Glyn sez, "Musicians including Billy Bragg, Radiohead's Ed O'Brien and Blur's Dave Rowntree have said that fans should not be prosecuted for illegally downloading music from the internet.
Bragg speaking as a key member of the Featured Artists Coalition, which was set up to give a collective voice to artists who want to fight for their rights in the digital world, said:"
"What I said at the meeting was that the record industry in Britain is still going down the road of criminalising our audience for downloading illegal MP3s,"
"If we follow the music industry down that road, we will be doing nothing more than being part of a protectionist effort. It's like trying to put toothpaste back in the tube.
"Artists should own their own rights and they should decide when their music should be used for free, or when they should have payment."
I shared a stage with Bragg a couple weeks ago at the Convention on Modern Liberty — he was fantastic on the subject of liberty and applauded when I said that I thought that the new global conversation online was the most inspirational "liberty" story I'd seen. He's the real deal.
Other musicians who support the cause include Annie Lennox, Robbie Williams, Peter Gabriel, David Gray, Fran Healy from Travis, Pink Floyd's Nick Mason and Mick Jones from The Clash.
It's not a crime to download, say musicians
(Thanks, Glyn!)
