U2 Manager Wants ISPs To Help End Piracy

The manager of rock band U2 wants Internet service providers to take responsibility and help put an end to music piracy.

U2 are one of the world’s biggest rock bands, filling arenas wherever they tour. They’re virtually up there with the Stones in the big leagues. They’re certainly not hurting formoney. But their manager, Paul McGuinness, is certainly hacked off about the lack of responsibility of Internet service providers.   According to the Hollywood Reporter, when McGuinness spoke to the Midem music conference, he used his bully pulpit to urge ISPs to help putan end to music piracy, and saying that artists should rebel about the "shoddy, careless and downright dishonest way they have been treated in the digital age."   He wasn’t shyabout who to blame, either, condemning both record labels and governments – especially the latter for agreeing that ISPs shouldn’t be responsible for what passes along 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," McGuinness toldhis audience. "That’s no different to an ISP, but they say they can’t do anything about it. If you steal a laptop from a store or don’t pay for your broadband service, you’ll soon be cut off andnicked."   Certainly illegal file-sharing remains a problem, but organizations like the RIAA, which has prosecuted individuals, has made few friendstrying to clamp down on it. The British government has urged ISPs to be more active in helping to stop it, but so far no major results have been seen.