DOCUMENT RESUME ED 463 862 PS 030 277 TITLE An Examination of the Entertainment Industry's Efforts To Curb Children's Exposure to Violent Content. Hearing before the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. House of Representatives, One Hundred Seventh Congress, First Session. INSTITUTION Congress of the U.S., Washington, DC. House Committee on Energy and Commerce. REPORT NO House-Hrg-107-60 PUB DATE 2001-07-20 NOTE 81p. AVAILABLE FROM U.S. Government Printing Office, Superintendent of Documents, Congressional Sales Office, Washington, DC 20402. Tel: 866-512-1800 (Toll Free); Tel: 202-512-1800; Fax: 202-512-2250; Web site: http://bookstore.gpo.gov. For full text: http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/house. PUB TYPE Legal/Legislative/Regulatory Materials (090) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC04 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Age Groups; *Children; Federal Legislation; Federal Regulation; Government Role; Hearings; *Mass Media Effects; *Parent Role; Video Games; *Violence IDENTIFIERS Congress 107th; *Music Industry ABSTRACT This hearing's transcripts compile testimony given before the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet of the Committee on Energy and Commerce on the entertainment industry's efforts to curb children's exposure to violent content, especially those of the music industry. The hearing began with statements from the chairman of the subcommittee and other legislators regarding the findings of the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) April, 2001 report to Congress. Statements or testimony were then presented by:(1) the associate director of advertising practices for the Federal Trade Commission, who described the findings of 2 studies regarding the marketing of violent entertainment products to children and the status of the current review of advertising placements and disclosure of ratings information in advertising;(2) the president of Interactive Digital Software Association, who emphasized that most videogame players are over age 18 and that most games do not contain violent content, and also described the efforts of the videogame industry to regulate its marketing plans;(3) the president of the Motion Picture Association of America, who highlighted parental responsibility for guiding their children's entertainment selections, current satisfaction with the rating system developed over 30 years ago, and the industry's current marketing initiatives;(4) the president of the Recording Industry Association of America, who focused on efforts of the music industry to label music releases containing explicit lyrics with a parental advisory logo and responded to criticisms presented in the FTC reports;(5) a senior vice-president for Wal-Mart Stores, who presented information on Wal-Mart's policies regarding the types of products they carry and its age verification policy; and (6) the executive director of a national grass roots organization to inform the entertainment industry of unacceptable levels of violence in entertainment, who urged the subcommittee to do its part in stopping the marketing of Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. violent entertainment to children. Following testimony and prepared statements, witnesses answered questions from the subcommittee members related to the lack of a consistent rating across entertainment media and the music industry's marketing of edited versus unedited products. Additional materials were submitted by the Video Software Dealers Association. (KB) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. AN EXAMINATIONOF THE ENTERTAINMENTIN- DUSTRY'S EFFORTSTO CURB CHILDREN'SEX- POSURE TO VIOLENTCONTENT 4.1 HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ONTELECOMMUNICATIONS AND THE INTERNET OF THE COMMITTEE ON ENERGYAND COMMERCE HOUSE OFREPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED SEVENTHCONGRESS FIRST SESSION JULY 20, 2001 Serial No. 107-60 Printed for the use of the Committeeon Energy and Commerce U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This docum ent has been reproduced as )(received from the person or organization originating it. 0 Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. Available via the World WideWeb: http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/house U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTINGOFFICE 74-844PS WASHINGTON : 2001 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents,U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free(866) 512-1800; DC area (202) 512-1800 Fax: (202) 512-2250 Mail: Stop SSOP,Washington, DC 20402-0001 -2BEST COPY AVAILABLE COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE W.J. "BILLY" TAUZIN, Louisiana, Chairman MICHAEL BILIRAKIS, Florida JOHN D. DINGELL, Michigan JOE BARTON, Texas HENRY A. WAXMAN, California FRED UPTON, Michigan EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts CLIFF STEARNS, Florida RALPH M. HALL, Texas PAUL E. GILLMOR, Ohio RICK BOUCHER, Virginia JAMES C. GREENWOOD, Pennsylvania EDOLPHUS TOWNS, New York CHRISTOPHER COX, California FRANK PALLONE, Jr., New Jersey NATHAN DEAL, Georgia SHERROD BROWN, Ohio STEVE LARGENT, Oklahoma BART GORDON, Tennessee RICHARD BURR, North Carolina PETER DEUTSCH, Florida ED WHITFIELD, Kentucky. BOBBY L. RUSH, Illinois GREG GANSKE, Iowa ANNA G. ESHOO, California CHARLIE NORWOOD, Georgia BART STUPAK, Michigan BARBARA CUBIN, Wyoming ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York JOHN SHIMKUS, Illinois TOM SAWYER, Ohio HEATHER WILSON, New Mexico ALBERT R. WYNN, Maryland JOHN B. SHADEGG, Arizona GENE GREEN, Texas CHARLES "CHIP" PICKERING, Mississippi KAREN McCARTHY, Missouri VITO FOSSELLA, New York TED STRICKLAND, Ohio ROY pLuNT, Missouri DIANA DEGETTE, Colorado TOM DAVIS, Virginia THOMAS M. BARRETT, Wisconsin ED BRYANT, Tennessee BILL LUTHER, Minnesota ROBERT L. EHRLICH, Jr., Maryland LOIS CAPPS, California STEVE BUYER, Indiana MICHAEL F. DOYLE, Pennsylvania GEORGE RADANOVICH, California CHRISTOPHER JOHN, Louisiana CHARLES F. BASS, New Hampshire JANE HARMAN, California JOSEPH R. PITTS, Pennsylvania MARY BONO, California GREG WALDEN, Oregon LEE TERRY, Nebraska DAVID V. MARVENTANO, Staff Director JAMES D. BARNE'rTE, General Counsel REID P.F. STuNn, Minority Staff Director andChief Counsel SUBCOMMITTEE ON TELECOMMUNICATIONSAND THE INTERNET FRED UPTON, Michigan, Chairman MICHAEL BILIRAKIS, Florida EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts JOE BARTON, Texas BART GORDON, Tennessee CLIFF STEARNS, Florida BOBBY L. RUSH, Illinois Vice Chairman ANNA G. ESHOO, California PAUL E. GILLMOR, Ohio ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York 'CHRISTOPHER COX, California GENE GREEN, Texas NATHAN DEAL, Georgia KAREN McCARTHY, Missouri STEVE LARGENT, Oklahoma BILL LUTHER, Minnesota BARBARA CUBIN, Wyoming BART STUPAK, Michigan JOHN SHIMKUS, Illinois DIANA DEGETTE, Colorado HEATHER WILSON, New Mexico JANE HARMAN, California CHARLES "CHIP" PICKERING, Mississippi RICK BOUCHER, Virginia VITO FOSSELLA, New York SHERROD BROWN, Ohio TOM DAVIS, Virginia TOM SAWYER, Ohio ROY BLUNT, Missouri JOHN D. DINGELL, Michigan, ROBERT L. EHRLICH, Jr., Maryland (Ex Officio) LEE TERRY, Nebraska W.J. "BILLY" TAUZIN, Louisiana (Ex Officio) 00 CONTENTS Page Testimony of: Lowenstein, Douglas, President, Interactive Digital Software Association. 25 McMillon, Doug, Senior Vice President and General Merchandise Man- ager, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc 38 Peeler, C. Lee, Associate Director of Advertising Practices, Federal Trade Commission 18 Rosen, Hilary B., President and Chief Executive Officer, Recording Indus- try Association of America 34 Valenti, Jack, President and Chief Executive Officer, Motion Picture As- sociation of America 31 White, Daphne, Executive Director, The Lion and Lamb Project 41 Material submitted for the record by: Video Software Dealers Association, prepared statement of 75 AN EXAMINATION OFTHE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY'S EFFORTS TOCURB CHILDREN'S EXPOSURE TO VIOLENTCONTENT FRIDAY, JULY 20, 2001 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON ENERGYAND COMMERCE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND THE INTERNET, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuantto notice, at 9:30 a.m., inroom 2123, Rayburn House Office Building,Hon. Fred Upton (chairman) presiding. Members present: RepresentativesUpton, Stearns, Largent, Cubin, Shimkus, Pickering,Terry, Tauzin (ex officio), Markey, McCarthy, Luther, Stupak, Harman,and Sawyer. Staff present: Linda Bloss-Baum,majority counsel; Yong Choe, legislative clerk; Andrew W. Levin,minority counsel; and Brendan Kelsay, minority professional staffmember. Mr. UvroN. Good morning,everyone. We are expecting one vote on the floor within the hour, and then theHouse will be adjourned for the week, sowe are going to try to moveas quickly as we can. I had a discussion last nightwith Ranking Member Markeyand Vice Chairman Stearns withregard to interest by the membersof the Commerce, Trade andConsumer Protection Subcommittee,and agreed to ask fora unanimous request that the members ofthat subcommittee wishing to participatein our hearing today, in fact, can, and we will be recognizing members basedon when the gavel fell. So, you will take note ofthe members thatare here. And so I will make that request withoutobjection and so rule. Good morning. In preparationfor today's hearing, I listenedto a few songs and a recording thatwas labeled as having explicit Con- tent, and I have tosay it was very explicit, especially the sounds of a woman's throat being slit.This music is not bysome fly by- night artist, it