Dear Colleague letter from Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA).
Re: copy protection legislation.
Date: March 27, 2002.
Source: The office of Rep. Schiff kindly provided a copy of the letter.

March 27, 2002

Promote Consumer Use of Broadband and Prevent Digital Piracy!

Dear Colleague:

I invite you to join me in supporting legislation that would encourage demand for broadband Internet service and protect creative enterprise from the threat of digital piracy.

The promise of the Internet has not been fully met. While consumers have unprecedented access to information resources on the web, there is still a demand for more. Congress has recently debated ways to better serve our constituents by improving access to broadband Internet service, yet the demand for this technology is severely lacking. This is simply because consumers can't get what they want -- high quality digital content like movies, music, and video games.

The reason for this has become very clear. Our nation's creative enterprises have been hesitant to offer their products over the Internet out of fear of piracy -- intellectual theft. And their concerns are justified. The movie studios estimate that they lose over $3 billion annually to piracy, yet private industry has stalled in developing technology to prevent this illegal activity.

I would like to direct your attention to the following op-ed written by Michael Eisner, Chairman and CEO of Disney. Mr. Eisner points out the profound historical significance of intellectual property rights and draws on one early and aggressive advocate of protecting such property rights, the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln.

I plan to introduce legislation that would safeguard digital content by spurring the rapid development of copyright protection technology. Similar legislation, S. 2048, has been introduced in the Senate by Senators Hollings, Stevens, Inouye, Breaux, Nelson and Feinstein. I believe this is a necessary step and I encourage you to join me in this effort.

If you have any questions or would like to become an original cosponsor, please contact me or Jen Briggs of my staff at 5-4176.

Sincerely,

Adam B. Schiff

Member of Congress