© Michael Jackson / AP
Hackers sentenced for Michael Jackson music theft
Jan. 11, 2013, 2:17 PM EST
LONDON (AP) -- Two U.K. hackers have been sentenced to 100 hours of community
service for the theft of unreleased Michael Jackson tracks from Sony Music
Entertainment.
Bing: Jackson estate settles with 'Thriller'
star
Officials say that music aficionados James Marks and James McCormick used
their home computers to break into Sony's U.S. servers and scour them for
Jackson-related material. Britain's Serious and Organized Crime Agency says the
pair downloaded nearly 8,000 files, including completed or partial tracks,
artwork and videos.
Marks, 27, and McCormick, 26, were arrested in May 2011 after Sony
alerted U.K. law enforcement to the breach. Chat logs recovered from their
computers showed that they planned to sell or trade some of the files.
They were handed suspended sentences and ordered to do community service at
central England's Leicester Crown Court on Friday.
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