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G N' R blogger pleads guilty to copyright violation

Sitting in a Chinese stew

An American blogger faces up to a year in prison after pleading guilty to illegally uploading nine Guns N’ Roses songs onto his music site.

Kevin Cogill, 28, from Los Angeles, pleaded guilty to a copyright violation, according to assistant US attorney Craig Missakian, reports Reuters.

He had been accused by the Feds of posting tracks on 18 June from G N’ R’s first studio album for 15 years, Chinese Democracy, which was finally released late last month.

The charge against Cogill was reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor after Cogill admitted to streaming the tunes on his music site, Antiquiet, in August this year following his arrest.

"I think the internet affords a level of anonymity to people that lulls them into believing that what they are doing is either not criminal or beyond the reach of the law," said Missakian. "But that's certainly not the case."

Cogill, currently out on bail, faces up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine. He will be sentenced in March.

It is still not clear who leaked the tracks to Cogill, but Missakian told Reuters that the FBI’s investigation continues. ®

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