UK ISP Hits Back At U2's Manager For Claiming That ISPs Profit From File Sharing

from the will-we-get-a-response? dept

One of the more ridiculous claims, made by the music industry lately, is this idea that ISPs are somehow unfairly "profiting" from file sharing, and that's the reason why they should be forced to act as the entertainment industry's police. The argument makes no sense, but has become quite popular in certain circles. It was one of the many fallacious arguments made recently by U2's manager Paul McGuinness in his quite silly screed blaming everyone but the recording industry for the industry's problems. Thankfully, though, some people are speaking up. Both ZeroPaid and TorrentFreak point us to a blog post from ISP Entanet's head of marketing, pointing out that this claim is not at all accurate:
Considering Mr. McGuinness proudly informs us he has been debating on this issue for two years, he seems to totally misunderstand the reasons behind broadband customers' demand for better broadband speeds and equally doesn't understand the current facilities available on the Internet. He asks "Do people want more bandwidth to speed up their e-mails or to download music and films as rapidly as possible?" 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. 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. Furthermore, without legal services such as iTunes music sales would undeniably decrease. Does Mr. McGuinness want to close down this a distribution model that has proven to contribute positively to music sales? Talk about cutting your nose off to spite your face!
It's great to see people who actually understand this stuff debunking McGuinness' argument, though somehow I don't see McGuinness ever responding reasonably to this point.

Realistically speaking, this is yet another example of the industry's proclivity to overvalue the content and assume that any of the services or tools around the content are valueless. Similarly, it shows a very broadcast top-down view, assuming that the only reason people are using the internet is to download their content, rather than to communicate with one another. The internet is a communication platform much more than a broadcast medium, and the music industry still doesn't seem to grasp that simple fact.
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Filed Under: broadband, file sharing, isps, paul mcguinness
Companies: entanet


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  • icon
    Killer_Tofu (profile), 9 Sep 2010 @ 6:04am

    I would say

    I would say I need my cable internet for downloading lots of songs, but I would be lying.

    The reason I need the high speed is definitely for gaming. It is also why, even though I have a choice of Comcast or satellite I say I only have one choice. If I want to game I can only go with Comcast in my area. That is it. Anything else would remove the primary reason I get the high speed to begin with. Yes, there are plenty of other reasons I have high speed. It definitely saves time for everything else you can do on the net. Gaming is my number one cause for having cable though. If it wasn't for that I would consider satellite, but the satellite in the area also has a crazy 5 or 10GB limit per month, in addition to its high latency.

    Just not enough broadband options around here.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 9 Sep 2010 @ 7:27am

      Re: I would say

      Ah I remember the old days where I was called a lpb when high speed connections were rare.

      Now people probably don't even know what an lpb is anymore.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 9 Sep 2010 @ 7:48am

        Re: Re: I would say

        Low Ping Bastard

        link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Major, 9 Sep 2010 @ 7:57am

        Re: Re: I would say

        Well had to google it, LPB... and actually it made me remember the days i had 3ms and everyone else was in the 50-100ms range, but in my time they were calling that cheating :/

        link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 9 Sep 2010 @ 8:28am

        Re: Re: I would say

        I hated LPB's. I remember playing on servers where you'd have an average player with 200-300ms and some random lpb with 10ms. You would suddenly die and about 2 seconds later see who killed you.

        The funny thing is many lpbs really thought they were shit hot killing people with 10-30x their latency.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Berenerd (profile), 9 Sep 2010 @ 7:58am

      Re: I would say

      Don't you mean...XFINITY!!!!!!!!!!!!

      I watch Hulu and gaming. Some times at the same time. I also stream Movies to other people in my building though I don't think that goes through the internet. i think they just connect to my wireless network (yes its secure) but they have the option if need be.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      IronM@sk, 9 Sep 2010 @ 9:32am

      Re: I would say

      Errmmm... greater bandwidth does not automatically equal lower latency and it is latency that is the enemy of the gamer.

      In fact I used to get better pings back when I was on 1500kbps ADSL than I do on my current 18000kbps ADSL2+ connection.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        Killer_Tofu (profile), 9 Sep 2010 @ 12:51pm

        Re: Re: I would say

        Precisely my point about satellite is no option for me. Its speeds are enough, even if the monthly limits make it dumb even with the latency issues aside.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Joe NYC, 9 Sep 2010 @ 6:37am

    As I say to all of these misinformed

    grade-school educated musicians who misguidedly try their hand at public debate:

    SHUT UP AND SING !!!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Marcel de Jong (profile), 10 Sep 2010 @ 12:56am

      Re: As I say to all of these misinformed

      I actually want to say to U2 and their manager:

      SHUT UP AND STOP SINGING!!!11eleventyonezomgponies.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 9 Sep 2010 @ 6:38am

    Query

    Why not use the United Kingdom's famous libel laws to shut the bloke up?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 9 Sep 2010 @ 6:45am

    COME BACK WHEN YOU'VE PAID YOUR TAXES MCGIMPNESS!!!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Richard (profile), 9 Sep 2010 @ 1:13pm

      Re: in case

      In case anyone hasn't got the background for the above comment - Bono's Wikipedia entry contains the following:
      Bono and his bandmates were criticised in 2007 for moving part of their multi-million euro song catalogue from Ireland to Amsterdam six months before Ireland ended a tax exemption on musicians' royalties.[16][45] Under Dutch tax law, bands are subject to low to non-existent tax rates.[16] U2's manager, Paul McGuinness, stated that the arrangement is legal and customary and businesses often seek to minimise their tax burdens.[16] The move prompted criticisms in the Irish parliament.[46][47] The band later responded by stating that approximately 95% of their business took place outside Ireland, and that they were taxed globally because of this.[48] Bono was one of several super-rich figures whose tax arrangements were singled out for criticism in a report by the charity Christian Aid in 2008.[49]

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 9 Sep 2010 @ 6:53am

    the internets do more than just email now?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    ofb2632 (profile), 9 Sep 2010 @ 7:16am

    Downloads

    I PAID to download a new cd for my kid. If i did not have a decent internet speed, that would have never happened. I also know for a fact that i dont get to any kind of music store very often to by it thru the store. This is why we need good broadband speeds, to make everything consumer friendly, esp for those of us that hate going out into public.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 9 Sep 2010 @ 7:25am

      Re: Downloads

      Shame on you, why do you finance those people?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        Killer_Tofu (profile), 9 Sep 2010 @ 12:53pm

        Re: Re: Downloads

        Gotta give ofb the benefit of a doubt. There is always a chance that the CD he is downloading is from an artist that has no association with a major label. We can hope. =)

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 9 Sep 2010 @ 7:22am

    I'm a fool, and here I was thinking about telemedicine that is huge deal in developing countries was a factor.

    http://www.telemedicineindia.com/
    http://www.telemedindia.org/

    Or to do some actual good work with GIS
    http://www.mapcruzin.com/

    Or to help science.
    http://fold.it/portal/info/science

    Or to help the government to make sense of their own data.
    http://reboot.fcc.gov/developer

    Or to use VoIP.
    http://www.asterisk.org/

    Or to have people work around the world in one cool project.
    http://durian.blender.org/

    Or to listen to free legal music
    http://www.jamendo.com/en/

    Or to listen to books
    http://librivox.org/

    Or to learn
    http://www.khanacademy.org/
    http://www.youtube.com/user/NurdRage

    Nope it is all about the MAFIAA and their greed, money, work and sorry ass, gosh how did I miss that?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Hephaestus (profile), 9 Sep 2010 @ 8:42am

    Darren Farnden seems to be talking about DRM ...

    "At the moment, once a user has it in their possession in the form of a file that they can play back, stopping them from copying that file and / or sending it elsewhere is very difficult.”"

    We all know how well DRM works, its always broken with in a day or two.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Killer_Tofu (profile), 9 Sep 2010 @ 12:54pm

      Re: Darren Farnden seems to be talking about DRM ...

      Or a week before it is released to public in a rare but hilarious case =P

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Nick Dynice (profile), 9 Sep 2010 @ 9:00am

    The Fly, by U2

    It's no secret that the stars are falling from the sky
    The universe exploded 'cause of one man's lie
    Look, I gotta go, yeah I'm running outta change
    There's a lot of things if I could I'd rearrange

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 9 Sep 2010 @ 10:02am

    Oh no!! Sales are down and that 20% is looking meager compared to years past.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Josef, 9 Sep 2010 @ 10:42am

    Just a simple answer

    This moron, McGuinness is living 10 years in the past. I might have been willing to buy his argument about needing more bandwidth for "stealing" content back then.

    But the answer to his question "Do people want more bandwidth to speed up their e-mails or to download music and films as rapidly as possible? is both.

    Maybe he doesn't send video mail or large attachments, but there are a lot of us that do. Im sure he uses the phone all the time and has never heard of any of the IM clients that all seem to have voice and video now. I wonder if he can spell Skype. If he has kids, I would guess they don't know what WoW is or own an Xbox.

    As the ISP rep pointed out, there are tons of high bandwidth applications now. Someone should mention to McGuinness that IPTV tends to require a huge amount of bandwidth. I wonder how the RIAA is going to convince the ISPs to cut off their source of income with a 3 strikes rule.

    Im wondering... If I get caught for downloading music illegally 3 times, should I then be banned from buying music?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 9 Sep 2010 @ 7:11pm

    Working is also a factor a lot of people can work from home nowadays and I bet they do use a lot of bandwidth, transmitting huge amounts of data.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    KtmRiderUS, 28 Dec 2017 @ 11:21am

    Hooray for Darren Farnden - Entanet

    Well hooray for UK's ISP Entanet Head of Marketing, Darren Farnden. He's shown that he's not afraid of Bono and also not afraid of promoting pornography online and putting his name to it.

    Shame we can't have ISP's with this kind of honesty here in the US.

    I guess pornography makes up a big part of internet traffic and of course, more internet traffic means more business for an ISP.

    On the superduke.net forum Mr Farnden, known as df_vtr, has been keen to show his passion for KTM motorcycles, introduce himself as Entanet Head of Marketing as well as express his love of young ladies, with tattoos and false breasts. He even went as far as sharing his huge private collection of images on the forum.

    Well done Mr Farnden, I admire your honesty, bravery and hope other ISP's will take note.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Geoffrey H, 29 Dec 2017 @ 4:25am

    Entanet's Head of Marketing

    I wouldn't call it brave, seems a crazy thing to do considering his position and the fact that his company's CEO is an extremely professional female.

    Not really the behaviour you'd expect from someone managing a department in a leading Telecomms company.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Peter W, 30 Dec 2017 @ 12:35am

    He even posted his job title with a link to his company's website, on the same forum where he posted hundreds of pornographic images!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Howard, 2 Jan 2018 @ 4:58am

    Darren Farnden Entanet Head of Marketing

    "Even posted his job title with a link to his company's website..."

    ROFL that's priceless!!

    I hope he got permission from the copyright owners of all those porn pictures he posted... could be a bit embarrassing!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Will B, 6 Jan 2018 @ 3:58pm

    Entanet Head of Marketing

    WTF? Why? You muppet!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    EntaTechie, 14 Jan 2018 @ 12:53am

    Darren Farnden Entanet Head of Marketing

    It's sad but this kind of behavior doesn't surprise me, I've seen him being carried by others at work while he 'talks the talk' and chases the ladies.

    Lucky for him, everyone turns a bling eye!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Sarah UK, 18 Jan 2018 @ 3:52pm

    Darren Farnden Entanet Head of Marketing

    I guess he forget he'd already posted his job title with a link to his company's website, before his hormones took control and he started posting porn!

    Don't think I'd want him heading my marketing department!

    Regards, Sarah.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Roger K, 19 Jan 2018 @ 1:20am

    Entanet's weird marketing experiment?

    Re: Darren Farnden Entanet Head of Marketing

    Oppppps! Bit dumb!

    Maybe it's some kind of weird marketing experiment?

    I wonder what Elsa Chen makes of it?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Will B, 20 Jan 2018 @ 10:33am

    Entanet's Head of Marketing

    It seems Entanet's Head of Marketing Darren Farnden has not only embarrassed himself but upset some people along the way too.

    Probably not the best marketing exercise I've seen... D'oh!

    http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/entanet/4545504-entatech-closure-affect-entanet.html

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Howard, 28 Jan 2018 @ 2:21pm

    Thread disappeared!

    I was following this story on the Thinkbroadband.com forum, then the thread suddenly disappeared without any explanation!

    I guess Mr Farnden or Entanet had it removed, can't blame them really, it was a bit embarrassing.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Concerned Employee, 30 Jan 2018 @ 12:54am

    At last!

    Well at last someone has done the right thing.

    The account, along with all the xxx explicit images, has been removed from the Superduke forum.

    Let's hope that's the end of this embarrassing episode!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Roger Marshall, 11 Nov 2018 @ 4:19am

    Entanet Head of Marketing posting pornography online

    Entanet Head of Marketing posting pornography online

    I find it quite shocking that someone in such a responsible position would behave in such a irresponsible and unprofessional manner.

    Being Head of Marketing, you would assume Mr Farnden would be extremely careful how he conducted himself online, even in his private life. After all, he is employed by an IT company and should understand how the internet works.

    If he really gets a kick out of this behaviour, then why not do it anonymously? Rather than revealing his name, job title and even providing a link to his company's website.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    WMCC UK, 24 Feb 2019 @ 4:06am

    ISPA Awards 2019 Nomination - Internet Villain Award - Entanet

    Congratulations CityFibre Entanet!

    After careful consideration we have decided to nominate CityFibre Enatnet's Head of Marketing for the 2019 ISPA Internet Villain Award.

    Having uploaded hundreds of explicit pornographic images to our favourite motorcycle website and openly commenting on his sexual preferences, Mr Darren Farnden (aka DazF) has clearly displayed a complete lack of consideration or respect for any women or children visiting the website.

    Mr Farnden also displayed a complete disregard for the reputation of Cityfibre Entanet or respect for his colleagues by using the same website to boast about his job title and post a link to Entanet's website.

    Considering Mr Farnden's position, we're sure you'll agree his behaviour is shocking and inappropriate. Having tarnished the reputation of the industry he truly deserves the title of 2019 ISPA Internet Villain.

    We look forward with anticipation to the ISPA Awards in July. On behalf of myself and the ladies at WMCC UK, we wish you the very best of luck.

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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