U2 now joins the ranks of Metallica and other mega-bands in a battle against online music piracy.
Paul McGuinness, the Irish rock band's manager, says Internet service providers, not just individual file swappers, need to be held accountable for pirated content that zips across their networks. McGuinness didn't stop there, according to reports, calling out giants such as Microsoft, Google, AOL, Yahoo, Comcast, Vodafone, FaceBook (what?) and Apple.
On the flip side, McGuinness says these tech firms also hold the key to solving the billions of dollars lost to piracy. McGuinness, U2's manager for the past 30 years, spoke at a music industry trade show in France and said, "I suggest we shift the focus of moral pressure away from the individual P2P file thief and on to the multibillion dollar industries that benefit from these countless tiny crimes--the ISPs, the telcos, the device-makers."
Let's look at McGuinness' argument and how it could make sense. Rather than the RIAA suing the pants off thousands of helpless individuals who usually can't afford the settlements or fees associated with said lawsuits, McGuinness wants to attack these mega corporations, who employ armies lawyers just for instances like this.
With the deep pockets involved, it could make settlements a lot easier. And, as requested by McGuinness, these technology companies may be inclined to at least attempt some sort of anti-piracy measures.
McGuinness does make some legitimate points in regards to getting the ISPs further involved in the battle, but there is nothing new with that topic. ISPs have been tackling the piracy issue for years with no end in sight.
It's obvious that no matter how much pressure comes from big names in the music industry, piracy isn't going to go away. It is too big of a beast to control, even with the backing of the biggest technology companies in the world. Take a cue from Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails.
While Metallica took a more literal approach to the issue, U2's manager isn't really taking much of risk angering fans because he's just pointing the finger at technology.
Please Bono and the rest of U2: just stick with other causes like Darfur and global warming.
