Michael Jackson Hackers Sentenced

Last winter, news broke that Sony’s music archive had been attacked by internet hackers, and more than 5,000 songs — including unreleased Michael Jackson tracks from Bad, Thriller, Off the Wall, as well as his duet song with Freddie Mercury and Will.i.am — had been stolen.

Some time later, in May 2011, two people were arrested in connection with this matter. Sony experts found their trail in the UK through the digital traces the hackers left behind, and as a result, the two suspects were detained.

Three days ago, a court in the UK sentenced these two hackers to 100 hours of free community service as punishment.

Twenty-seven-year-old James Marks and 26-year-old James McCormick hacked Sony’s archive using their home computers in order to steal Michael Jackson’s songs. The two downloaded nearly eight thousand files, including songs, designs, artwork, and videos from Sony servers, related to Michael Jackson and/or other artists of the company.

Sony has not disclosed the details of the stolen files, which have now been fully recovered, but it is clear that this theft could have cost Sony a great deal. In exchange for releasing Michael’s unheard songs and other works, the company signed the biggest contract in music history with his foundation for $250 million.

The information obtained from virtual conversations between the two thieves shows that they had planned to sell the King of Pop’s songs illegally. At first, they claimed they were innocent and said they would never take steps to destroy Michael Jackson’s legacy and his music. But it wasn’t long before they admitted their guilt.

Source: eMJey.com / AP