Marketing Violent Entertainment to Children And Industry Self-regulation Focus of FTC Workshop

Issues relating to the marketing of violent entertainment to children will be the focus of a day-long public workshop on October 29, 2003. The workshop, hosted by the Federal Trade Commission, will provide a forum for discussing the state of self-regulation in the entertainment industry and, in particular, children’s access to products that have been rated as potentially inappropriate for them or have been labeled with a parental advisory.

The workshop panels will feature members of entertainment industry groups, rating and labeling organizations, retailers and retailer trade associations, parent and consumer advocacy groups, and other interested parties. There also will be an overview of the research on the effects of violent media on children. The workshop will provide an opportunity for participants to engage in dialogue about working together to ensure that the rating and labeling systems are accurate and useful, that parents are informed about these systems, and that limits on children’s access to entertainment that may be inappropriate for them are effective.

The workshop will be held from 9:00 am to 5:00 p.m. on October 29, 2003 at the FTC Conference Center located at 601 New Jersey Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. It is open to the public and there is no attendance fee.

A detailed agenda for the workshop will be available shortly on the Commission’s Web site at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/workshops/violence. This Web page also provides links to the Commission’s prior reports on the marketing of violent entertainment products to children and other related documents.

Copies of documents relating to the Commission’s review of the marketing of violent entertainment products to children are available from the FTC’s Web site at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/workshops/violence and also from the FTC’s Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint, or to get free information on any of 150 consumer topics, call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1 877-382-4357), or use the complaint form at http://www.ftc.gov. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.