Proposed Lieberman / Clinton / Kohl bill restricting sales of cer tain music to children

[Glenn Reynolds]

My thoughts:

1.  Lieberman is too visibly running for President.

2.  The entertainment industry will soon develop a sudden liking for
tort reform, which will benefit Republicans.

Date sent:              Fri, 27 Apr 2001 12:50:32 -0700
Send reply to:          Discussion list for con law professors              <CONLAWPROF at LISTSERV.UCLA.EDU>
From:                   "Volokh, Eugene" <VOLOKH at mail.law.ucla.edu>
Subject:                Proposed Lieberman / Clinton / Kohl bill restricting sales of cer
                tain music to children
To:                     CONLAWPROF at LISTSERV.UCLA.EDU

>         Any thoughts on the following, from
> http://www.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/04/26/congress.hollywood/index.html?
>
>
>
>                 Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Connecticut, introduced
>                   legislation Thursday aimed at punishing the entertainment
> industry for marketing
>                   products with violent or sexually explicit content to
> children.
>
>                   The former Democratic vice presidential candidate and
> long-time Hollywood
>                   watchdog said his bill was written in response to recent
> Federal Trade
>                   Commission reports that a voluntary ratings system for
> music is being
>                   undermined by excessive marketing of adult-rated products
> to children.
>
>                         . . .
>
>                   Lieberman, who was joined by Democratic co-sponsors
> Hillary Clinton of New
>                   York and Herb Kohl of Wisconsin, insisted his legislation
> is not akin to
>                   censorship because it would give the FTC authority to
> pursue only companies
>                   that voluntarily rate their products as inappropriate for
> children, yet proceed to
>                   market those products directly to minors.
>
>                   "If you voluntarily label a product as being unsuitable
> for kids and then turn
>                   around and market it directly to kids in contradiction of
> your ratings system,
>                   then you should be held accountable just like any other
> company in America that
>                   misleads consumers," Lieberman said. "That's not
> censorship. That's common
>                   sense."
>
>                   But Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture
> Association of America, said
>                   the legislation attacks freedom of speech and is
> unconstitutional.
>
>                         . . .
>
>                   The legislation would allow the FTC to issue a
> cease-and-desist order or levy
>                   fines and against companies that engage in false and
> deceptive advertising by
>                   marketing violent and sexually explicit content to
> children. Valenti said the
>                   legislation would backfire because it would discourage
> voluntary ratings
>                   systems.
>
>                   "It will put an end to the movie industry's voluntary film
> rating system because it
>                   penalizes those distributors who participate in this
> voluntary system and gives
>                   total immunity from any penalty to a producer or
> distributor who distributes a
>                   film without a rating," he said. But Sen. Clinton warned
> that any abandonment of
>                   voluntary ratings would set off "a reaction on the part of
> Congress to require
>                   labeling."
>
>                         . . .
>
>
>


Prof. Glenn Harlan Reynolds
College of Law, University of Tennessee
1505 W. Cumberland Ave., Knoxville, TN  37996-1810

Attempt no more good than the people can bear.  --Thomas Jefferson