Bono Puts Policing Piracy Into His Next Decade Top 10
Written by enigmax on January 03, 2010Many writers have been penning top 10 lists of one kind or another recently, either reviewing the last decade or looking forward to the next one. Among them, U2 frontman Bono has published his next-decade wish list, including a desire for the Internet to be policed for copyright infringement.
“A decade’s worth of music file-sharing and swiping has made clear that the people it hurts are the creators — in this case, the young, fledgling songwriters who can’t live off ticket and T-shirt sales like the least sympathetic among us,” writes the Irish rock star, listing his top 10 desires for the next decade.
It might not come as a surprise to most people, but Bono’s wish is a little out of touch with reality. By mimicking the words of the record label bosses high up the food chain of the music industry, he fails to see where the real problem lies.
Over the last ten years the RIAA mounted the most aggressive anti-piracy campaign against file-sharers seen anywhere, collecting millions in settlements from thousands of households. The songwriters didn’t benefit much from that.
The RIAA also collected as much as $400m from settlements from the likes of Napster, KaZaA and Bolt. That money was supposed to go to the artists whose rights had been allegedly infringed upon, but the labels weren’t that keen to hand any of that over either, even when faced with the threat of lawsuits from the artists themselves.
The major labels, Warner, Sony, EMI and Universal, are currently being sued by another group of artists over sales of compilation albums featuring their music for which they haven’t been given a cent. The money they’re owed collectively is a staggering $6 billion. Looks like the ‘little guy’ is in trouble without the assistance of file-sharing.
While one set of corporates ripping off musicians doesn’t get a mention in Bono’s top 10, other supposed evil-doers do. Singing from the same sheet as his paymasters at Universal, Bono also takes aim at ISPs, claiming that their “swollen” profits “perfectly mirror” the lost revenues in the music business.
This “blaming of the messenger” will be a continuing theme in the next decade, and one which Bono dwells on for a moment, noting that if it’s possible to crack down on online child pornography in the US, and China has the ability to suppress online dissent, then it’s also perfectly possible to track downloads of copyrighted music.
Well, yes, of course it is. That’s been perfectly possible for the last decade, but what good does it do? The RIAA has largely given up suing individuals and even when countries like France pass fairly draconian legislation to have people removed from the Internet for sharing content, there are plenty of ways around it.
“The only thing protecting the movie and TV industries from the fate that has befallen music and indeed the newspaper business is the size of the files,” says Bono. “The immutable laws of bandwidth tell us we’re just a few years away from being able to download an entire season of “24” in 24 seconds. Many will expect to get it free.”
While it’s true that we are only a couple of years away from being to download huge amounts of data in just a few seconds and that will have an impact on the volumes of movie and TV show downloading, we can’t actually watch a full season of “24″ in 24 seconds. Real-time will suffice, though.
Right at this moment via sites like Watch-Movies-Online, it’s possible to view the very latest movies instantaneously. With the new streaming functionality available in the latest beta of uTorrent, the same can be achieved via torrent swarms.
Bono, the future is now. Suing Internet users does not work and blaming the ISPs will only prove counter-productive. Monitoring the Internet will prove futile. The only way to deal with piracy is to compete with it.
As we pointed out in our article covering the most downloaded TV shows of 2009, there is huge interest in on-demand TV and there are millions of viewers that can potentially bring in millions of dollars in revenue.
The growth in unauthorized downloading of TV shows and other media is a sign that consumers want something currently unavailable through the official channels, and while price is a factor, it is not necessarily all about ‘free’.
Serving the insatiable demand during the next decade at a reasonable price should be the main aim of the media industry, as locking down the Internet will not only suffocate their customers, but also their own business. That definitely won’t help the songwriters.
Previously: Six Ways File-Sharers Will Neutralize 3 Strikes
Next: Publishers Fear eBook Piracy, But Shouldn’t
175 Responses
Well we all knew he was a tool to begin with…
Bono is a cock, must be fed up with saving the world…and to think where he came from and his background, too much cash and wants more..tosser
Bono still lives on the past.
I’m 12 and what is this?
Sod off Bono you pompous dick head.
This says it all:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLZpxVI7Pa8
Bono has joined the dark side!
Thanks for drawing attention to yourself Bono. Like my Metallica, my U2 is now going on the chopping block to the used stores, but only after perfect flac and 320K mp3s are made and made available of them. Dumbass.
Never really dig that Bono whining anyway. Real fanboys should not even think about downloading the shit and others have pretty much better taste.
Bono schmox, please stop living large spending the monies you got by simple whining in the mike. Then we may listen to whining about the bad internets.
Who is Bono?
Take off Boner!!! You couldn’t make me download your crappy 20 year old Crapple music…
Bono is for real like in South Park
.. made out if SHIT
made out OF SHIT
Bono, who moved his business to another country because he didn’t want to pay more taxes in Ireland.
Isn’t this the same guy who poses as a humanitarian and stuff?
It’s amazing.
Bono is the pirate there paying his Tax’s in another country.
Pot, Kettle, Black.
As an Irish man I can’t stand that fucker
Bono, U2 stupid!!!
(For people who are not familiar with internet slang: “Bono, you(‘re) too stupid!!!” ;-) )
Do you need some money for fighting aids, Bono? Well, with this action, I don’t give ya anything!
It’s quite the opposite. I’ve been talking to some small bands. They don’t earn quite enough from CD sales, from those albums that ARE sold, and have to depend on touring and selling merchandise on their shows. The record labels leech on them. For the rest, they depend on day jobs to live.
I can’t believe you passed over the most outrageous thing he says in the article
“We’re the post office, they tell us; who knows what’s in the brown-paper packages? But we know from America’s noble effort to stop child pornography, not to mention China’s ignoble effort to suppress online dissent, that it’s perfectly possible to track content. Perhaps movie moguls will succeed where musicians and their moguls have failed so far, and rally America to defend the most creative economy in the world”
Basically what he is saying is the way China and Iran are running the internet is the good way and that the film industry should learn from them on how to track content.
When I read it I was just flabbergasted, why did you pass on it enigmax?
U2 just managed to lose all my respect/possible future support instantly. GG, Bono is an idiot slave of the music biz now.
@ JeMoer…
Perhaps you should read the entire article ;)
“This “blaming of the messenger” will be a continuing theme in the next decade, and one which Bono dwells on for a moment, noting that if it’s possible to crack down on online child pornography in the US, and China has the ability to suppress online dissent, then it’s also perfectly possible to track downloads of copyrighted music.”
Make Bono History!
@ Ernesto
I blame my dyslexia
I’ve hated that poser for years. Oh let me get my face all over these children with aids. Oh, i’m meeting with high level diplomats and were discussing how to solve world problems. Bono matters! Thats right, Bono, pay attention to me and my do gooding. Look over here!. Plus most of their music is a joke. What a bitch
Bono is a big number two ;)
“China’s ignoble effort to suppress online dissent” – Heh, i see your point! Does Bono want the western world to turn Communist dictatorship??? Scary!
“Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeahhhh!” – Bono
What a moron.
Still not got enough money Bono? His china point really f***ed me off.
Good article!
I saw U2 live way back in 1982, their credo was love paired with anarchy, what a fantastic concert it was.
Now that you, Bono and co. got fat, rich and corrupt you wanna tell us what’s allowed and whatnot?
F.CK OFF!!
Yep everyone has a price right Bono
China is not a communist dictatorship.
China is a fascist regime (every effort of the government is made towards businesses, and people’s life has no value. It’s the definition of fascism) and their best allies are the US big corporations…
Google vids from John Perkins and make yourself an opinion.
There has never ever been a communist regime, anywhere in the world. Just dictatorships hiding behind the ideas of communism.
I followed the link and read his whole list. Just wasted a two minutes of my life.
“Rock stars…is there anything they don’t know?”
The fact is, filesharing is unstoppable and the sooner the media companies realize that, the better off they will be. Hell, if they had created legal download sites with reasonable prices after Napster, they would have made a killing. But, no, they stayed greedy and tried to keep charging nearly $20 (US) for new CDs.
Lol, I wish the internet was policed for dweebs like Bono!
Bono is less known for championing freedom than for championing the poor.
Although I am surprised at his position, I’m sure it’s a trade-off. I’m sure he is getting huge ‘donations’ to fight aids from the music and film industries in order to make this statement.
One cannot peg this man as greedy. He has spent the better part of his life helping the poor. He is just misguided.
I think he is putting other things ( Internet and peoples freedoms) on the back burner for the cash to combat something he sees as more urgently important.
I hope I’m right. I love and support the work you do Bono, but putting the rest of the world’s freedoms on the back burner is a slippery slope….
I don’t know about the developed countries but in third-world countries it is all about the ‘free’ part.
Using a fascist state as an example to support your argument is probably not the wisest of moves.
bono should be campaigning for people posting forum responses to make money.
and people drinking beer.
and tending gardens
making music? sure, that too, why not.
Yeah just for the record, I wanna say I have never downloaded a U2 song. Maybe we could counter and police the internet for people downloading U2 songs, and snuff that phenomenon out. Would that shut The Fly up?
i all ready hated that pompous git bono now i have one more reason
I officially hate Bono.
U2 sucks ass & should have disappeared a long time ago.
I don’t like their music but I will be downloading & seeding it non-stop now…. -Feels good man-
If we all unite we can get rid of the big fat cats wanting to make more and more and more and more MONEY!!!
We should boycott their music and make them bankrupt. Then they’ll understand how we feel.
His plans to help Africa were nothing more than giving the money of poor countries (that were trying to care for their people) to countries that didn’t give a f*** about human rights and had very rich leaders_dicators. So if Bono is saying that China has some expertise we should follow, it’s fair to believe that Bono himself supports dictarschip… if they’re corporote or governmental doesn’t seem to matter with this guy.
Also note that U2 has moved a year or 2 ago from Ireland to the Netherlands… for tax-reasons… paying lesser taxes I assume.
He’s a posterboy for greed and a media-driven society.
when i was in a taxi cab in Dublin talking to the driver about ireland etc , he said there was only 1 thing he hated about ireland ” i hate bono because he thinks hes god” need i say more!!!!
My dislike of Bono continues to grow. He’s clearly following the corperate line on file sharing, but the eighth thing on his list is about power to the people and the masses holding the few at the top of the pyramid to account.
What a fucking hypocrite that cretin is. It’s a shame we can’t leave comments on the article.
What I don’t get is why don’t bands give a % of what they make in concerts and Tshirt to song writers? I mean, if they care that much about them.
http://www.deuceofclubs.com/write/negativl.htm
remember Bono and the Boyz sued Negativeland for sampling their music way back in the day….
“This “blaming of the messenger” will be a continuing theme in the next decade, and one which Bono dwells on for a moment, noting that if it’s possible to crack down on online child pornography in the US, and China has the ability to suppress online dissent, then it’s also perfectly possible to track downloads of copyrighted music.”
.. Except for the fact that child pornography is morally injustifiable whereas music ‘piracy’ is simply ‘the little folk’ annoying the greedy fatsuits..
And very funny how he actually draws a parralel between Chinese censoring and oppression and what the fatsuits are doing. Well done Bono, you have made our case once again :-)
“monitoring the internet is futile”
…not to mention oppresive.
Fuck You Bono you piece of fucking dog shit!
Africa is a jungle and lives by it’s laws.
That overinflated ego of yours…Trying to save the world with everybody’s money but your own. You’re the biggest hypocrite on the planet, and the an embarrassment to every Irish man, women and child.
I hope the next time you’re ’saving’ Africa, the local tribesmen get through your army of bodyguards and use your fat arse to feed their children’s belly’s .
ByeByeBoNo
like his some of his songs. But he was probably pissed that his album was on the net before it got released. LOLZ
known as the green coed.
he will save Us from ourselves. Now get back to Ireland and save them, and then world. We need you not [bono]bonehead sounds better
I think Bono just stole the title of “biggest douche in the universe” from John Edward
Just another rock star who somehow thinks that because of his position in life he has some divine insight into social consciousness.
If he wants material for inspiration I’d suggest he try stuff like:
“Manufacturing Consent” (Chomsky)
“Shock Doctrine” (Klein)
and, of course, “1984″.
This ain’t just about the music, Bono. Get it?
Bono is still right and I think you missed his point completely.
Lame…
“China has the ability to suppress online dissent, then it’s also perfectly possible to track downloads of copyrighted music.”
Yeah, that’s a good example to follow.
Unknown artists suffer from piracy?
I think not and hiding behind statements like “it is to protect others less fortunate” is disingenuous of his part.
And that claim about China that was hilarious.
The people should start a new thing called “open culture” where we make our own stuff, that is when they will realize how bad this whole thing looks.
This is it for me, this year I will not watch anything from these people, I will not buy, not rent and not listen or read anything from people who behave like that.
If it doesn’t have a open source license or a CC Commons it will not be part of my life.
Bono’s a douche!
He’s just playing the record industry puppet. If you look at the rest of the top 10 issues, he’s really not mirroring my views.
Get your Demonoid Invitation Code from here:
http://demonoid-invite-code.cz.cc/
Bono is an arrogant, self-righteous and self-obsessed idiot with a Jesus complex, who simply sold out to the elite and their corporate agenda disguised as “charity” and “good causes” and “justice”. He’s a tax-evading, supposedly poverty fighting, hypocrite and a fraud that should be treated for this Narcissistic personality disorder instead of listened to. Just dump him in a dungeon with his fellow über-con-artist Bob “Where’s My Benefit?” Geldof and throw away the key!
That thing about on-demand TV is 100% correct. Once hulu started offering (most of) the shows I watched, my torrenting decreased drastically.
Some village in Ireland is probably happy they lost their idiot.
To those whom English is not their first language he did say the “ignoble” campaign in China.
Look up the definition of “ignoble”
Bono doesn’t know what he’s talking about. All of the points he supposedly made can easily be punched through. Even if people bought music instead of downloading it, the artist gets next to zero money. The labels hog it all. It’s a known fact that bands make their biggest profit from merch and shows.
Pity Hulu doesn’t work in the UK
Bono is mostly right.
Even if much of the content was available for £1.00 or $1.oo, many of you want it/take it/demand it for free because:-
*You can
*You stick it to the man
They are already *rich* and you’re not so you have a *right* to it free
Its all sh!t anyway so you wouldn’t pay to watch it anyway and all those movie moguls are ripping you off/rich fat bloated corporations and of course you’re all communists aren’t you. Except when it comes to your own money
So… who gives a flying fuck about this literal piece of shit anyway?
@63 >> no dude YOU`VE missed the point
peeps will pay…hell i`d be happy to if it`s available to me
is this guy really that dumb? ..
you know, there is a bit of irony to this…
that the very man who has tried so hard to be known for assisting the poor and underprivileged in some countries… has just made a decision advocating to make the people in others just like them.
Hypocritical, IMO. I wonder if he knows exactly how the record labels he’s defending treat their loyal “customers”.
Boner is plainly boning Larzz Ulreich! that idiot is the worst poser i have ever had the misfortune 2 meet,he only responds 2 money and power
What a dick.
You cant stop piracy by being aggressive. People tried that and it failed.
Bono is just another guy destined to fail.
Experience demands that man is the only animal which devours his own kind, for I can apply no milder term to the general prey of the rich on the poor.
Experience hath shown, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.
How much pain they have cost us, the evils which have never happened.
BOYCOTT THE RIAA IFPI MPAA AND BONO
I just downloaded the entire U2 discography and shared it with all my friends.
Suck on that Bono.
No one buys his crap anymore anyway. With Obama crippling american democracy as brown is crippling our freedom he fails to see whats staring him in the face. But who cares, too many people have insecure or open wi-fi anyway it will only be a matter of time before people take some copper wire, tin foil and some connectors and constantly sit on sum poor asses connection and download all they want. But old folks like Bono have no comprehension of what computer geeks can do and that will be his downfall
well bono you have just made it on to the list of w*nkers along with Lars Ulrich & lilly allen
Why are all u people yelling on what he said on China???..he did not say it was a good thing..He said that it was “IGNOBLE”.. meaning NOT-NOBLE..What he tried to say was..it was not a great thing that china did..but nevertheless, it is definitely possible to do it.. God..The internet is full of dumb teenagers who thinks they know everything.. If you dont understand some word, ask someone older than you…and then start yelling..This generations priorities is all wrong..
I was under the impression that Bono was a massive tool. And I was right. U2 Sucks, and Bono sucks equally. Long live file sharing!!
Bono is a boner. U2 sucks. Period. I wouldn’t even download that crap for free. So why the hell would I pay for it? Kiss my ass you boner!
dear bono, u suck and as the south park gang so cleverly demonstrated you are indeed made of crap. P.S. your weight is now 1,000,000 Katie courics.
The politicians who hang out with Bonehead are morons as well.
bonos a bitch
The big problem with pirating tv shows is in the way the entire model is set up. For example, a show airs in the USA a year before the UK. So I will wait to watch it on TV here. Oh wait no I won’t, I’ll just go and download it.
Eventually the TV companies realised this and now I can watch House 1 week behind the USA. That’s still too long for me so I do just download it. Unfortunately in Finland they are 2 years behind. If they would just air the program at the same time then people wouldn’t have to download them. That’s not very feasable though due to the fact the time slots are set by the TV companes and if they don’t want a show, they don’t show it. If they can’t afford the newest episodes of a show, they show them behind and people just pirate the new episodes.
As for music, I remember back in the day when an album was £20-£30 and contained 10 songs if you were luckly and if you were very lucky, only 1 or 2 of them would be filler songs.
A little after that I picked up an album where the artist had the audacity to add a track called “11″. It was 11 seconds of silence. Lots of albums started getting a track as an intro, which looks great when you look at the track list as it’s not differentiated from the other songs so you think the album has 1 more song than it does. In reality it’s about 10-15 seconds of pointlessness. It serves no purpose (from the point of a consumer) other than to crush my respect for that group and wish I would stop being dicked over by the music industry.
And then piracy solved all my problems.
Bono is the biggest crap EVER
After reading this article I got U2 discography (which i hate) for one reason – uploading it to the world. Upping it really good speed – thanks to You Mr.BonoAss
nobody forget that U2 originally was a born-again Christian Evangelical pop group
Bono believes in the invisible man in the sky in an organised religion way. he visits to the Pope in Rome to kiss his ring
scares the hell out of me
http://www.h33t.com puts things in perspective
OMG! will somebody please KILL BONO! Oh no better, hey, bono please KILL YOURSELF!
Bono is a fagg, everyone knows it, He’s having a cock for dinner lol,
Give your own money to save the world, no one gives a damn about u
Bono is a wanker and U2 are the most overrated band of all time. There fucken shit! I wouldnt waste bandwidth downloading any of their stuff for free…
I heard Bono said this after he set the new world record for biggest shit weighing in at 100 curicks.
The air was cut off from his brain for a long period of time. I dont think its really fair to quote anyone in that state.
Now that Oprah doesn’t have a show Bono has no forum to preach from, and he isn’t commercially viable right now so I say no one gives a shit what a turd has to say.
boner, you sux
read up on ACTA.
read up on wikileaks.
watch zeitgeist.
fuck bono
Sounds like SOMEONE is butthurt that no one listens to his music.
Who downloads his music anyway, Even if he does get music piracy completely shut-down forever (impossible but hey lets ponder). Will his music actually move ANYWHERE
With a name like Bono, do you think anyone will take this joker seriousy?
Just a publicity stunt for someone who has been forgotten.
A message to this fool, don’t start a fight with minions of sleeping tiger.
BONO you OLD shrivelled up stupid bitch. I HATE YOU more than i ever have /you hypocrite tax evader PIG BITCH. go to hell
Wow bono always was a prick and a hypocritical arse licker and now hes pure evil too!
Nasty piece of work!
Every day these billionaire money hungry bastards just want to grind us down further and further. depressing man. They just cant stand the fact that they do not Control the internet. Hypocrites like Bono would have us living like slaves, monitored and controlled like they do in China whilst preaching at us to save the poor when he has a 400 million pound fortune and bases himself in low tax zones to minimize his tax contributions , a man who has his own personal plane and maseratis who spends thousands on a single bottle of wine . I find him to be the very definition of evil.and his music sucks and his face makes me want to throw up when i see it.
What are you going to do now, Bono? Camp on every pirates front lawns like you did the White House until they’ve donated money to your interests?
You start going against the masses and you’re going to lose all the support you’ve ever had. It’s a good thing you don’t chum with the commoners like you do heads of state and others in high society. Try talking to someone that isn’t a fan of yours and thinks you’re a regular person. You might actually learn how the world works and get your head pulled out of your ass.
Everyone knows you’re a fraud. I’m going to make sure everyone I know hears about this. Anyone that ever mentions your name around me again will get an ass kicking lesson about you they won’t soon forget.
Fuck you.
I’ve been telling people forever…If a band wants people to buy their albums, put the album on a special flash drive with their name/pic on it. Sell physical merchandise and leave the media (all media) to the libraries.
I read the whole article and it really amazed me how this person simply does not know what he is writing about. Sometimes he indulges himself with saying “I do not understand this but I heard/think/feel it is important”. The thing is, however, that you would expect someone writing so much self-confidence to actually “know” what he is talking about. And most of the time you do not even see an “imho” there… just a “this should be done, that should be done”. I really have thought better about this man before…
P.S. By the way, as far as I understood Bono is talking about protecting only the “unknown, young” artists, while what we see is… well, kind of opposite actually..
FUCK YOU BONO
Code Of Conduct:
1.
Every man shall obey civil Command; the Captain shall have one full Share and a half in all Prizes; the Master, Carpenter, Boatswain and Gunner shall have one Share and quarter.
2.
If any Man shall offer to run away, or keep any Secret from the Company, he shall be marroon’d with one Bottle of Powder, one Bottle of Water, one small Arm, and Shot.
3.
If any Man shall steal any Thing in the Company, or game, to the value of a Piece of Eight, he shall be Marroon’d or shot.
4.
If at any Time we should meet another Marrooner (that is, Pyrate,) that Man that shall sign his Articles without the Consent of our Company, shall suffer such Punishment as the Captain and Company shall think fit.
5.
That Man that shall strike another whilst these Articles are in force, shall receive Moses’s Law (that is 40 Stripes lacking one) on the bare Back.
6.
That Man that shall snap his Arms, or smoak Tobacco in the Hold, without a cap to his Pipe, or carry a Candle lighted without a Lanthorn, shall suffer the same Punishment as in the former Article.
7.
That Man that shall not keep his Arms clean, fit for an Engagement, or neglect his Business, shall be cut off from his Share, and suffer such other Punishment as the Captain and the Company shall think fit.
8.
If any Man shall lose a Joint in time of an Engagement, shall have 400 Pieces of Eight; if a limb, 800.
9.
If at any time you meet with a prudent Woman, that Man that offers to meddle with her, without her Consent, shall suffer present Death.
http://manybooks.net/support/g/gossep/gossep1956419564-8.exp.html
go get sadomized, bono
Bono is an egotistical fuck-bucket. Always has been, and always will be.
@94 very well said
Bono? Bone-on, more like. The fat potato-headed paddy lackwit.
No offence, Paul. That’s your real name, innit?
Waddatwat…
“A decade’s worth of music file-sharing and swiping has made clear that the people it hurts are the creators — in this case, the young, fledgling songwriters who can’t live off ticket and T-shirt sales like the least sympathetic among us”
Don’t you just love how the recording industry and its cockmunching little stooges(i.e., Bono) state the exact opposite of reality?
Young fleddling artists who sign with a mainstream label are selling themselves into indentured servitude and guaranteeing that most of the money they ever make will be stolen from them by the label execs, leaving them with table scraps and no hope of having a secure financial future unless they go platinum several times. Or tour so hard they live on the road and lose their prospects of having a life as they endlessly make a mad dash from gig to gig.
The internet saves fledgling artists from having to become recording industry whores to get their music out there. It saves them from having 90% of their earnings stolen by middlemen. It saves them from being told they have to change their sound , or their image, or their lyrics because some exec doesn’t think it doesn’t have enough “mainstream appeal” or it’s too “controversial”.
If there’s anything that a decade’s worth of filesharing has proven, it’s that the internet has made the recording industry redundant and artists can now free themselves of its chains.
As a result, the recording industry is telling us at every possible opportunity that freedom is really a bad thing and that their chains are actually much, much better.
Seeing a rich, self-absorbed, tax evading, phony altruist piece of chickenshit like Bono repeat it does little to make me start believing their insistance that up is down.
The internet offers artists uniquenes and individuality. Where as the RIAA produced music gives you soundalikes, pop whores and horrible music.
If internet piracy is so freaking good for musicians, where are the musicians thanking you publicly and vociferously for reducing their payments while you still take and use their products fully?
Even if the label artists couldn’t get away with that, where are the hundred’s of thousands of indies who can and should??
(crickets)
Hasn’t this leprechaun made enough money?
If you really want to protect the “unknown, young” artists go after the mahhn, like the record lables who turn them into slaves and rob them.
Meh, Well I’m gonna go listen to one of my purchased U2 vinyls.
What Bono says doesn’t change the fact that he makes good music.
Peace.
Oh, and stop doggin’ on him. Look at the enviroment he’s in. When there are people all around you saying ‘Piracy is bad’. You’re going to think it.
Bono is becoming an old fart out of touch with reality. Has already happened to many others and a lot are yet to come, I reckon.
If I had any respect for him he’d have lost it now. Since I wasn’t really fond of U2 he’s in debt right now.
He clearly doesn’t know what he’s talking about. And if he cared to pay some attention he’d notice most of his revenue comes from his shows and merchandise. But he doesn’t manage his own money for sure so he doesn’t know where it comes from.
Also, he doesn’t seem to realize that the ones that really profit from the labels are the artists MADE by the labels and the huge blockbusters like U2.
Fail. Complete fail. I’d recommend him starting reading more b4 praising China too. Human rights is something non existent there. The CP and pornography stuff is just an excuse to control ppl and stab human rights even more right under the noses of the hypocrite occidental nations.
Fail. Huge fail.
I’d rather have a 400 pound woman defecate in my mouth than listen to any of the BS this douche has made…
Paul McGuinness, Bono.. YOU SUCK!!
They’re both lipsinking to the words of Mitch Bainwol(RIAA Mafia Corp). Bono has been in Africa way too long. If artists want to know where all the money is going.. They should check the bank statements of their entertainment Stooges. And their Boss’s tax returns.
Forget Bono. Forget McGuiness. They’re the same as M$. Helping people and screwing them over all at the same time!
};p
“Bono v. Sheryl Crow” http://bit.ly/8XMhIJ
I have always despised this hypocritical idiot, his music and everything about him, especially his hyper inflated view of his self importance. He is well dodgy and a total phony and a fake . We all know he is the planets biggest hypocrite.
A greedy multi millionaire who evades taxes whilst using the starving in Africa to boost his ego and his bank balance.
he is out of touch with everything that is relevant and a major douche bag.
Unfortunately he is part of the evil establishment that seeks to control us all.
I will do what I have always done and ignore him as an ugly old irrelevance and a laughing stock. I think he sucks, his music sucks too.
he doesnt give on crap about “fledgling artists” he only cares about his tax evading bank balance. To raise Chinas policy of dictatorial policing as a positive just shows his real colours.
Go and crash your Maserati bono whilst your eyes are misted up thinking about the starving in africa you hypocrite.
@Reasoned Mind
There are plenty of articles like this online, where artists (sometimes even big-name artists that are signed to labels) speak in favor of file sharing. Do a little digging- it’s really not that hard.
You mean the thousands of indie artists who release their music for free because they recognize its benefits? And that’s just one website.
Bono can’t actually believe that new artists make *any* money off record sales when they are on major labels, can he?
The major source of money for most musicians is touring and merchandise sales. If he really wanted to help artists he would encourage people to download the CD and instead buy a T-shirt.
My heart bleeds for you Boner. Oh. No it doesn’t. Cry me a river.
Waah waah waah waaaaaaaaah!
Seriously where do these mouthpeices for the recording industry getoff on swallowing this bullshit? Bad troll Boner! Bad troll!
Oh yeah. The comments about China etc. So he wants internet snooping and censorship just like China does he? Then why not fuck off there then you pompous over paid pretentious prick!
How about working on making a decent album?
Seriously, who wants to hear government types singing,so why would we care for a Bono on government policy.
For filesharing to go into decline the ISP’s need to teamup with the copyright holders and offer an ‘all you can eat’ service for an extra monthly cost on your ISP bill. It’s the only way it will ever work. Once that happens speeds will increase as cacheing of data is done at the ISP level (Right nw they don’t like doing it because of copyright issues). There would be less likelyhood of low quality, corrupted files or trojans and viruses.
The other thing that would need to happen is simultaneous worldwide release with NO DRM and no border issues. It needs to go out as soon as it exits the studios. None of this artificial release schedule nonsense.
People will willingly pay extra on their ISP bills if this was to happen.
I can but dream.
http://www.gamepolitics.com/2007/03/23/group-petitions-bono-cancel-mercs-2-over-venezuelan-missions
Bono wasn’t really worth trusting after this happened anyway, but that made it official.
Trent Reznor / 9 inch nails, Nelly Furtado, Shakira, Daron Malakian, Fat Mike, Norah Jones…
“Don’t sue our fans!”
—
Lily Allen, Bono
“Sue our fans!”
—
Any other f**ktard artists wish to open their mouths and make it into the second group?
@Dishonest Mind
The only reason you can’t find musicians that support “internet piracy” is because they conflict with the recording industry propaganda you regurgitate. So you pretend there aren’t any.
Despite the fact that as 122 pointed out, they’re numerous and easily found.
Got any excuses?
he bono man is becoming very boring.
the world according to bono, no thank you.
my advice to him: your bank account is full, for the rest of your life go out and give only FREE concerts.
i will not be there.
this man fucked SST.
one pope is enough, boner.
Let’s not be too hard on Bono. He’s only doing what the corporate masters have been telling their artists what to do for years now. “Here play this role, tell these lies to the public, and all will be fine”
Oasis are so much better
Just another illuminati puppet, probably without even realising it.
Bono will not be very happy about this website then I suppose
http://www.freeu2musicdownloads.com/
@theigloo, nice one ;)
who would want to download u2 music after what he’s been sayin?
I guess, Bono is this Guy from U2. 20 years back, their music seemed interesting. But for years not anymore. When will people wake up and understand that the pop-music industry is AN INDUSTRY, these songs are mass-products like coke and candy. Cheap stuff, very often low quality, and very often extremely overpriced. Pop-musicians are mostly no artists, and especially those like ‘Bono’ are jerks: Making a lot of money and crying about p2p.
Hey yo! Bono knows this
And Bono knows that
But Bono know jack
Cause Bo can’t rap
whats really funny is there are no free downloads, we all need to pay an ISP , if bono was smart he would start his own ISP, then I am sure he would encourage downloading.
I cant believe the big music labels have over looked this golden opportunity.
They have the content, we want the content and the current ISPs clean up as the middle men…
The guy is a despicable cunt.
Factual point:
$6 billion is the amount of the major labels’ liability (based on a certain amount per infringement $10,000?), not the amount owed to artists (at least, not yet). It’s also in Canadian dollars, not the more “internet standard” US dollars.
Fuck Bono, and fuck his band too!
I’m going to steal all their fucking albums in 320 CBR, V0 VBR, and FLAC!
Bono is a self-centered self-absorbed idiot and really needs to shut his mouth. He thinks he is an expert in any subject he wants to talk about, while in fact, he is only a HYPOCRITE.
Several years ago Bono called for everyone in the Developed World to pay more taxes to help the Third World – and he said this while HE SET HIMSELF UP AS AN OFF-SHORE TAX SHELTER TO AVOID PAYING INCOME TAX IN IRELAND.
When asked about this, Bono waved his hand and said “it washis business manager’s decision and he just followed – just like the Nazis who worked in the death camps were just following orders.
The world would be so much better off without Bono and his stupid sunglasses
This convinced me. I am not going to download their music anymore. And I feel sorry that I did.
Because of this article, I am not really interested in the band anymore. This news came as a great shock and disappointment to me. Leaving that aside, I believe that unauthorized sharing actually helps the little artists to be discovered. Who will buy a song from a little-known, obscure artist? I don’t know anyone. But who will download it? Many will, and if they like it, they will recommend it to their friends, who will continue to spread the word – and many, many of the people in the chain will afford to buy the track, or even the album. TF has already covered many true stories of indie artists who thank downloading. Oh, and the rich artists – they are live, rock-solid proof of how downloading has not stopped their career, but rather, increased the amount of their fans.
Oh, and everybody seem to miss yet another point – the 2000’s decade, from the first year in it (2001) and 2009 is just nine years. When counting your, umm, say, torrent downloads, or released CDs, you don’t count “Zero, one, two…”, so why do you do so with years? It’s not over. The decade is not over. Hopefully when the decade is over for real, people will see that filesharing doesn’t hurt artists.
This guy will say and do anything to get in the limelight,always full of shit.
I agree with the “Compete with piracy” idea. Its the only way. Hulu allows me to watch shows for free, legitimately, if I sit through a short commercial. Great idea!
Hope it comes to that, prices will be cheap and people will be doing everything legit, which always feels better.
Bono is the God of BullShit!
money = ego
Bono is just speaking like a true politician. When he opens his mouth bullshit happens.
Yes that’s right, Bono Blows! U2 can suck a dick, you have millions of dollars. STFU!! The music industry wont pay you for the money they make off us any way. Sooo…STFU!
Never heard of Bono, gonna go check out some of his stuff on torrent.
Just got it off El Reg:
Bono doing a concert when he stopped and started to clap his hands above his head about once a second. He then said: “Each time I clap my hands, a child dies in Africa”. Came a voice from the audience “Then stop clapping your hands you evil bastard!”
LOL :D
Suck a dick Bono.
Fuck you fagot!
Bono is nothing but a whiner.
You greedy filthy Irish bastard!
Bono, the man who decided he was God. This guy is always appearing at politically correct functions full of poor black Africans and complaining about the greedy Western nations. Another Al Gore type who flies around in private jets costing more in a flight than his pet Africans will see in a lifetime. And yet, full of condemnation for OUR lifestyles. Screw the SOB. He and his band hit their peak long ago and have simply coasted on past deeds.
cop this bono http://www.freeu2musicdownloads.com/
Added to my “do not buy anything from” list.
Oh, he is already on here. Does that mean i have to steal from him?
Trust me. All Palm Pre users are currently being monitored for (c) infringement. If you recall, Bono is a major investor in Palm. Come to think of it, he’s probably the one who came up with those god-awful, pretentious advertisements with the red-haired chick spewing nonesense. Bono’s alter ego perhaps???
Another dead dog tries to bite us…
/yawn
If only greed and ignorance could sequester carbon, Bono could FINALLY save the planet
I used to like him, but this is simply ridiculous, I don’t think he is going serious. Proof:
http://www.cracked.com/article_17239_if-bono-was-superhero.html
Loved the comic Anon!
Bono recycles he sniffs his own farts.
Hahaha that pussy would spout this shit. U2 sucks you ass.
Bongface i never dig you music you sound like shit and you think you are god, you do NOTHING just run around playing gandi or something get a real and original issue and STFU plz!
I always thought this guy to be into important, wholesome issues like poverty etc but, seriously, he lost touch with the times now… Damn, Bono, the Internet IS and ALWAYS WAS about sharing, it just got more powerful, accept it and help find new business models if you’re really concerned.
bono and Kanye are now in direct competition for biggest douche of 2010.
Can’t wait for the outcome
Honestly, people, don’t you think it’s a bit too much? Bono really doesn’t deserve so much hate. OK, he doesn’t support filesharing, because he thinks stopping it will help artists. Most of us, including me, disagree with his opinion – but that is no reason to get rude. I expected the TF community to be at least slightly more mature. You, people, put shame on torrenters. If everybody here is a flamer, no wonder others think filesharers are just a bunch of criminals.
Bono is rich WHY cause he doesnt pay taxes like many top artists. Continually on the bandwangon to save the world, yet if he paid taxes the poor could really be helped.
BandAid the biggest con ever. It created a huge population surge, 10 years later more starving people, WHY because of a corupt government at war with a nebour, which the organisers decided not to tell anyone about. Aid vs backhanders is the real issue, blood diamonds. Next time you use a moblie Think that where the resourses come from and why WE fuel the wars in those areas
All right, I think it’s about time TorrentFreak rang up Bono himself, to have a nice interview-style conversation. That might clear up some things (…?)
Oh, and please refer the man to this TF article about him, so that he knows what some in the BitTorrent community think about his latest statements.
I’m serious, contact the guy, and let him speak, if he has the desire to do so of course!
Other than that, very nice article, TorrentFreak.
Without so much greed there might have been more humility in the movie and music business from the artists as well as the ones that produced them. Maybe a bigger emphasis on more quality and less garbage. The prices for music and movies blew out the roof just as going to simple ball game has. If they were offered at reasonable prices back when, I don’t think this problem would be as severe.It probably would have been easier for unknowns to get their shot as well.
This whole file-sharing issue is as much if not more about rebelling against those institutions for their overpricing as it is to file sharing.I believe in some ways they have destroyed their own industry and any adoption of such greedy policies will do the same to any other. It’s just a matter of time.
There is an interesting blog at http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/reverb/2010/01/why_i_agree_with_bono.php
Its called “Why I Agree With Bono
By Krist Novoselic” and has some very good comments for both sides of the fence and Krist even posts comments himself. Pay particular attention to the first comment by Sid Gilbert. The comment list is verrry long but worth the read.
As this thread is pretty old I’ll post it on one of the more active threads as it bears on the TorrentFreak is all about.
Bono; a pompous little pimple who remains RICH, whilst stealing the funds of working class folks for his self-aggrandisement campaign.
I have distributed his tunes since he first began stealing my hard earned tax funds and in LOSSLESS form, too. It’s only fair [lol]!
Take from the RICH and give to the POOR, I always say.
Bono; show us all how SELFLESS you are. Give away your wealth, live like ONE OF US and struggle for your daily bread.
You HYPOCRITICAL TIT!
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