FITUG e.V. Förderverein Informationstechnik und Gesellschaft

FC: Clinton on violent video games, "Internet game s

------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
Date:          Tue, 01 Jun 1999 22:15:39 -0400
To:            politech@vorlon.mit.edu
From:          Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
Subject:       FC: Clinton on violent video games, "Internet game site" ratings
Reply-to:      declan@well.com

[This is one problem with ratings. When an industry caves to
government pressure rather than fighting (on 1A grounds and on
principle), officials may not be satisified. (cf
http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-268es.html) They may demand more, as
the president did today. And companies may no longer be in a position
to resist. --Declan]

********

http://library.whitehouse.gov/PressReleases.cgi?date=0&briefing=0

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
June 1, 1999
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AND MRS. CLINTON ON CHILDREN, VIOLENCE AND
MARKETING The Rose Garden

HILLARY CLINTON:

We can no longer ignore the well-documented connection between
violence in the media and the effects that it has on children's
behavior. One study has found, for example, that if an actor is
rewarded for violent behavior, children are more likely to imitate it.
Another tells us that media violence has a particularly negative
effect on children who already have a tendency toward aggressive or
antisocial behavior.

PRESIDENT CLINTON:

...That is why I have strongly urged people in the entertainment
industry to consider the consequences of what they create and how they
advertise it. One can value the First Amendment right to free speech
and at the same time care for and act with restraint. Our
administration has worked to give parents more tools to protect their
kids, to block violent programming from entering their living room
with the V-chip and the rating system. We've made progress on parental
screening for Internet and ratings for Internet game sites.

...today I am asking the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade
Commission to study the extent to which the video game, music and
movie markets do actually market violence to children, and whether
those industries are abiding by their own voluntary systems of
regulations. 


http://library.whitehouse.gov/PressReleases.cgi?date=0&briefing=1

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary 
For Immediate Release
June 1, 1999
TEXT OF A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT TO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL AND CHAIR
OF THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

...Today, the motion picture, recording, and video game industries
also use content-based ratings to improve the choices parents have.
If, however, these industries market violent or other inappropriate
materials, rated for adults, to children, then they undermine the
effective functioning of the ratings systems. And the industries make
it harder for parents to control the movies, music, and games to which
their children are exposed.

Therefore, I am requesting that the Federal Trade Commission and the
Department of Justice to conduct a study on the marketing practices of
the motion picture, recording, and video game industries with regard
to material rated for adults to determine whether and to what extent
these industries market such material to children. Among other
matters, the study should examine whether such violent material rated
for adults is advertised or promoted in media outlets in which minors
comprise a substantial percentage of the audience. The study also
should examine whether these advertisements are intended to and in
fact attract underage audiences.




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