FTC slams music industry on marketing

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Washington's campaign against marketing of violent programming to children has lost its momentum without accomplishing all its goals, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times.

The campaign grew out of the 1999 massacre of students and teachers at Columbine High School. It may have reached its high point during the presidential election campaign of 2000, when the Federal Trade Commission issued a report critical of the entertainment industry and Congress held hearings into possible legislation on the issue.

According to the Times report, terrorism and the recession have pushed entertainment industry issues into the background, with leading advocates like Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.) backing away from promises to do something about the marketing of violent programming to minors.

"It's definitely a different climate from a year ago -- with many of the reasons having to do with the war," Lieberman spokesman Dan Gerstein told the paper.

The crusade also lost some momentum when significant segments of the entertainment industry made concessions and changed some of their marketing practices.

In a follow-up report issued last week, the FTC commended the movie and video game industries for cutting down on targeting kids with ads for violent products. But the commission had stern words for the recording industry,

Record company executives acknowledge that the music industry abandoned promises to enact an industrywide system of ratings and guidelines, but they say the reason for those decisions was that the companies did not want to put themselves in a position where they could face legal sanctions for violating voluntary marketing guidelines -- as Lieberman suggested he would call for in legislative proposals.

Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America," told the Times he would advise movie companies to drop the ratings system they have used for more than 30 years such legislation were enacted.

Although the FTC had positive words about the video game industry's response to the issue, an Oakland, Calif.-based non-profit, Children Now, issued a report this week criticizing the industry for

In a report titled "Fair Play? Violence, Gender and Race in Video Games," Children Now accused the industry of promoting games that are excessively violent, and that reinforce racial and gender stereotypes.

The report, based on a survey of popular titles, concluded that females and non-whites are underrepresented in video games.

Further, the report found that, where women are represented, they tend to be wearing scanty clothing and are more likely than males to be victims of violence.

The report also said that close to 80 percent of games that are rated "appropriate for all ages" contained some violence.

Children Now officials said the findings suggest that parents should not use the industry's ratings as substitutes for their own judgment about what is appropriate for their children.

Industry officials took issue with the study for classifying such games as "Ms. Pac Man" and "Frogger" as violent.

However, according to the times, others in the industry acknowledged that game developers can do more to appeal to a broader audience than young males -- who currently make up the major portion of the video game market.

"There are plenty of games that appeal to women, many of them enormously successful," said Doug Lowenstein, president of the Interactive Digital Software Association. "Can there be more? Absolutely."