Now, he's given a rather mellow interview to Cnet, partly contradicting his earlier statements (he criticized Radiohead's "In Rainbows" business model earlier, but now claims he admires "what Radiohead have done tremendously in seeking a new model"), and partly repeating his earlier claims (with a bit more tact, this time) that the Internet should be regulated and monitored, and that the ISPs should be forced to do it.
However, he manages to step in it again, ending the interview with a very interesting statement: Ultimately, he says, free is the enemy of good."
This sentence shows that he simply has no idea (actually, I don't believe that; I think he's merely refusing to admit the obvious) about how business works. In any business, there's a lot of things that are provided free to the customer. Your ISP probably provides free 24 hour phone and email support to you. In your local supermarket, you can sample various products, like cheese or cosmetics, for free. Some companies provide free WiFi coverage around their headquarters. The list goes on. Free is an essential component of every business, and free does not mean "without value."
Now, if an ISP wants to start charging for customer support, they're welcome to try. They're also welcome to file for bankruptcy when all of their customers move to another, friendlier ISP. The entertainment industry is welcome to try and charge (and even McGuinness admits that they've been charging way too much) for easily duplicated digital goods, such as MP3s, lyrics, tabs etc. But if they don't provide enough added value to the customer, they'll go out of business. If, however, they embrace free - and we now have many great examples of how free content can be used to promote scarce goods - and try to figure out new business models which Internet has unlocked, they will thrive.