Don't Pirate Pete

Peter, Peter, Peter, what's all this fuss about pirates mate?" It's just a spot o' wholesome fun - take it easy man?"

Rocker Pete Townshend has blasted musical bootleggers in a damning new post on his website. The Who star contends that people who sell concert footage and recordings illegally are turning artists like him into beggars.

He fumes, "I have always been bootlegged, and my music has always been given away free or almost free on the radio and television.

"We view this as a form of promotion now. If people feel it is OK to walk through an artist's life and take their work for free, then those artists will die.

"Artists and artisans will be like child pornographers."