Feds Pursuing Prison Term For Man Who Uploaded Guns N' Roses Songs

Wired:

Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles are pursuing a 6-month prison term for a Los Angeles man who pleaded guilty in December to one misdemeanor count of uploading pre-release Guns N' Roses tracks, according to court documents.

Kevin Cogill was arrested last summer at gunpoint and charged with uploading nine tracks of the Chinese Democracy album to his music site -- antiquiet.com. The album, which cost millions and took 17 years to complete, was released November 23 and reached No. 3 in the charts.

Read the whole story: Wired

Comments

[duncansdad]

Our country is just ridiculous sometimes. ou can ruin the economy of the world and receive millions in bonuses from the TAXPAYERS but download some crappy album by a bunch of losers and you WILL go to jail.

[Ping]

It's one thing to post material that is no longer available commercially or to post material that is so ubiquitous that it has no economic impact on the artist. There is a clear distinction between sharing and stealing.

It probably hurt Guns and Roses more because the material was crap and pre releasing the material probably brought sales down from 10,000 to 5,000. Ouch. If it had been a hit, pre releasing would have built up interest and created a greater demand for the material once it was released.

[IndieBlue]

Are you kidding me? GNR should be paying this kid for promoting the album. He's probably done more to create interest in Chinese Democracy than Axl has.

[karen1p]

We are letting these crooks on Wall Street continue to walk the streets, but these people who smoke pot, and download music....well, they have got to be collared.....that's a big FFFFF......UUUUUU!!!!!

[KarateKid]

I wouldn't download their "stuff" even if there were torrents available.

[Ping]

Stealing. He was stealing. Pre release tracks available on a dot com site.

[IndieBlue]

Actually, he was posting, an action which may or may not be illegal, per Atlantic v.s. Howell.

[Ping]

So he was giving away for free after he stole it. Even worse.

He was getting economic benefit because the hits on his web site probably increased after he posted, and he screwed the artist because it was previously unreleased material. his actions are completely reprehensible.

[spiderbucket]

UNREAL. This is what we want to prosecute instead of the people who have destroyed our economy and dragged us into war for financial gain ?????

[Eoin45]

It is not a matter of prosecuting "instead of". Suppose the guy had stolen your CD collection for example. Would you still be making the argument that we should forget about prosecuting him because there are other more important crimes. H**l no.

[PlayTOE]

Guns N Roses fans should be willing to pay for what they get. If they are not, then it isn't really worth it for the band to work on new songs. Of course, you can tape songs off the radio ... but it is still a copyright violation.

He knew what he was doing, and did not care. He knew the penalties. Guilty.

[IndieBlue]

A couple of things:

First of all, I'm not quite sure you quite understand the behavior (as promoted by the band itself) that defines a Guns N Roses fan. I'm sure they are quite shocked that Axl has gone all James Hetfield on this guy.

Second, it is not illegal to tape songs off the radio.

Third, he may not have known what he was doing was illegal, as the judge in the precedent-setting case, Atlantic v. Howell, said that merely making a copyrighted work available for downloading wasn't infringement. But the judge also held that the RIAA's own investigators can effectively turn it into an infringement just by downloading a copy from the share folder involved.

Fourth, he could not have known the penalties as they are completely arbitrary. Indeed, the formula used to compute not only the supposed monetary damages, but also the prison term seems somewhat disingenuous.

[Cogs]

Imagine the reaction this guy will get from his fellow inmates when they ask him, "What are in for?"

[discourse jockey]

I wouldn't waste *bandwidth* to download that album.

[Yamunation]

I understand that compared to the Wall Street thugs, this seems minor, but all the comments acting as if this guy shouldn't be punished? Because Wall Street crime results in larger losses means this guy shouldn't be prosecuted? Come on. These are two completely different crimes, and should be treated differently. It's like saying because Madoff did what he did, some guy who mugged an old lady and stole her purse should get off scot-free. They have nothing to do with each other!

All crimes should be punished, to varying yet appropriate degrees.

[oregonbird]

Two teenagers received 20 years in prison for breaking into a lingerie store, fooling around, and leaving with less than $100 of merchandise. The Alaskan senator convicted on seven federal counts -- will not be serving a single day.

Now. Tell me about varying yet appropriate punishment. I'm up for fairy tales.

[Eoin45]

Yes, there are inequalities in punishment and that certainly should be addressed but the essence of Yamunation's post is still correct. How about something more than one example of anecdotal evidence to back up your statement?

[Zenith1959]

I listened to the album on GNR's myspace, but I wonder, where did this guy get the songs to upload?

[Jenababy]

Once again our government goes after the small fish in the big ocean. They need to be focusing on the sharks on Wall Street, with as much vigor.

[Indie2008]

Could he have just plead insanity?

[MissingAmerica]

Wall Street white-collar criminals are free to live in their mansions and fly their corporate jets to the harbor where they base their yachts, but the feds want prison for a man who uploads an album that has clearly not suffered from said uploading? It is truly a civilization gone mad!

[SamKnause]

Apparently it has because that is the same thing I was thinking. Law applies to the little man and woman but not the rich. Our country has been bankrupted by criminals. Why aren't the jails full of them instead of little people who have done next to nothing. This really sucks!!!!

[Gidster]

Our last President tried to find ways to legally bypass the Bill of Rights, and to wage war against Americans...

And this is who they are pursuing to the full extent of law?

[pbfishtaco]

It's how plutocracies work.