misener. how critical is net neutrality to this ability to be able to let the net -- to distribute and to develop in this sort of way that you've described? >> sorry, please. >> after you, sir. >> i would say it's at parity with the need for national broadband policy that gets us to be, if not number one, i wouldn't settle for less than number two. we are now number 18, i think. >> something like that. 16, 18. >> net neutrality is mandatory. because there is no question that without it, you will see the absolute crushing of any competitive force. it's just not going to be possible if you say that distributors can put tin cans and anchors around anyone that wants to deliver programming that they don't own, those distributors. since we have a universe today where there are very few distributors, that's not a good thing. >> mr. misener, do you agree with that? you do not have to give a long answ answer. >> i'm confident i could not have said it better. >> okay. final question, if i may. as we all

misener. >> thank you, senator. i can't speak for them obviously. but we've seen indications that they may wish to restrict the availability of competing content. and that has to be monitored vigilantly i believe by the commission and this committee. >> congress would probably look pretty carefully at that playing field, shouldn't it? >> yes, sir. >> to make sure there's fair access and comp tismgs. >> yes, sir. if i may suggest, at amazon, we start with our customers and work backwards and try to figure out what they would want. in this context, to look at the citizen consumer and then work backwards from that, what would they want? i believe they would want as much choice, as much selection, the greatest value and greatest convenience possible. as we look at the telecommunications laws as they exist today, try to put ourselves in the shoes of the sudden consumer and see what they would want rather than what the industries do. >> i want to ask this of both mr. diller and mr. misener. how crit

misener. finally blair westlake who is corporate vice president of microsoft and your response for the x box not personally but perhaps you are, at microsoft, that started as a video game but has gone on to become an amazing instrument. we welcome your testimony. >> chairman rockefeller, members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify in the emergence of online video today. i oversee the media and entertainment group out of microsoft that's my core scope and responsibility. microsoft engages with video in several ways. including through our various releases of the windows operating system, and windows phone products but i'm also here to discuss how the market is delivering consumer's greater choice and control over their viewing with on line video through our x box video service. i have three ideas for you to consider today. first, we are in the early stages of the transition to the future of video. a few years from now current online video offerings will look like a mere bu

paul misener, the vice president of amazon.com. and i believe that you will speak about amazon's entry into the online streaming video business following on the heels of its efforts to digitize books and make them more widely available through its kindle service. i'm going on a limb here but i think you'll stress the need for an open internet which is kind of called network neutrality which is controversial around here but which i support and which my colleague to my left does not. in order for amazon to compete against incumbent video service providers. we welcome you. >> thank you very much, chairman rockefeller. >> did i get it about right? >> yes, sir. absolutely right. my mom will be proud. thank you, mr. chairman and members of the committee. exactly a quarter century ago, the fcc set out to establish rules for so-called advance television which was the very first significant update to consumer video quality since the introduction of color tv in the early 1950s. the commission established a private sector advisory to evaluate

misener, do you plan to intercept broadcast signals and sell them over your network -- well, i guess do you sell them as part of your content? would you see that as a legitimate thing to do at this point? >> senator, thank you for the question. we currently don't offer live programming in our video service, and we don't know what the future holds for our other businesses. we're all about providing our customers vast selection and choice. so the 120,000 available movies and tv episodes, that will -- >> you license those or -- >> yes, sir. >> or deal with the copyrights? with everyone who owns them? >> that's correct. >> so you don't necessarily see yourself as a competitor to traditional pay tv services like cable or satellite or -- >> no, we're close partners with the studios who produce the content. >> okay. all right. just kind of an aside question. do you think a walgreens or cvs has the right to charge and manufacture more for an end aisle display than they do a position on the shelf? >> i'm sorry, i didn't follow the question. >> have you ever seen an end aisle display of produc

misener, do you agree with that? >> i'm confident i could not have said it better. >> okay. final question, if i may. as we all know, hundreds of thousands of movies are illegally downloaded every day. one could block that by preventing people from getting to sites that stream the video. but i don't think anybody obviously wants to impede the freedom to go where you want to go. then the question is asked or begged, is there in the current copyright and proposed copyright law, both civil and criminal, too little protection for traditional video creation and too much constraint on innovation, or is the balance right, and should we simply enforce the protection in this new era? where do we come out on that? >> we're in the business of selling legitimate product. and thus we fundamentally abhor piracy. and so we're concerned, of course, about the prevalence of piracy in some places around the world. and so if there are ways to get at those kinds of copyright protection issues more effectively, we certainly would support that, senator. >> i think copyright protection works pretty