U2 manager joins record labels in fight against piracy

The buzz in the music world lately has been about Paul McGuinness, the manager for Irish rock band U2, and his call for Internet Service Providers to immediately disconnect users for downloading music illegally and for governments to enforce those new policies. Though the plea is rooted in good business for artists, every interpretation of it and reporting about it seems to focus on the money and paints music artists as greedy. More ominously, it makes it seem that artists and the managers who promote them have lost faith in their core support system: the fans.

McGuinness called for an end to ISP negligence by urging artists to fight against the "shoddy, careless and downright dishonest way they have been treated in the digital age." He placed the blame on the record companies as well, due to the "lack of foresight and planning" that has "allowed a range of industries" to rise and give people the opportunity to steal music. He also pointed to computer companies for creating new methods of stealing and governments for allowing ISP's to wash their hands of the illegal trading done via their services.

It's important to see that this call for ISP's to take a stance and do something is growing in popularity, but too often the calls just come out in the wrong manner. As the record industry and the music labels work to transition into new models of making the digital business work, even though they are severely late in doing so, this call will not stop illegal music trading. Just because consumers and fans use the internet to trade now does not mean it is a new phenomenon. Bootlegging has been around as long as the record industry and still continues outside the file-sharing problems. It may not be as large as it once was, but indicates that consumers will find alternate methods to trade music outside the legal system.