Archives for April 2004

Testimony of Jack Valenti
Motion Picture Association of America
Before the Senate Commerce Committee
April 1, 2004

Mister Chairman,

Last year I appeared before this committee to urge your support for the broadcast flag, a harmless technical standard necessary to stem the gruesome tide of piracy that is sapping the very lifeblood of America’s most important industry. It is with shock and sadness – and deep concern for the fate of our great democracy – that I must reveal to you today an even more disturbing threat to our way of life.

Recently, Israeli scientists demonstrated a new form of wireless networking, a so-called pigeon-to-pigeon, or “P2P”, technology based on ultra-high-density memory cards transported by carrier pigeons. The so-called scientists, with utter disregard for all standards of content protection and human decency, proved that their technology offers twice as much bandwidth to the home as existing broadband solutions such as DSL, allowing pirates to download twice as many movies.

Let me be blunt, Mister Chairman. This technology is a vehicle for pornography. Nothing prevents its use to transport the most vile and hateful filth. Indeed – and I hesitate to say this in an open hearing room, but you must know the truth – the carriers themselves have been known to engage in acts of procreation.

Even today, deployment of this destructive technology proceeds. A technical standard for its use, known as RFC 1149, has already been issued, and P2P carriers have begun assembling in parks throughout our great nation – the very same parks frequented by drug dealers.

We cannot – we must not – allow this to stand. Faced with the threat of DSL, our nation rose to the occasion by adopting the broadcast flag. We must rise again, to defy this newest and greatest threat to our liberty, by instituting a program of Direct Reproductive Management, or “DRM,” requiring mandatory contraception for every pigeon in America.

Our experts assure us, as they did with the broadcast flag, that this plan is simple, inexpensive, and risk-free. This initiative is of utmost importance to the MPAA. Therefore, it should be implemented by the U.S. Department of Justice, so as not to impede our industry’s work on the nation’s behalf.

Mister Chairman, I cannot overstate the importance of this issue. Our industry, our nation, indeed our civilization itself, depends on your action.