Statement of Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate
At En Banc Hearing on 
Broadband and the Digital Future
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
July 21, 2008
Thank you, Chairman Martin, for holding this hearing on the broadband of  
tomorrow and the future of digital media.   Today we will discuss two topics that go 
hand in hand, and I am eager to hear about both the amazing services that are being 
offered, as well as the best way to get make those services available in an efficient and 
effective manner to all people, from cities like Pittsburgh, to the farthest reaches of 
rural America.  I would like to thank our panelists, who represent a good cross-section 
of expertise on these issues, for attending and Carnegie Mellon, one of the world’s 
great research universities, for hosting this event.  I also would like to welcome to U.S. 
Congressman Mike Doyle to this hearing, and thank him for his hospitality. 
The broadband revolution continues, changing how we communicate, how, 
where and when we work, how we educate our children, the delivery of healthcare and 
public safety, as well as how we access entertainment.  Broadband technology is a key 
driver of growth across many sectors of the American economy, with the ability to 
share large amounts of information at ever-increasing speeds increasing productivity, 
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facilitating commerce, driving innovation, and even assisting in reducing our energy 
consumption.
Notably, Internet providers continue to invest billions of dollars to upgrade and 
expand their networks.  Spending on broadband networks was $15 billion in 2007 and 
is expected to dramatically rise to $23 billion by 2010.  The Commission’s most recent 
report on broadband deployment shows that the U.S. remains the largest broadband 
market in the world, and finds continued dramatic growth in broadband deployment to 
over 100 million lines as of June 2007, an increase of 55%.   
And for-profit companies aren’t the only ones getting into the act.  Non-profit 
groups such as One Economy corporation, have done incredibly innovative work 
connecting low-income areas to the information superhighway, helping to ensure that 
all American families have access to the educational, health, and economic benefits of 
broadband access.  I would like to personally welcome Rey Ramsey, Chairman and 
CEO of One Economy, who was kind enough to come here to share his views with us 
today.  
These are also exciting times for American consumers.  From IP video to digital 
cable, from webcasting to Wi-Fi, there are more options in the digital marketplace than 
ever before.  Exciting content is moving across multiple platforms, and this explosive 
growth increases options for consumers no matter the technology, device or platform 
they employ.  However, with all the high speed access and exciting options consumers 
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have, it’s all too easy to overlook the fact that much of this content is being transmitted 
illegally.  
Being from Nashville–Music City, I am acutely aware that the creative 
community is suffering as a result of illegal downloading. Producers, songwriters, and 
artists are watching their industries and their art literally vanish into thin air by those 
who misuse the very infrastructure that we are discussing today. Two-thirds of the 20 
billion illegal downloads worldwide each year are of U.S. recorded music.  In 
Tennessee alone, we’ve suffered $203 million in lost earnings due to piracy.   My hope 
is that we do not allow those who seek regulatory protection for illegal activities to 
prevail by hiding beneath the honored word of “freedom.” It is imperative that the 
broadband industry address how to combat the drain of approximately $12.5 billion 
dollars from our economy each year and the impact on thousands of Americans who 
are our nation’s- indeed the world’s- storytellers.1  Another area of immense interest 
not only to me, but to parents across this country, is ensuring child online safety.  The 
scourge of online child pornography on networks continues to be a threat, and the 
“virtual world” our children inhabit is actually a very real world 24/7.
To stem the proliferation of piracy and child pornography, internet service 
providers must be free to find, identify and purge such content from their networks.  
Collaborative, industry based solutions and public-private partnerships are the most 
  
1 Stephen E. Siwek, The True Cost of Sound Recording Piracy to the U.S. Economy, Institute for Policy Innovation, 
August 2007.  
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effective way to dealing with these problems, not government regulatory action.  A 
great recent example of private sector collaborating for the public good is last week’s 
announcement of a partnership between the National Center for Missing and Exploited 
Children and the cable industry to fight child pornography.   This agreement will give 
cable operators the tools to effectively guard against the proliferation of child 
pornography on their servers, and help build a barrier to protect children from unlawful 
content. 
From broadband deployment, to unprecedented digital media offerings to 
ensuring that intellectual property rights are respected and our children are protected, 
clearly Americans are reaping the benefits of broadband innovation, and the best is yet 
to come.  
Thank you again to Representative Doyle and our panelists for attending today 
and Carnegie Mellon University for hosting this event.  We look forward to hearing 
your wide ranging views regarding these important policy issues as we strive to find 
the right balance to ensure that innovation, investment and deployment continues to 
grow, and that the broadband revolution continues for all Americans no matter where 
they may live.