01/29/2008, 4:05pm, EST
Tuesday, January 29thU2 manager blames ISPs for Internet piracy
Internet service providers should be the focus of blame for continuing music piracy, says the manager for the internationally famous rock band U2. Paul McGuinness, speaking at the current MIDEM conference in Cannes, France, has argued that ISPs should be disconnecting those who download tracks illegally. ISPs have "been at our trough for too long," McGuinness says, and a part of the "shoddy, careless and downright dishonest way" in which artists have been treated in the era of digital music.
Governments and record labels are not without fault though, McGuinness believes. He accuses the institutions for creating a "thieves' charter" by suggesting that ISPs are not responsible by what passes through their networks. "If you were a magazine advertising stolen cars, handling the money for stolen cars and seeing to the delivery of stolen cars, the police would soon be at your door," he claims.
BBC News notes that McGuinness' view is at odds with groups like the Internet Service Providers Association, which contends that ISPs are "merely a conduit" for peer-to-peer file sharing. Of greater concern may be the US' Federal Communications Commission, which maintains a net neutrality policy, under which ISPs are not allowed to dictate how customers use their bandwidth.
Filed under: industry
Other story tags: music, piracy, net neutrality, U2, MIDEM
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So does one lose brain cells the higher up the corporate ladder you climb or are these folks randomly drawn out of a hat?
In that picture - he looks like he's been "tippin' th' bottle" a little more than he should_
Lets also get the government involved in making a law that prohibits people from driving cars. This will pretty much eliminate drunk driving accidents!!!
BAN THE INTERNET, NOW!
I don't think piracy (recently revealed to be a smaller percentage than previously claimed) is the answer to gripes with the record industry any more than I think ISPs should be held accountable for stupid people.
Place the blame and penalties on the people that steal. AT&T doesn't get fined for carrying conversations regarding plans for an illegal activity. The newspaper doesn't get fined for carrying want ads that turn out to be the sale of illegally obtained products.
And what does this guy care? Is U2 losing money to piracy? Highly doubtful. More likely - he was kissing ass at the conference, trying to appear as some trendy, tech-savvy "concerned" person. Which makes him even more of a...
Doofus.