HOLLYWOOD HYPOCRITE

Bono, U2’s lead singer, is one of the leaders of the campaign to supply the third world with drugs by dismantling the intellectual property rights of pharmaceutical companies. So is this his position on IPRs generally? Not at all. Bono is also one of the leaders of the campaign to strengthen the IPRs of (you’ve guessed it) musicians. Today, most European countries protect copyrights on sound recordings for no more than 50 years. The U2 members think that they should be allowed to "retain their copyright for at least as long as they live, and to pass it to their heirs, just like any other asset that they own." Yes, it’s very easy to say that property if theft when you’re talking about other people’s properties.

Someone might say that there is a big difference between music and life-saving drugs. I agree. Gifted musicians would probably continue to create music even if they didn’t make much money on it. But I don’t think that anyone would continue to pour hundreds of millions of dollars into research for new drugs if they had no way of financing that investment through sales.

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For greatest efficiency, lowest cost and maximum choice, ALL hospitals and health insurance schemes should be privately owned and run -- with government-paid vouchers for the very poor and minimal regulation.

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