British hackers who stole unreleased Michael Jackson tracks escape jail
Two British computer hackers who stole unreleased Michael Jackson tracks after breaking into Sony Music’s servers have escaped jail.
Jackson fanatics James Marks, 27, and James McCormick, 26, planned to sell the exclusive tracks after targetting Sony, who own the copyright to the late singer’s work.
But the pair, who met through an online fan forum, were thwarted when officers traced the hack to their home computers.
Marks, from Daventry, and McCormick, from Blackpool, were each ordered to do 100 hours of community service and handed one year suspended sentences today at Leicester Crown Court.
The pair stole a total of 7,900 files from the Sony system, including tracks, component parts, artwork and videos.
The fans specifically searched for Jackson’s material, which had been the subject of much speculation since his high-profile death from a drugs overdose in June 2009.
After downloading the files to their home computers, McCormick wrote a computer script, enabling them to speed up the process and steal material from other artists.
Chatlogs between Marks and MCCormick revealed that the pair had planned to trade some of the prized files.
They were arrested in May 2011 after Sony Music identified the security breach and noti- fied the police. The Serious Organised Crime Agency launched an investigation that led to the pair, who admitted two offences under the Computer Misuse Act and the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act in September last year.
The Jackson estate sold the rights to his back catalogue to Sony Music nine months after his death. The $250 million deal was the biggest in music recording history, giving the record label the rights to sell the pop legend’s entire back catalogue as well as unreleased tracks.