U2 manager 'wants end to piracy'

Paul McGuinness is the long-time manager of U2

The manager of rock band U2 has urged internet service providers (ISPs) to help end illegal music downloads, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Paul McGuinness called for policies on disconnecting those who acquired tracks illegally, using a speech in France to urge governments to take action.

McGuinness said ISPs had "been at our trough for too long", and should share the revenues they made out of music.

France is working toward a legal system that promotes a similar policy.

McGuinness told the Midem conference in Cannes that it was time for artists to stand up against what he called the "shoddy, careless and downright dishonest way they have been treated in the digital age".

Blame

He spread the blame between record labels and governments who "created a thieves' charter" by agreeing that ISPs should not be responsible for what passed along their networks.

"If you were a magazine advertising stolen cars, handling the money for stolen cars and seeing to the delivery of stolen cars, the police would soon be at your door," he said.

"That's no different to an ISP, but they say they can't do anything about it. If you steal a laptop from a store or don't pay for your broadband service, you'll soon be cut off and nicked."

In October, the British government called on ISPs to take a "more activist role" in the problem of illegal file-sharing.

But the Internet Service Providers Association has always maintained that it cannot be held responsible for illegal peer-to-peer traffic because it is "merely a conduit" of such material.