UK ISP to U2 Band Mgr: "Naive" to Think Fast Internet Only for P2P

It’s something reiterated by U2 frontman Bono earlier this year who said that the “swollen profits” of “rich” ISPs “perfectly mirror the lost receipts of the music business.” He even cited the fight against child porn and China’s authoritarian govt’s success in fighting online dissent as proof that it’s “perfectly possible” for ISPs to track content if they wanted to.

“In reality broadband customers continue to demand the fastest broadband at the lowest price which squeezes ISPs' margins,” says Entanet’s Head of Marketing, Darren Farnden. “Those of us within the Internet industry will also know that it is actually more costly to support such infringers due to the extra bandwidth they consume. Our increasing revenues are more likely to be down to the innovative new technologies we deploy and the additional services we provide to add value to customers' experience.”

“Well, if he took the time to make an informed comment through proper research he'd see that, in reality, most broadband customers want to be better able to take advantage of 'legal' technologies such as online gaming, YouTube, iPlayer, iTunes, VoIP and a vast array of business oriented services that are currently available,” adds Farnden. “It is simply naive to suggest that customers' desire for faster broadband and more bandwidth is driven solely by a desire to cheat music rights holders out of their royalties through illegal file sharing.”

“The music industry and the likes of Mr. McGuinness and Bono need to come to terms with the fact that 'free' music did not arise from the Internet. Since the introduction of the audio cassette in the early 1960's, people have been able to make copies of music or even make recordings off the radio,” continues Farnden. “This followed with the introduction of the Redbrook CD standard that didn't have any copy protection built in, making it easy to 'rip' an audio CD.”

Farnden fights back against the suggestion that ISPs should become “Internet police,” and that it can do more to stop illegal file-sharing, especially with the passage of the Digital Economy Act this past April.