting of real-life
violence and to grow more fearful and less trusting
of their surroundings.
(7) A growing body of social science research
indicates that sexual content on television can also
have a significant influence on the attitudes and be-
haviors of young viewers. This research suggests
that heavy exposure to programming with strong
sexual content contributes to the early commence-
ment of sexual activity among teenagers.
(8) Members of the National Association of
Broadcasters (NAB) adhered for many years to a
comprehensive code of conduct that was based on an
understanding of the influence exerted by television
and on a widely held sense of responsibility for using
that influence carefully.
(9) This code of conduct, the Television Code of
the National Association of Broadcasters, articulated
this sense of responsibility as follows:
(A) ‘‘In selecting program subjects and
themes, great care must be exercised to be sure
that the treatment and presentation are made
in good faith and not for the purpose of sensa-
tionalism or to shock or exploit the audience or
appeal to prurient interests or morbid curi-
osity.’’.
(B) ‘‘Broadcasters have a special responsi-
bility toward children. Programs designed pri-
marily for children should take into account the
range of interests and needs of children, from
instructional and cultural material to a wide va-
riety of entertainment material. In their total-
ity, programs should contribute to the sound,
balanced development of children to help them
achieve a sense of the world at large and in-
formed adjustments to their society.’’.
(C) ‘‘Violence, physical, or psychological,
may only be projected in responsibly handled
contexts, not used exploitatively. Programs in-
volving violence present the consequences of it
to its victims and perpetrators. Presentation of
the details of violence should avoid the exces-
sive, the gratuitous and the instructional.’’.
(D) ‘‘The presentation of marriage, family,
and similarly important human relationships,
and material with sexual connotations, shall not
be treated exploitatively or irresponsibly, but
with sensitivity.’’.
(E) ‘‘Above and beyond the requirements
of the law, broadcasters must consider the fam-
ily atmosphere in which many of their programs
are viewed. There shall be no graphic portrayal
of sexual acts by sight or sound. The portrayal
of implied sexual acts must be essential to the
plot and presented in a responsible and tasteful
manner.’’.
(10) The National Association of Broadcasters
abandoned the code of conduct in 1983 after three
provisions of the code restricting the sale of adver-
tising were challenged by the Department of Justice
on antitrust grounds and a Federal district court
issued a summary judgment against the National
Association of Broadcasters regarding one of the
provisions on those grounds. However, none of the
programming standards of the code were challenged.
(11) While the code of conduct was in effect, its
programming standards were never found to have
violated any antitrust law.
(12) Since the National Association of Broad-
casters abandoned the code of conduct, program-
ming standards on broadcast and cable television
have deteriorated dramatically.
(13) In the absence of effective programming
standards, public concern about the impact of tele-
vision on children, and on society as a whole, has
risen substantially. Polls routinely show that more
than 80 percent of Americans are worried by the in-
creasingly graphic nature of sex, violence, and vul-
garity on television and by the amount of program-
ming that openly sanctions or glorifies criminal,
antisocial, and degrading behavior.
(14) At the urging of Congress, the television
industry has taken some steps to respond to public
concerns about programming standards and content.
The broadcast television industry agreed in 1992 to
adopt a set of voluntary guidelines designed to ‘‘pro-
scribe gratuitous or excessive portrayals of violence’’.
Shortly thereafter, both the broadcast and cable tele-
vision industries agreed to conduct independent
studies of the violent content in their programming
and make those reports public.
(15) In 1996, the television industry as a whole
made a commitment to develop a comprehensive rat-
ing system to label programming that may be harm-
ful or inappropriate for children. That system was
implemented at the beginning of 1999.
(16) Despite these efforts to respond to public
concern about the impact of television on children,
millions of Americans, especially parents with young
children, remain angry and frustrated at the sinking
standards of television programming, the reluctance
of the industry to police itself, and the harmful in-
fluence of television on the well-being of the children
and the values of the United States.
(17) The Department of Justice issued a ruling
in 1993 indicating that additional efforts by the tele-
vision industry to develop and implement voluntary
programming guidelines would not violate the anti-
trust laws. The ruling states that ‘‘such activities
may be likened to traditional standard setting efforts
that do not necessarily restrain competition and may
have significant procompetitive benefits . . . Such
guidelines could serve to disseminate valuable infor-
mation on program content to both advertisers and
television viewers. Accurate information can enhance
the demand for, and increase the output of, an in-
dustry’s products or services.’’.
(18) The Children’s Television Act of 1990
(Public Law 101–437) states that television broad-
casters in the United States have a clear obligation
to meet the educational and informational needs of
children.
(19) Several independent analyses have dem-
onstrated that the television broadcasters in the
United States have not fulfilled their obligations
under the Children’s Television Act of 1990 and
have not noticeably expanded the amount of edu-
cational and informational programming directed at
young viewers since the enactment of that Act.
(20) The popularity of video and personal com-
puter (PC) games is growing steadily among chil-
dren. Although most popular video and personal
computer games are educational or harmless in na-
ture, many of the most popular are extremely vio-
lent. One recent study by Strategic Record Research
found that 64 percent of teenagers played video or
personal computer games on a regular basis. Other
surveys of children as young as elementary school
age found that almost half of them list violent com-
puter games among their favorites.
(21) Violent video games often present violence
in a glamorized light. Game players are often cast
in the role of shooter, with points scored for each
‘‘kill’’. Similarly, advertising for such games often
touts violent content as a selling point—the more
graphic and extreme, the better.
(22) As the popularity and graphic nature of
such video games grows, so do their potential to neg-
atively influence impressionable children.
(23) Music is another extremely pervasive and
popular form of entertainment. American children
and teenagers listen to music more than any other
demographic group. The Journal of American Medi-
cine reported that between the 7th and 12th grades
the average teenager listens to 10,500 hours of rock
or rap music, just slightly less than the entire num-
ber of hours spent in the classroom from kinder-
garten through high school.
(24) Teens are among the heaviest purchasers
of music, and are most likely to favor music genres
that depict, and often appear to glamorize violence.
(25) Music has a powerful ability to influence
perceptions, attitudes, and emotional state. The use
of music as therapy indicates its potential to in-
crease emotional, psychological, and physical health.
That influence can be used for ill as well.
SEC. 3. CONSTRUCTION.
This Act may not be construed as—
(1) providing the Federal Government with any
authority to restrict television programming, movies,
video games, Internet content, or music lyrics that
is in addition to the authority to restrict such pro-
gramming, movies, games, content, or lyrics under
law as of the date of the enactment of this Act; or
(2) approving any action of the Federal Govern-
ment to restrict such programming, movies, games,
content, or lyrics that is in addition to any actions
undertaken for that purpose by the Federal Govern-
ment under law as of such date.
SEC. 4. EXEMPTION OF VOLUNTARY AGREEMENTS ON
GUIDELINES FOR CERTAIN ENTERTAINMENT
MATERIAL FROM APPLICABILITY OF ANTI-
TRUST LAWS.
(a) EXEMPTION.—Subject to subsection (b), the anti-
trust laws shall not apply to any joint discussion, consider-
ation, review, action, or agreement by or among persons
in the entertainment industry for the purpose of devel-
oping and disseminating voluntary guidelines designed—
(1) to alleviate the negative impact of telecast
material, movies, video games, Internet content, and
music lyrics containing violence, sexual content,
criminal behavior, or other subjects that the enter-
tainment industry deems appropriate for children; or
(2) to promote telecast material that is edu-
cational, informational, or otherwise beneficial to the
development of children.
(b) LIMITATION.—The exemption provided in sub-
section (a) shall not apply to any joint discussion, consid-
eration, review, action, or agreement which—
(1) results in a boycott of any person; or
(2) concerns the purchase or sale of advertising,
including (without limitation) restrictions on the
number of products that may be advertised in a
commercial, the number of times a program may be
interrupted for commercials, and the number of con-
secutive commercials permitted within each interrup-
tion.
(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
(1) ANTITRUST
LAWS.—The term ‘‘antitrust
laws’’ has the meaning given such term in the first
section of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12) and in-
cludes section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission
Act (15 U.S.C. 45).
(2) INTERNET.—The term ‘‘Internet’’ means
the combination of computer facilities and electro-
magnetic transmission media, and related equipment
and software, comprising the interconnected world-
wide network of computer networks that employ the
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol or
any successor protocol to transmit information.
(3) MOVIES.—The term ‘‘movies’’ means theat-
rical motion pictures.
(4) PERSON IN THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUS-
TRY.—The term ‘‘person in the entertainment indus-
try’’ means a television network, any entity which
produces or distributes television programming (in-
cluding theatrical motion pictures), the National
Cable Television Association, the Association of
Independent Television Stations, Incorporated, the
National Association of Broadcasters, the Motion
Picture Association of America, each of the affiliate
organizations of the television networks, the Inter-
active Digital Software Association, any entity which
produces or distributes video games, the Recording
Industry Association of America, and any entity
which produces or distributes music, and includes
any individual acting on behalf of such person.
(5) TELECAST.—The term ‘‘telecast’’ means
any program broadcast by a television broadcast sta-
tion or transmitted by a cable television system.
(d) REPORT.—Not later than 12 months after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General,
in conjunction with the Chairman of the Federal Trade
Commission, shall submit to Congress a report on—
(1) the extent to which the motion picture, re-
cording, and video game industry have developed or
enforced guidelines, procedures, or mechanisms to
ensure compliance by persons and entities described
in subsection (c)(4) with ratings or labeling systems
which identify and limit dissemination of sexual, vio-
lent, or other indecent material to children; and
(2) the extent to which Federal and State anti-
trust law preclude those industries from developing
and enforcing the guidelines described in subsection
(a).
Æ