You are correct about the ALA. I'm going to find a shocking quote. Hold on.
Posted on 09/21/2006 2:26:30 PM PDT by weegee
WASHINGTON (Hollywood Reporter) - Federal authorities are seeking information about the effectiveness of entertainment industry efforts to keep adult products out of kids' hands as customers migrate to the Internet and mobile services from brick-and-mortar stores, according to showbiz executives.
The data will form part of the Federal Trade Commission's congressionally mandated biennial report on the way the entertainment industry markets adult fare. FTC spokeswoman Jackie Disdul said the commission has yet to set a schedule for the report's release.
"The last time they did the report, online content was barely a glimmer in anyone's eye," said one industry executive. "Now they're wondering whether or not online sales are making it harder to enforce or make effective parental advisories."
For its previous reports, the FTC employed "secret shoppers" who go into various retail outlets and purchase music that carries the adult advisory sticker, M-rated video games, R- and NC-17-rated tapes and DVDs, or tickets to screenings of adult-oriented theatrical releases.
Now, the FTC wants to know, among other things, how the music industry's parental advisory sticker programs work in an era where music increasingly is being sold on such Internet-based services as iTunes and Rhapsody and over mobile phones.
While FTC officials said they could not comment on their report, industry executives who have been cooperating with the commission's investigators say the decision to expand their examination to new services follows the technological changes that have affected the industry as customers depend less on traditional retailers and more on technological alternatives.
Most of the cellular phone services do not sell "stickered" music, and services such as iTunes and Rhapsody require a credit card, which is usually considered a relatively high bar for sales because credit card holders must be adults. Adults do set up accounts for their children, which could allow minors to purchase stickered music. There also are parental controls available on some of the services that parents can activate to prevent downloading of stickered music.
"One could argue that the new services are better at keeping those products away from children," an industry source said. "I mean, who's going to turn down a kid with 20 bucks in his hand at a retail store?"
In previous reports, the commission has been critical of entertainment industry promotions of adult-oriented fare, saying the industry needs to be more careful of where it places promotions.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
Librarians subscribe to the policy of providing access to all materials regardless of the age of the patron or any self-regulated age content labels put on the materials by the releasing company.
It is an ugly double standard to not prosecute librarians who take a defiant stance and deliberately provide such materials to minors who request it.
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