we then referred the matter for criminal prosecution to the u.s. attorney's office which secured a guilty plea and the individual is awaiting sentencing. i point this out because we work closely with the u.s. attorney's office in d.c. which under congressional legislation has jurisdiction to prosecute felonies in the district. we think it sends an important message about the role of our office is prepared to play in cooperation with the u.s. attorney's office in government ethics in the district. the second major thing was we settled, as the presiding judge of the u.s. district court here put it, a major and historic achievement in the so-called dickson case which ended federal oversight of our department of mental health in a 37-year-old class action lawsuit. the judge mentioned that two judges have died while presiding over the case and he was very glad that we did this before he met his maker.

it's interesting in this matter to see how the insights of the supreme court's 2009 decision in horn are playing out in various jurisdictions around the countries -- around the country, as states and localities evaluate what to do about longstanding federal consent decrees. we believe this case is a harbinger for more success in the district towards our goal of ending the intrusive and expensive federal judicial oversight of local government agencies. and finally, the issue of federal control over the district brings me to the main point i wanted to make today, and that is the ongoing and shameful denial of the basic right for voting representation in u.s. congress for, as i said, the 600,000 plus residents of our nation's capital. one of our government's major challenges in the district is that our fate is linked to what is happening or sometimes not happening on capitol hill. a federal shutdown because of a budget impasse which thankfully

is not being bruited about at the moment, as in the past posed real possibility of closing down our local government, as well, and including with that is our local school system and other basic local functions. and making things worse under current federal law, the district which without congressional authorization can't spend any of the $1 billion in local taxes that we generate and collect annually. and of course compounding this problem is that we have no representation to vote in the body making these decisions. and as you know, this is not simply a matter of local concern but one of national, international, and certainly regional consequence. it is or at least ought to be a national shame that as the people throughout the world strive for additional nation with the support of our national government, in our nation's capital residents lack basic

fundamental democratic right. our license plate accurately proclaim, taxation without representation which, of course, was the battle cry for our nation's declaration of independence. our mayor vincent gray has made this a major priority issue to raise the profile of this issue. and as you the attorney general rightfully noted in his testimony to congress, this is a matter of fundamental, equal and civil rights. i'm heartened to see that leaders across the partisan spectrum, like shurtaff, take a stand on this issue. and more recently, governor mcdonald from virginia came out publicly in support of budget autonomy for the district, recognizing that what happens here can have a ripple effect on a regional economy and the citizens of virginia and maryland who work and obtain services in d.c. i'm very grateful that gatherings like this can bring

before a bipartisan group. this vital matter. as the chief law enforcement officers in your states committed to justice and democracy, i hope you will join me in raising your voices on this critical civil rights issue. for now, though, i just want to extend a welcome to you, wish you well at this conference, enjoy your time here in the district. and let me or my staff know if we can be of any assistance to you. thank you. look at the welcoming remarks from the attorneys general meeting and we're back live now at the meeting here in washington, d.c. the next session is going to be on copyright infringement from -- we'll hear from former senator chris dodd. he's scheduled to get things started. he's the chairman and ceo of the motion picture association of america. and also on the panel we'll hear from the university of north carolina's i.t. department, nbc y universal's top attorney and the attorney for the state university of new york.

also let you know a little bit later federal trade commission administrator john leibowitz will be on c-span 3 explaining the agency's 2013 budget request this afternoon and the administration is asking for $311 million next year. that's a decrease from this year at $300 million. you can watch the administrator here before the house appropriations subcommittee. we'll have that live at 3:00.

attorneys general from around the country are coming together here. they are in a break right now. they are expected to start back up in a couple of minutes. we will hear from former senator chris dodd talk about copyright infringement. over on our companion network c-span2 we will be live from the american israel public affairs committee conference held here in washington. and we'll hear from israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and nancy pelosi. again, that's at the apac meeting. live coverage tonight over on c-span 2. reminder tomorrow is super tuesday. republican presidential candidate rick santorum is

spending the day in ohio it's one of the big super tuesday states. he's going to be holding a campaign rally this evening. you can watch live coverage of that at 6:30 eastern over on c-span2.

so if you have a seat, go ahead and take it. if you need to continue your conversation, please move out into the lobby. we're going to close the doors. rob? rob? i just want you to know that i'm in my seat, prepared to go.

that is awesome, lawrence. we're trying to keep up the laws and tradition. by the way, in the back we have the funky echo going the speakers and the mikes. can you hear it? it's kind of cool. it's like i'm at a concert. all right. i'm just telling ya. very good. our next panel is going to focus on the attorneys general role in combating intellectual property piracy on college campuses. we're very honored to have senator chris dodd, chairman and ceo of the motion picture association of america to provide us with an introduction on the topic. and again, we're getting serious echo up here. can you guys adjust it, or not? there's a little bit of a delay. how about now? that's much better. thank you. got that fixed. will you please join me in welcoming senator chris dodd?

>> well, good afternoon. thank you immensely for the invitation to be with you. today i'm delighted to come by, as you may know i spent my previous 3 1/2 decades in the other building up the road from here. in fact, someone asked me if i missed congress. i said, yes but not this congress. so i'm delighted to be in my new job as the head of the motion picture association, following in the steps of dan who before that jack who was almost 40 years was the ceo and chairman of the motion picture association. i was, in fact, when i left the senate last year my now 7-year-old, i have two very young children. i was the only candidate i knew who had mail from diaper services and aarp for a while with these young kids. kristina asked me, i asked her what she would like her father to do now that she's leaving public life in the senate. she paused and said, i would

like you to buy a zoo and a candy store. i did that. it's an honor to come by this morning and sbr deuu introduce . i would like to personally again thank rob mckenna for the invitation to come by and also for everything that he and all of you are doing, along with the national association, obviously, the attorneys general to help battle online content theft and counterfeiting. i would like to recognize as well those who will be the panelists you will hear from shortly. my colleague and good friend from nbcu, universal, larry conrad from the university of north carolina, joseph store from the state university of new york. as we discussed the problems posed by online piracy and counterfeiting, there is an important fundamental truth to remember about our business, the film and television industry. hollywood is pro-internet.

we are pro-innovation. our business is built on innovation. just look at i max, 3d, instant streaming, video on demand, along with many other ideas. i believe it is critically important that any solution to the piracy problem protect a free and open internet and continue to foster cutting edge innovation. it is also clear that any overall solution will need to include a plan of action. and our nation's colleges and universities. congress recognized this in 2008 with the passage of the higher education opportunities act. under that law it requires institutions of higher learning to reduce it on their own university networks. university students are growing up in an era far different from the one that many of us were involved in when we went to college or universities. in fact, it's far different than students who attended college even a few years ago. information is at their

fingertips like never before in both legal and illegal forms. some of our view that intellect property of protection and freedom of speech that universities cherish cannot coexist. i couldn't disagree more. the supreme court reaffirmed just this year the founders of the court said, and i quote, so a copyright of an engine of free expression by establishing a marketable right to the use of one's expression. coppery right supplies, the economic incentive, to create and disseminate ideas. end of quote. i firmly believe universities can and should play a vital role in dre reducing or educating, rather, students about the importance of representing a respecting intellectual property rights and the rule of law. the motion picture association stands ready to work with those universities an clenls with their students along with the state attorneys general who represent the state universities to ensure that this nation

remains the most creative and innovative on this planet. a place i want to add where students can graduate and fulfill their creative ambitions and dreams, whether it be new york, nashville, boston, seattle, or hollywood for that matter, or any of the many growing center where's creative content is produced throughout our nation. but as this panel will discuss, campus piracy, it is critical, too, that not just be considered a debate about downloading pew sick and movies in dorm rooms. as attorney general mckenna wrote last fall, the sale of counterfeit product and piracy of copyrighted content online not only undermines the nation's economy but robs us of tax revenue and jobs. even worse, he went on to say, some counterfeit goods can pose serious health and safety hazards to consumers. i wouldn't agree more. a study found that nearly one

quarter of all groebl internet traffic involves cap by right theft. let me repeat that. nearly one quarter of all internet traffic involves copyright theft. at the heart of the problem is the proliferation of foreign rogue sites whose sole purpose is to facilitate and profit and counterfeiting of intellectual property. credit content all creative content driven by rogue sites, foreign and domestic, across our nation $16 billion in earnings each year, $3 billion in state, local, and federal taxes each year, and a total of $58 billion in economic output each year. and as attorney general mckenna also mentioned the growth of these rogue sites also has serious health and safety risk for our nation as well. these are sophisticated criminal enterprises. they do not just traffic in stolen movies and me television.

they market counterfeit products such as prescription drugs, auto parts, aerospace and defense equipment, even equipment for local police and firefighting departments. they are selling american parents, children, pajamas that turn out to be flammable and to the american law enforcement officers bullet proof vests that are anything but. as "wall street journal" recently reported, the makers of the kor rear of the cancer drug avastin announced that counterfeit vials of that drug have made their way to the american patients, posing additional risks. recent research by the national association of boards of pharmacy found that more than 96% of sites offering prescription drugs for sale are doing so illegally, creating a significant health risk for all americans. criminal activity doesn't end there, unfortunately. these rogue sites often look just like legitimate websites that use valid methods of payment which means many people

use them unintentionally without realizing they are criminal sites. when they enter their credit card information they are extremely vulnerable to identity theft, which is a growing problem in our country. these cyber criminals also are becoming increasingly sophisticated in selling their products to popular unline search engines. and advertising services that make their products appear to be legitimate. and the process, some american companies are wreaking huge profits from this illegal activity by selling the advertising linked to these counterfeit products, simply put, they are taking money from illegal companies in exchange for the prime space advertising in america -- to american consumers. in the past year, according to the pier media technology, there were more than 690 million uploads and downloads of unauthorized copies of major motion pictures via p to p technologies. this is just a small portion of the piracy problem.

infringing copies of movies were viewed unaccounted millions of other times by accessing links to cyber locker such as upload by streaming from largely foreign websites and through other technology means. in the mega upload case federal investigators tell us that the man known as kim.com and his colleague made more than $175 million through subscription fees and online ads, while robbing authors, publishers, moviemakers, musicians, video game developers, and other copyright holders more than $500 million. some continue to argue that the debate about piracy and counterfeiting is not about the money. we don't believe it. as the famous 20th century pundit was fond of saying, when they tell you it's not about the money, it's about the money. just look at mr. dotcom, and he's not alone. there are companies out there both legal and illegal who are

reaping huge profits from the theft of intellectual property. when it comes to piracy college students are not -- are just one part of the problem, i would add. but this is a generation of the future, as all of us understand and know. and if we are to have any hope of being successful in this effort we need to communicate and help them understand the ramifications of engaging in the theft of intellectual property. we need to engage them in the effort to ensure that the internet remains a free and open cornerstone of innovation in our businesses. young people are key consumers of our content online. we want to ensure that they can continue to legally watch the shows and movies they love in a whole host of different formats online. we believe that both innovation and the cooperation of the tech companies are critical are parts of the conversation about content theft. but as all of you know the problem also goes much deeper

than young people in college. any real solution will need the assistance of our nation's law enforcement community, in curbing this rampant criminal activity. i believe that our attorneys general will and must play a major role in that effort. i look forward as we do at the mpaa along with others in working with you to provide answers to this ever-growing problem. i thank you for listening this afternoon. >> so we're going to go right into the three presentations. first, we're going to hear from joe storch, social general kounser is for the state university of new york. joe? >> okay. thank you. thank you, general. thank you, senator, and my fellow panelists. thank you so much for having me. i'm going to tell you a story about three sets of two years, 1998-'99, 2008-'09, 2018-2019.

it's an honor to be here representing the state university of new york. we do everything from educating students to running research firms, operating a nuclear power plant, and the uss empire state, sir cup navigates the globe each year. it's an honor to serve my alma mater and speaking with the attorneys general pep let me say a word about fair use. as an attorney who spends his days in academics i intend to make some use of content under fair use. hopefully we can make copyright law which some find a little bit dry to be a little more entertaining. i see some yawning in the back already. so let's get to it. of course if you feel that it is in fair use, feel free to speak to my lawyer. he's a very good lawyer. if i may just pause for a second, in new york as in many other states ourks office of attorney general handles litigation, i'm not only in house counsel but often a client

as well. you have similar rilgs relationships in your states. in new york i'm routinely boiled over by the creativity, thoughtfulness and eagerness. speak as somewhat regular client of theirs i'm zealous advocates for the university. i appreciate that a great deal. when i sit down to think about copyright and piracy i recall the words carved into the moot court bench in my law school. the law must be stable but yet it cannot stand still. i think back to my job taking tickets at the built more playhouse movie theater. i met the minimum wage. i've been a music fan since i was a young child and spent a healthy percentage on cds and concerts. now in order to listen to a single song at home i had to sbi an entire cd from tower records, $16, 17, $18 for a cd,