Blogger sentenced for leaking Guns N' Roses album

LONDON - A blogger who leaked the long awaited Guns N' Roses album 'Chinese Democracy' online before its official release date has been sentenced to two months home confinement and a year of probation.

Blogger Kevin Cogill will also be required to appear in an anti-piracy television commercial under the terms of his plea agreement, which is expected to air during the music industry's Grammy Awards next January.

Cogill pled guilty last year to violating federal copyright laws after uploading nine tracks from 'Chinese Democracy' five months before the CD came out.

Federal prosecutors were pushing for Cogill to receive jail-time, to send a message to other copyright violators, but the blogger was able to avoid the maximum sentence, which would have included a year in prison, a $100,000 fine and five years' probation.

Cogill, who lost his job because of the case, cooperated with investigators to track down the original source of the leak, effectively reducing his penalty.

'Chinese Democracy', the album 17 years in the making, has been regarded as a disappointing seller, even though it has received platinum status, selling more than 500,000 copies in the US and 2.6m worldwide.

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