Joining the recent debate over the impact of illegal file sharing on the music industry, Paul McGuinness said that the onus is on internet service providers (ISPs) to stop illegal file sharing.
Speaking at the Midem music industry convention in Cannes, McGuinness said that artists are no longer receiving fair payment.
"There's a lot of money in the music business, but it has stopped coming to the artists".
He suggests that web users who share music files illegally should be warned that they will have their service cut off if the continue. He proposed a "three strikes and you are out" policy and called on governments to introduce legislation if ISPs failed to act on the matter.
McGuinness praised the decision of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who backed an initiative under which ISPs will cut the web connections of users who repeatedly make illegal downloads.
The U2 manager drew a comparison to explain: "If you were a magazine advertising stolen cars, handling the money for stolen cars and seeing to the delivery of stolen cars, the police would soon be at your door. That's no different to an ISP, but they say they can't do anything about it. If you steal a laptop from a store or don't pay for your broadband service, you'll soon be cut off and nicked."