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Child Item

Bono has put his foot in it again: Internet policing idea draws fire

Run_to_da_hills

Bono hinting at Chinese style Internet monitoring has drawn sharp criticism.

"Writing for the New York Times, Bono claimed internet service providers were "reverse Robin Hoods" benefiting from the music industry's lost profits".

"He hinted that China's efforts prove that tracking net content is possible".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8439200.stm

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hooradiation

Oh degsy, your surrealism is simply delightful.

The Minstrel

Has Bono been canonised? Is he really a saint?

Dyr

knobgoblin is the greatest description of bono I've ever heard, kudo's to that poster

MoominPapa

Degsy wrote: »

Nelson Mandella springs to mind.

Mandella was a terrorist not a war criminal

parker kent

Whatever people think about Bono, internet downloads are having a major impact on the music industry. Struggling artists are the real losers as record companies may have less money to spend on artists who make losses at the beginning. Nowadays the big money is in tours but it is hard to get to that stage. The whole downloading thing is not a black and white issue but it has an impact. But despite being the biggest losers, struggling artists will not be listened to, because they are struggling/have no name value etc.

So somebody with name value has to speak out. I dunno, maybe somebody like Bono???

Edit: Not saying he is a saint or that he is not being self serving

Dyr

bear in mind that a decade after music downloading became popular, it's only now that the industry is getting it's act together with regards to the legal sale of downloadable music that's not DRM'd. They stuck their head in the sand and hoped that their monopoly would survive this and in doing so they ceded the online market to illegal downloads.

The record companies have ruled the music business since the advent of recording but the thing is that they are no longer needed. They made their money out of piece's of plastic that contained music, we can now have music without the piece of plastic and their business model is now obsolete.

Buford T Justice

MrStuffins wrote: »

All this "Bono is an asshole" business is ridiculous. The man, believe it or not, is trying to do GOOD! ...........

Hmmm.. Good good. I see what you are saying.. Unfortunately it doesn't change the fact that Bono is an obnoxious twat of gastronomic proportions, with a stupid wind visor stuck to his fisog all the bloody time.

Why doesn't he take all the money he's spent on those pointless shades and give it to charity. It'll be work a fair few quid to them, and there is the slimmest possiblity that he would look a little less like a twonk!

cnocbui

This whole argument that ISPs should be made scapegoats is stupid.

ISPs provide infrastructure. If people misuse that infrastructure they are the ones who should be held accountable.

Governments, and sometimes private companies, provide roads. No one ever suggests that they should be held accountable if criminals make use of the roads in the course of their criminal activities.

There would be as much sense in asking Eircom to foot the bill for all lost earnings suffered by artists since they provide the physical lines ADSL broadband relies on.

Without computers, there would be no illegal downloading of MP3s and or movies, why not make them accountable as well?

Bono and his ilk both greedy and thick.

Nodin

MoominPapa wrote: »

Mandella was a terrorist not a war criminal

Neither - Nelson was right. In fact it was probably the most clear cut justified use of physical force since the war against the Nazis.

Nodin

The Minstrel wrote: »

Has Bono been canonised? Is he really a saint?

I thought I saw a ring above his head, but that was just him about to enter his own arse....

hooradiation

cnocbui wrote: »

This whole argument that ISPs should be made scapegoats is stupid.

ISPs provide infrastructure. If people misuse that infrastructure they are the ones who should be held accountable.

Governments, and sometimes private companies, provide roads. No one ever suggests that they should be held accountable if criminals make use of the roads in the course of their criminal activities.

god, this is on of the worst analogies I've ever seen.

For a start ISP's as the name suggests provide a SERVICE, you cannot go onto the Internet without going via them, unlike the roads. So the "it's only the infrastructure" argument is nonsense.

And yes the end user should be held accountable, but the only people with the power to do that are the ISPs and they are not doing anything because peoples illegal activities represent a significant chunk of their client base.

So, yeah, they are profiting and then turning a blind eye to the theft people do with the service they provide.

Terry

Degsy wrote: »

Nelson Mandella springs to mind.

He was a terrorist (then legal definition). He was a freedom fighter (then view of Black South Africans).

pickarooney

If millions of people were really downloading the work of struggling artists, I'd be surprised.

parker kent

pickarooney wrote: »

If millions of people were really downloading the work of struggling artists, I'd be surprised.

Record companies will not make as much money from their bigger names so they will have less money to spend on less well known people.

Plus I'd imagine the end of a culture of paying for music would not really help struggling artists either. They will not have sell out world tours to rely on.

Often bands like U2, Rolling Stones etc (or whatever singer/band from pre-digital music you enjoy) needed to make 2-3 records before they started to really get into their groove.

But now with the decrease in profits, companies only make albums that will have a good chance of returning a profit. It is similar enough to the publishers hiring sure fire bestsellers instead of working with a young writer, honing their talent over a number of books before they write something really good.

blubloblu

hooradiation wrote: »

god, this is on of the worst analogies I've ever seen.

For a start ISP's as the name suggests provide a SERVICE, you cannot go onto the Internet without going via them, unlike the roads. So the "it's only the infrastructure" argument is nonsense.

And yes the end user should be held accountable, but the only people with the power to do that are the ISPs and they are not doing anything because peoples illegal activities represent a significant chunk of their client base.

So, yeah, they are profiting and then turning a blind eye to the theft people do with the service they provide.

First of all, it's pretty hard to steal over the Internet.
Why should ISPs interfere with their users activities? Should they be responsible for absolutely everthing a user does online? If someone posts a libellous comment on a blog, is the ISP responsible? Don't be ridiculous. They should have the same protections as the phone and postal services. Just because it's a newer technology, doesn't allow mega million dollar global corporations to trample over your rights.

TPD

We can just go back to posting floppy discs about if the internet gets locked down. Well, maybe not floppy discs...

robby^5

We'll form our own breakaway internet! With piracy...and hookers!

Amalgam

The Perfect Drug wrote: »

We can just go back to posting floppy discs about if the internet gets locked down. Well, maybe not floppy discs...

data prohibition will be very much like alcohol prohibition. Someone will make a (data) packet out of it..

[Deleted User]

parker kent wrote: »

Record companies will not make as much money from their bigger names so they will have less money to spend on less well known people.

Plus I'd imagine the end of a culture of paying for music would not really help struggling artists either. They will not have sell out world tours to rely on.

Often bands like U2, Rolling Stones etc (or whatever singer/band from pre-digital music you enjoy) needed to make 2-3 records before they started to really get into their groove.

But now with the decrease in profits, companies only make albums that will have a good chance of returning a profit. It is similar enough to the publishers hiring sure fire bestsellers instead of working with a young writer, honing their talent over a number of books before they write something really good.

The smaller bands with sense are embracing the rise of the internet and using it to their advantage. What most people constantly seem to miss about piracy is that the people who do the most downloading also buy the most records.

blubloblu

Most small new bands say that obscurity is a bigger problem than not making money. It's all about getting your name out there, and peer to peer is an effective way to do so.

Corkfeen

My first thought was who the **** would let Bono write for the new york times.

Second thought was that they'd be able to monitor people's porn viewing.

si_guru

Corkfeen wrote: »

My first thought was who the **** would let Bono write for the new york times.

Lol... & who cares what he says when he does?

R0ot

Bono, the second worst thing to emerge from Ireland. The worst thing being Daniel O' Donnell

Agent Smith

Can we not Just do something to his Voicebox?

phantom_lord

someone tried to hand me a flyer about a dvd rental service in my local supermarket the other night. it'd be quicker for me to download a movie than walk around the corner to the shop to pick one up!

Saint_Mel

The Minstrel wrote: »

Has Bono been canonised?

No, but I'd like to shoot him out of a canon

RoadKillTs

Whats the difference between Bono and God?
God doesnt go around thinking hes Bono

/gets coat

alexlyons

Terry wrote: »

Bono = 1/4 of U2

Bono is actually 1/5 of U2, Paul McGuinness has on numerous occasions been referred to as the 5th member, and on the vertigo tour received the same $1m the other 4 did, every night. just thought id let ya know

Hank_Jones wrote: »

Just wanted to say that Larry Mullen is an absolute legend because he is the exact opposite of this.

+1 on that, the real hero of U2, along with the edge, see all the work he's done for new orleans? got just the right amount of publicity, if not a tiny bit to little. http://www.musicrising.org/

4zn76tysfajdxp

Corkfeen wrote: »

My first thought was who the **** would let Bono write for the new york times.

The editor, I'm guessing.

si_guru

phantom_lord wrote: »

someone tried to hand me a flyer about a dvd rental service in my local supermarket the other night. it'd be quicker for me to download a movie than walk around the corner to the shop to pick one up!

I watch my neighbour's SKY thru' binoculars.