U2's Manager Calls For Mandatory Disconnects For Music Downloaders

sleeplesseye writes "In a speech at the Midem music industry convention in Cannes, Paul McGuinness, longtime manager of the band U2, has called on Internet service providers to immediately introduce mandatory French-style service disconnections to end music downloading, and has urged governments to force ISPs to adopt such policies. McGuinness criticized Radiohead's 'In Rainbows' pay-what-you-want business model, saying that 'the majority of downloads were through illegal P2P download services like BitTorrent and LimeWire'. He also accused ISPs, telcos, device makers, and numerous specifically named companies such as Apple, Google, Yahoo!, Oracle, and Facebook of building 'multi billion dollar industries on the back of our content without paying for it', and of being 'makers of burglary kits' who have made 'a thieves' charter' to steal money from the music industry. The full text of his speech has been posted on U2's website."

like we used to?

[wiredog]

When was that? It used to be life of the author, plus 20 years. So U2's stuff would still be theirs.

Re:Oh Yes, They Deserve Better

[nagora]

we've been used to corporate engineered bands that don't even play their own instruments since The Monkeys.

Just to stand up for the Monkees for a moment, they were young and jumpped at the chance to be on TV and all, but they did have enough guts and pride to eventually go on strike unless they were allowed to play their own instruments and material. And they did do some catchy pop songs. Not exactly the Beatles, but at least they wised up and grew some spines. Can't imagine this week's X-Factor/American Idol wank-stain ever doing that.

TWW

Didn't Bono advertise iPod?

[spyrochaete]

Am I hallucinating or did this band wilfully advertise (and directly profit from) the device that is supposedly killing them? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiV4jzWitnA [youtube.com]

U2's always been like this (Re:Hey Paul)

[Tackhead]

> With all due respect, Paul, Fuck you.

Paul ain't due much respect. U2 has been on the forefront of anti-fair-use since the incident involving Negativland [negativland.com] in 1991: The Letter U and the Numeral 2

The track parodies the whole top-40 industry by sampling the backbeat of "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For", and punches in bits of Casey Kasem going apeshit!. It's not just hilarious, it's one of the single most important cases in the history of sample-based music. Long story short, after a multiyear legal battle, Negativland won. By this time, most physical copies had been recalled and/or destroyed, but you can download the MP3 [negativland.com] from their website.

In 1998, the last few chapters of the legal battle played out, also to Negativland's favor, and RIAA rewrote its rewrote [negativland.com] its guidelines on sampling, fair use, and parody.

Which brings us back to our next top-40 hit - it's no surprise that U2 and RIAA are back in bed with each other, working ever diligently against any form of fair use: they still haven't found what they're looking for.

> I've got a huge DVD library, and it keeps growing. I'll happily pay premium prices for Criterion editions, I'm a hardcore movie geek who's always loved going to the cinema, sometimes even repeat fucking viewings for movies I really like.

If we could only find someone like Casey Kasem ranting like that off-mike, the war for fair use would be over, and we geeks would finally have won.

Re:The ones who have the most to lose

[Penguinisto]

Ohmigod, what a freaking insight! Next you'll be telling me that a bunch of server kickers and cable pullers can afford to sneer about copyright because they've never created anything useful in their lives and never will.

Oh, Really? [oreilly.com]

...are you sure? [drydog.com]

I mean, seriously - you're sure about that? [boingboing.net]

Idiot.

/P

Re:U2: Union Busters

[spun]

They actively suppressed unions and treated their crews like shit, from what I heard.

Re:U2: Union Busters

[MightyYar]

Ah, yes. You made me Google it. It looks like their pay is rather low and they don't even pay for all hours worked, plus they seem to fire pro-union workers.

It looks like the unions nailed them to the wall - they don't even seem to exist anymore, do they?

Re:U2: Union Busters

[Skrynesaver]

Working class origins get a grip, Clayton went to St. Columbas, the most exclusive school in Ireland and Motor mouth McGuinness went to Clongowes Wood, probably the second most exclusive in fact he forced his son to attend despite numerous attempts by the poor little bollix to get out of the kip.

While the rest of them went to the relatively down market Mount Temple it's a far from working class school.

Re:U2's always been like this (Re:Hey Paul)

[notreallyacylon]

Actually, it's the record label that went crazy when it came to Negativland, U2 themselves weren't really involved in the process. Two of the guys from Negativland sprung the news on The Edge during a mock interview, here's an excerpt:

"The Edge: I wasn't, I didn't have any problem with it [the Negativland release]. I think Casey Kasem could have. I mean the problem really was by the time it really, by the time we realized what was going on it was kinda too late, and we actually did approach the record company on your behalf and said, "Look, c'mon, this is just, this is very heavy..."

Don (Negativland): Oh, what did they say?

The Edge: But at that point, on the point of principle, their attitude was, "Well, look, OK, we're not gonna look for damages but we, we're not about to swallow our own legal costs." The way it ended up, they were looking for costs, not damages. "

Also, I remember seeing an interview with Bono quiet a few years back where someone asked him about MP3's and file sharing. He basically stated that it was virtually the same thing as copying tapes back in the 80's, and he couldn't care less. I don't have a source for that one, sadly, but I remember it very well.

So, in closing, Paul McGuinness is an idiot.

Re:What a crock

[intheshelter]

While I'll agree that no one has been deprived of their property I have to say that your definition of stealing doesn't hold water. The dictionary definition of stealing says nothing about depriving someone of their property, but only of taking something that isn't yours without due authority. Stealing is a common sense and moral issue, irregardless of how the law has to wrap it for the purposes of enforcement. While I am completely opposed to the MAFIAA cartels, taking copies of music/movies is still stealing.

Re:What a crock

[Peaquod]

As I've said many times before, When someone offers music online, DRM free, cheaper than a physical album (mp3's should NOT be the same price as a physical, lossless album) I'll buy MP3's.downloading.

Have you checked out Amazon's service? It meets all your criteria, and is a tremendous step forward in my opinion.

Re:What a crock

[kripkenstein]

Talk about profitting off the backs of other's work- he's using U2's name (and website) to push his agenda!

Yes, and this coming from a manager and not an artist is hilarious. Labels and managers exist to make money off of other people's creations. But it's even more shameful: not only is he pushing his agenda here, he is also trying to make a buck:

There is technology now, that the worldwide industry could adopt, which enables content owners to track every legitimate digital download transaction, wholesale and retail.

This system is already in use here in Cannes by the MIDEM organisation and is called SIMRAN. Throughout this conference you will see contact details and information. I recommend you look at it. I should disclose that I'm one of their investors.

to expand

[puppet10]

US copyright wasn't extended to life of the author + 50 years until 1976. From 1909 to 1976 it was 28 years and one 28 year renewal. From 1831 to 1909 it was 28 plus one 14 year renewal. The original 1790 terms applied until 1831.

Re:Didn't Bono advertise iPod?

[el_chupanegre]

Mod Parent up!

Not only do they profit directly from the devices that are apparently destroying them, they do loads of other underhand stuff as well. They are an Irish band, yet they pay next to nothing in tax in Ireland (which has a fairly high tax rate, inconveniently for them) after moving their bank accounts to Amsterdam just before their tax exemption in Ireland was removed.

I was watching Room 101 on TV yesterday (UK comedy show where people campaign to ban the things they hate) and the guest wanted to ban Bono. Bono is constantly going on about how we should we helping the less fortunate etc. Why doesn't he write them a big cheque then!?! He can afford it alot more than I can!

This is typical hypocritical pseudo-activist celebrities are their finest. Let's remove people's rights when it hurts our wallets and campaign for them when it makes us look good.

I, for one, would also ban Bono.

Re:What a crock

[Peaquod]

Isn't that another one of those windos, internet exploder-only sites?

uh... nope. I'm a mac user, works fine with both safari and FF. The only somewhat disappointing aspect is that you need to download a (free) application in order to purchase full albums. However, it's a lightweight application that works great, and is available for both Windows and Mac users. Sorry Linux users! You can still buy by the track!

Re:What a crock

[Jonny_eh]

US only, Canadians need not apply!

Re:What a crock

[harl]

You should look up the Licensing Order of 1643 and add it to your rant. Copyright has been a distinct, from theft, legal concept for hundreds of years. Originally copyright was a censorship tool. Only later did business embrace it for monetary gain.

Re:U2: Union Busters

[LynnwoodRooster]

The other experience has to do with going to trade shows in Union towns. Yea it is so helpful for me to have to pay $100 for some union hack to bring me an orange extension cord.

It goes beyond that... I used to exhibit at CES (10 years in a row - this was the first year I didn't show). I couldn't carry ANYTHING on to the floor without being challenged - it had to be union labor loading and unloading boxes into our booth (never mind I built all the gear being loaded). Expect a $1500 bill for the drop off and pick up of the boxes. When it would have taken my crew and I literally 20 minutes to load or unload a single, 11 passenger van with all the boxes (we know, we pre-set the show in a taped off area of our warehouse, then loaded the van and drove the products to our crating company).

And power? Not just the cord cost - you had to PAY an electrician to plug in your outlets! At the 2003 and 2004 CES shows, I was a Nevada state licensed power engineer (with my PE). I was licensed by the STATE to actually design and sign off on the electrical network in the building! But heaven forbid I dare plug a power strip into an outlet - why, only a UNION electrician could do that!

Re:What a crock

[FalconZero]

To be capable of infecting machines it would either have to be :

• Directly executable, in which case (window) users would have to rename the file.

or

• Exploit an unpatched flaw in a media player, which dramatically reduces your targets.

Neither scenario is conducive to rapid, widespread infection. I doubt anyone would go to the trouble of specifically crafting a file that passed signature checks (esp if the signatures checks are chunked) with such a small target audience. Also bear in mind that any virus that did match a know signature would require people to be after that specific track, further limiting your targets.

Re:What a crock

[Pahalial]

Oh?

http://news.google.ca/news?q=amazon+international+rollout+music&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&hl=en&sa=X&oi=news_result&resnum=1&ct=title [google.ca]

Re:What a crock

[Anonymous Coward]

So I guess then, with your logic, you can't steal one's ideas either, since nobody is deprived property.

Yes, that's correct. You can copy ideas, you can plagiarise them, you can misappropriate them, but you cannot steal them because you cannot take an idea away from somebody.

Sounds like semantics to me.

Of course it is semantics, without question. What do you think the word "semantics" means? It's not a synonym for "nitpicking" or "technicality" like some people seem to think.

Re:U2: Union Busters

[ContractualObligatio]

I Googled it ("U2 Stage Crew Services union") but only found a single reference after a few pages (http://www.mlkclc.org/winter_1998.htm) [mlkclc.org] which is pro-union, talking about how Stage Crew Services got rid of union employees and activists that were unsurprisingly let go after they tried to infiltrate and unionise the place. Did you manage to find anything vaguely objective?

Re:Oracle?

[Monchanger]

I noticed that too and laughed. Then I read the article to learn that the summary is totally botched.

U2's agent actually mentioned Oracle, Intel and other major companies in a plea for a solution to "save the music industry". While I disagree with his plea, he's not as dumb as the summarizer to suggest Oracle profits from so-called "piracy".

Re:Let me tell you about the One Big Union

[lemon_dieter]

Unions.......They make great temp agencies for labor that is only needed for short- to mid-term projects. Buildings are a good example. Public-use buildings are everywhere. Someone needs to build them. Someone also needs to manage the process of construction. Unions guarantee that a worker has *enough* qualification to do a specific task, whether he's as good as the next guy or not, they're in the same trade. Not every worker is worth keeping around. You keep the good ones around with extra pay and smaller, less rote jobs to perform. Call them Superintendents, and give them extra benefits. This will keep them around. The peons in the union can come and go from the temp agency that they've joined. It's heirarchical, structured. The machine of public works must be structured similarly for fair competition on the same standard of quality for the building of whatever plans have been set forth. As architects and engineers are responsible for the quality of their work, so are the contractors. The contractors have the burden of placing the materials.

There must be assurance that all contractors follow the same standard of work

Contractors can not have monopolies over specific territories. The tax-payers coin will not tolerate lack of competition. Contractors must sign non-collusion affidavits.

Buildings may only last forever with competent maintenance. The degree of this maintenance is up to the Owner.

Not all public buildings are within the scope of one bid project. Time is a factor. A project can last only 3 months, or it can last a century. Laborers must be available for large volume, short term projects to be successful. This will draw from the local labor pool accordingly. When this labor pool is not able to perform the work, tradesmen from other territories will mobilize and work at the site's contracted union wage, plus an agreed upon compensation for their travel expenses.

Unions offer a way for individual tradesmen to work for different contractors as they are needed.

Certain tasks require skill.

I dare any architect or engineer to lay a concrete cinder block wall eight feet high and twenty feet long in one day to the precision of work that his fellow architect or engineer would approve.

Re:What a crock

[RalphSleigh]

Yeah but until it reaches our shores will shall continue out piratey ways.

It shall be interesting to see how they handle Europe because the EU holds views on restricting people from purchasing goods from other states.