In a letter sent to NME Magazine, U2's Bono has weighed in on the issue of music piracy criticizing Internet service providers for showing indifference to the piracy of music taking place on their networks and letting it go on.
This isn't the first time we've heard a U2 representative blasting ISPs. Earlier this year, Paul McGuinness, U2's manager, pointed fingers toward the ISPs and now in the letter to NME Magazine, Bono has agreed with his manager saying "that it is disturbing to see internet service providers and technology companies profit from the so-called 'disintermediation' of the music business."
Bono continues to blame the ISPs for musicians losing their jobs. Now I'm not, or never have been involved in the music industry, but it would seem that there are quite a few steps between homely ISPs and the jobs of musicians.
Rather than pointing fingers by way of a letter to a magazine, why doesn't Bono take some of his millions upon millions of dollars and invest in some better copy protection. The problem lies within, Bono. A home with a chihuahua guard dog won't last, so why does the music industry think it's shoddy copy protection will?
I don't know, the fact that U2 seems interested in tax shelters, as in when they moved from Ireland to the Netherlands to get the lowest tax rate, and the band is worth something close to a billion US dollars kind of makes me not weep for Bono.
http://tinyurl.com/5uqgab
I criticize U2 for showing indiffernce for me while making lots of money and I'm not successful as a musician because everyone is buying U2 albums and not mine. Its disturbing that U2 profit off people, and letting it go on....=(
I wonder if U2/Bono is even remotely aware of the fan backlash that sunk Metallica when Lars opened his big fat rich mouth and killed Napster.
Big bands like U2, and not too long ago, Metallica were some a the few bands that actually made money off of record/CD sales. The record companies have so stacked the desk against small bands, ripping them off to pay big dollars to bands like U2. Most bands out there make a majority of their money off tickets sales and memorabilia at those shows. It's the one cut of the pie that teh record companies don't get.
And Bono further shows his ignorance by stating that ISPs should police the internet, looking for "illegal" downloads of "copyrighted" material. And who got the copyright laws changed, to prevent even some ofthe oldest songs and books from becoming public domain? Record and publishing companies. They are not out to protect the artist" - they are out to protect there revenue stream.
As was Lars, and now Bono.