Bono Blasts Internet Bosses

05 January 2010

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U2 frontman Bono has slammed internet service providers for allowing customers to trade rock records online - branding them "reverse Robin Hoods".

The rocker accuses wealthy web executives of benefiting from the ailingmusic industry, which loses potential profits whenever albums are illegally downloaded.

And he's warned that the same problem could cripple Hollywood as the popularity of sharing films over the internet increases.

In a column in the New York Times, Bono writes The immutable laws of bandwidth tell us we're just a few years away from being able to downloadan entire season of (TV series) 24 in 24 seconds

In a column in the New York Times, Bono writes "The immutable laws of bandwidth tell us we're just a few years away from being able to downloadan entire season of (TV series) 24 in 24 seconds. "A decade's worth of music file-sharing and swiping has made clear thatthe people it hurts are the creators...

The people this reverse Robin Hooding benefits are rich service providers, whose swollen profits perfectly mirror the lost receipts of the music business.

"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".

The Beautiful Day hitmaker believes the problem would be solved if internet service providers monitor their file-sharers and enforce strict controls, adding "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 inthe world, where music, film, TV and video games help to account for nearly four per cent of gross domestic product".

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