Bono’s “freedom speech”
Today I read a piece written by Bono of U2 – a column in the New York Times….
In all honesty – I didn’t read it totally; same as his lyrics… kind of boring….!
But – there is a part in which he is talking about Intellectual Property Developers… how we should “ban” the file sharing…
According to Mr.Bono – the music industry is almost destroyed – and he hopes the other industries (movie, gaming) are able to stop the p2p/filesharing community.
He is talking about controlling the traffic between computers….
This guy – who is talking about all kinds of freedom and people being equal….
This same guy, who is asking 85 euros for a normal (ring) concert ticket,….. is telling me that I should not get music for free…..!
Uh…. but how do you expect me to be able to pay 85 euros..??
I am selling one arm – one leg….. and “steal” a couple of U2 songs; because I would like to be know if I also like the new songs of U2 => otherwise it would be ridiculous to go to your concert….. wouldn’t it…?
And then take away my freedom…. check all my email/computer traffic.
Sure; make the mailman go through my envelopes…. maybe have the police make a monthly check in my home; just to be sure I don’t have illegal stuff in my house….
Oh yeah – one more thing; once a while I am paying for a dvd (some rental – some buy) => don’t you think it is strange I have to look for a minute to a screen which is telling me that I should NOT WATCH illegal DVDs…….
So – they let me pay – to watch such a thing……
Shouldn’t you be putting this on the illegal movie – instead of my legal version…??
Source; the New York Times – Ten for the Next Ten
Thanks for blogging about this. Once a diehard fan of Bono and his band, the last few years have really made me disenchanted with U2. As their ticket prices skyrocket, Bono has uses platform to demand more money from fans on several other fronts as well. Now he wants to treat free downloads to the same (self) righteous indignation that he employs against poverty and the AIDS crisis? This strikes me as disingenuous in a world where Radiohead proved that fans will pay for quality music and enable others that cannot afford it to enjoy the same. Paying for a lecture from Mr Bono in the form of U2 music is a mistake I don’t intend to make again.
Great post! I totally agree with you. In the words of “Pass It Along” by Chumbawamba:
“We don’t mind when our fans pay money to wear our promotional T-shirts, and it’s fine when they pay forty dollars to come to one of our concerts, but when our fans think they can listen to our music for free, they just crossed the line”.