Wants ISPs to adopt a “three strikes and you’re out” enforcement policy.
Paul McGuiness, the manager of Irish rock band U2 for some 30 years, is now calling for ISPs to ban those who illegal download music from the internet.
In a recent speech titled “The Online Bonanza: Who is Making All The Money and Why Aren’t They Sharing It?” he told the audience that he wants ISPs to enact a “three strikes and you’re out” policy under which illegal file-sharers would have their internet subscriptions terminated for refusal to comply.
“We must shame them into wanting to help us. Their snouts have been at our trough feeding free for too long,” Mr McGuinness said at the Midem music industry conference in Cannes in an interview with the UK’s Telegraph.
“For ISPs in general, the days of prevaricating over their responsibilities for helping protect music must end. The ISP lobbyists who say they should not have to ‘police the internet’ are living in the past – relying on outdated excuses from an earlier technological age.”
The reason for his angst seems to be caused by the recent release of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry’s (IFPI) 2008 Digital Music Report which noted that although digital music sales increased by some 40%, overall CD sales declined by 10%. McGuiness believes that the failure to crack down on those who illegally download music from the internet are the main reason why digital sales didn’t increase further then what was reported, calling it “the single biggest failure in the digital music market”.
He then goes on to make the age old comparison that each illegally downloaded music track equates to an actual lost sale and therefore constitutes an outright theft.
McGuiness continues:
If you were publishing a magazine that was advertising stolen cars, processing payments for them and arranging delivery of them you’d expect to get a visit from the police wouldn’t you?
What’s the difference? With a laptop, a broadband account, an MP3 player and a smartphone you can now steal all the content, music, video and literary in the world without any money going to the content owners.”
On the other hand, if you get caught stealing a laptop in the computer store or don’t pay your broadband bill there are obvious consequences. You get nicked or you get your access cut off.
He then went to praise the anti-piracy trifecta going on in France where ISPs, copyright holders, and the French Govt. itself have joined forces to begin making sure that each and every packet transmitted on the Internet is inspected for copyrighted content.
Now it’s unclear what drove him to make this speech lambasting the fact that ISPs dared to embrace privacy and freedom over censorship and restriction, but I hope that Bono and crew knew nothing of it. Considering the hundreds of millions that U2 has made over the years it’s hard not believe that they as well as he aren’t living the good life right now.
So is he angry that other bands aren’t able to make as much on physical CD or digital sales as they could? Or, is he merely lamenting the decline of the music industry itself? My guess is that it’s the latter.
Either way, it’s hard to fathom that a guy who has an association with a band that has publicly castigated injustice of almost every kind in the world is calling for the monitoring of everybody’s online communications simply so that music artists can make every single dime, nickel, and penny they feel due. Doesn’t he realize that some people download stuff they wouldn’t even considering buying?
Profits before privacy. It’s certainly not the U2 way, but I guess he is just their manager after all.
Where’s Bono when you need him?
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[quote]Their snouts have been at our trough feeding free for too long” [/quote] That’s rich considerng that u2 have had to pay no tax on their multimillion pound fortune for a long time. Now the law is changing they have moved a large otion of their assets to Amsterdamn to keep it from the IRS.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/08/08/nbono08.xm l
Some people..
@The Puzzler
Article says they were also worth some $677 million back in 2006 so god knows what it is now… a billion maybe?
How about we just remove all U2 material from the internet removing them from any new market potential. We don’t want their kind on the internet anyway.
Just look at this overfeed arrogant bastard. Cry cry.. we’re only earning 50 million this year.. omg how are we going to survive on only 50 million dollars.
All I can say is U2 . Don’t go down this path.. Please.. I like U2.. If you go with that fat manager of yours your careers will be ruined.
Larrs? Prince? They’re has beens now. Don’t go down with them.
Boycott U2! Show those morons who they are dealing with!
I don’t listen to U2 nor did I ever really plan to hell most of the stuff I listen to is dated from the early 80’s to mid-nineties when the genre started to fade however this certainly doesn’t make me want to buy a U2 cd or mp3 of any kind.
Hopefully they realize just what kind of rubbish their blob-wannabe manager is spewing and put a foot down on it otherwise I don’t think that they’re going to see many sales (outside of the offline fans) as they progress further into the memories of music rather than the makers of new music.
Killing the Internet is yet another step in pushing us closer to serfdom. The gap between the haves and have nots is not only widening but the ratio of haves to have nots is getting smaller that is there are more and more poor people relative to the number of rich people. Money isn’t enough for this scum they have to have control over our lives too.
Was Bono born rich or was did he start out like every other musician just a high school punk who wanted to meet chicks? Does he not remember his roots or has alcohol completely pickled his brain? Does that much fame and fortune and money turn people into heartless zombies?
Most Big name acts have had all of their Music available to get online for at least 8 years now but These same Acts still rake in Millions a Year for Themselves and Their Labels . Guess Greed is Good for Them !
must really be hurting for money greedy bastards!
Sorry doesn’t matter WHAT that fat slob WANTS he ain’t gonna get it! As I said before in another post it all comes down to money with ISP’s. ISP’s are not stupid. Once the authorities do this where does it end? Big Brother?
Again that guy can say whatever he wants but that does NOT mean he will get it! The RIAA has been trying for far longer than him and have gotten nowhere! So what makes him think he can hatch a plan and it will all fall magically into place? Stupid very stupid! Reminds me of Lars of metallica!
What a hypocrite. His talentless snout has been in the music business trough for far too long. He has exposed his ignorance and greed here. I’m off to dl the entire U2 discography.
The more their music sucks the more they scream that piracy is affecting their wallet.
They got enough money already