U2 manager takes Internet providers to task

TalkBack 17 of 95:

Next »

« Previous

• Thread View
• Flat View

he's not right

ISPs owe nothing to artists or this McGuiness clown. If anything, it should go the other way, because U2 and other artists have profited greatly by the infrastructure ISPs provide (just consider all those Amazon, and iTunes, sales). And U2 and other artists have had to pay zero dollars for that free distribution channel, yet have profited greatly.

Also, there is nothing to gain for ISPs to be the police for the artists/record company's intellectual property, and there is everything to lose (pissing off honest, paying customers). McGuiness wants ISPs to do their own dirty work. This is nonsense.

Other things to consider - McGuiness stated that Bit torrent and Limewire were illegal. This is completely false. Both are completely legal. Bit torrent is an open protocol for transferring files, and sharing seeds, and is not illegal. Limewire is a Gnutella client. Gnutella is not illegal, and Limewire has been sued by the RIAA, but the lawsuits have failed (so far). Thus, Limewire's legality, and by extension, the gnutella protocol/network, has been held up in a court of law. Both Bit torrent and Gnutella are used, in practice, for perfectly legitimate, legal purposes, and many people and businesses depend on them. The fact that some people might use those protocols for the illegal transfer of intellectual property does not make the protocols themselves illegal. That would be like making roads illegal because some people exceed the speed limit.

Thus, Paul McGuiness is a big fat liar.

I'm all for respecting intellectual property, and persecuting those who steal other's intellectual property.

However, demonizing your customers, and demonizing the infrastructure that provides a very efficient and cost effective distribution channel, and whining that your huge mountain of cash isn't big enough, and blatantly ignoring what customers want (easy access to content at a fair price), is an absolutely horrible business model.

And downloading songs for free is in most cases illegal. But if I'm a musical artists, I wouldn't worry about it. The illegal downloads end up being tremendous free marketing, and often lead to more sales in the long run.

People, even though they can get something for free, like to purchase things, and own a physical copy of a CD. This is especially true of the biggest of music fans, who happen to be both the biggest purchasers of CDs, as well as the biggest illegal down-loaders. So the music industry cracking down on them, which they have every legal right to do so, is also cracking down on their biggest revenue stream.

The music industry doesn't see this, though. Thus, they keep trying harder and harder to crack down on illegal downloads, while at the same time their own sales plummet. There is a direct correlation, but the recording industry, and obviously this McGuiness clown, are too stupid to realize this.

Walmart experienced a sales dip when they started checking people's receipts at the exit door of their stores. They soon stopped this policy, and their sales went back up again. Moral of the story: Don't treat your paying customers like criminals.

It seems like McGuiness is trying to send U2 down the Metallica path. Look at what happened to Metallica when they sued Napster - they went from being one of the most beloved rock bands to being the most reviled.

Another point: The old model of the big four record companies controlling everything, and their ridiculous contracts with artists, where artists get a tiny percentage of sales revenue, and customers are overcharged, and retailers have to operate on razor thin margins, and the record companies get the most money, is dead.

With the internet and inexpensive software (like Apple's "Garage Band"), anybody can make a recording now on the cheap, and get it heard and distributed via the internet. We, artists and consumers alike, no longer need the big record companies. They serve no purpose, and they are bigs at the trough who have a huge sense of entitlement. The sooner they are dead, the better, for everyone.

Posted by: super_J   Posted on: 01/30/08 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

Alert moderator to an offensive message

Subscribe to this discussion via Email or RSS

SponsoredWhite Papers, Webcasts, and Downloads

• INNOV8 2.0: A Business Process Management Simulator IBM Innovate your business' process model, play against the market, compete ... Download Now
• Three Steps You Need to Know to Stop Data Loss Varonis Sensitive data exposed to misuse or loss... it is the stuff of nightmares ... Download Now
• Five Steps to Determine When to Virtualize YourServers VMware Server virtualization isn't just for big companies. Entry-level ... Download Now