The sunglass-wearing Irish pop singer Bono has a clash of financial interests between his Internet investments and his copyright pro-3-strikes stance, as exposed by the sale this week of the computer-maker Palm. Should we call him a hypocrite?
U2's Bono is one five directors of Elevation Partners a venture capital company behind Palm, the US maker of hand-held computers. According to US media sources, he has already made $US82.3 million from this investment. The sale of Palm to Hewlett-Packard for $US1.2 billion, agreed yesterday, stands to return his invested capital and net him even more profit. Bono is also sponsored by Blackberry, the maker of a rival product to Palm.
U2's manager, Paul McGuiness, is one of the most vitriolic opponents of the open Internet. McGuiness is a key person behind the music industry's push for 3-strikes measures to punish Internet users - for using the very equipment which is delivering this second fortune to Bono. McGuiness has spoken openly and aggressively about his desire for ISPs to be made liable for copyright infringements.
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