By Mr. Festa of Melrose, petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1788) of Michael E. Festa and Denise Provost relative to certain employment practices in connection with children's marketing activities.  Labor and Workforce Development.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PETITION OF:

Michael E. Festa

Denise Provost

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In the Year Two Thousand and Seven.

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An Act to regulate certain practices in connection with children's marketing activities.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Chapter 149 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting the following new definition into section 1. 

“Parental Consent,” for purposes of section 61A, parental consent means any reasonable effort (taking into consideration available technology) to ensure that a parent of the child receives notice of the person’s intended marketing practices and consents to these activities.  Any method to obtain consent must be reasonably calculated in light of available technology to ensure that the person providing the consent is the child’s parent. 

“Sales Force Network,” for purposes of section 61A, means a network of individuals employed be a person in connection with a campaign designed to persuade customers to buy another person’s products or services. 

SECTION 2.  Chapter 149 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting the following new section 61A after section 61. 

Section 61A.  No person shall, without obtaining prior parental consent, engage a child under 16 years of age in connection with a sales force network that distributes, on the Internet or through an online service, marketing communications designed to encourage the purchase, sale, or use of a commercial product or service.  
 
The restrictions of this section shall not be deemed to prohibit a child under sixteen from forwarding or otherwise sending marketing communications to another individual on his or her own behalf.