U2: The Unforgettable Embarrassment

U2 manager Paul McGuinness must be beside himself. Despite the band’s best efforts to prevent its new album “No Line on the Horizon” from appearing prematurely on the Internet, copies are being distributed there a week prior to its scheduled release. And it’s not the fault of the ISPs, who McGuinness believes are “destroying the recorded music industry” by failing to tackle piracy. Nor is it the fault of Apple and the makers of other digital media players who are wrongly profiting from their “burglary kits.” Nor can it be blamed solely on Silicon Valley and its “entrepreneurial, hippy values,” which in McGuinness’s opinion have bred a deep disregard for the true value of music.