Juvenile Justice Bill To Impact Movies

The U.S. Senate approved the Juvenile Justice Bill on May 20, a measure which could open the door for federal investigation of the way entertainment software products are marketed to kids. The legislation began two years ago as an effort to reform the juvenile-justice system and ended up as the focus of a national debate on whether the media or the gun industry should be blamed for the rash of high school shooting sprees that have plagued the country in recent years.The proposed legislation now carries amendments that would:- Require the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission to investigate entertainment industry marketing practices to determine whether violent movies and video games with adult-rated content are marketed to kids.- Encourage through exemptions entertainment companies to create a ""voluntary code of conduct"" to govern the amount of sex and violence on movie, TV and computer screens.- Require movie theatres and video stores to enforce the movie industryís MPAA age-based content ratings.- Require the National Institutes of Health to conduct a study into the effects of violent images and song lyrics on the behavior of children.During a panel titled ""Guns Donít Kill PeopleÖWriters Do"" at a conference sponsored by the Writers Guild Foundation at the Loews Hotel in Santa Monica, California last Fridayís (June 4), Jack Valenti, Chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), warned that the current political assault on Hollywood could ring serious consequences. But nearly all the panelists conceded that Hollywood targets teenagers with its violent movies because they are its most lucrative audience.The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee is scheduled to address the bill the week of June 8.