John Mayer made a public plea for stricter regulations against the paparazzi in Los Angeles on Thursday. The rocker appeared during an official hearing at Los Angeles City Hall to appeal for city-mandated control measures against overzealous photogs.

“I don’t sit before you today to ask that you ban the paparazzi. I’m asking you to regulate it. Officialize it. Tax it. Legitimize it,” John testified before government officials.

“I don’t want to beg the city of Los Angeles to give me 1987 back. I love being a famous musician in 2008… This is about safety.”

Some of the Paparazzi Protection measures John suggested include “big white P on a yellow license plate [that] says the driver works for an accredited photo agency,” “press credentials worn in plain sight,” and “keeping an acceptable distance” between shutterbugs and the celebs they stalk.

“A law governing an acceptable filming distance from an unwilling subject keeps everybody safe and misbehavior becomes accountable.” “Without know who is following you, you do not know why you are being followed, which
brings about a very really possibility of suffering harm.”

“Regulating the paparazzi won’t bring an end to modern-day media coverage, just as the newly enforced hands-free law hasn’t stopped people from talking on cell phones while they drive.” “It’s only an adaptive measure put in place to respond to some of the ways that living in a technological free-market can compromise personal safety.”

Read John’s Full Testimony In Favor Of Paparazzi Regulations