German hackers convicted of pirating unpublished pop songs using trojans

The 18-year-old man received an 18-month sentence at a young offender's institute, whilst the 32-year-old received an 18-month suspended sentence.

What separates the case from simple internet piracy cases is the methodology used, with the two men reported infecting the PC of a manager of several high profile artists, and then siphoning off the unpublished audio files on the public internet.

According to the AFP newswire, the pair earned more than 15,000 euros from the scam, which ran through 2009 and 2010.

"In addition, the 18-year-old downloaded explicit private photos from Kesha's computer and blackmailed her to give him an audio 'shout out' which he could use to boost his own status in the hacker scene", says the newswire.

AFP quotes a spokesperson as saying that the court took into account the addiction of the pair to the internet, adding that admitting their guilt had also helped.

"The 18-year-old, identified in the German press only as Deniz A., had sent a letter of apology to Lady Gaga in December that was published in the daily Bild", says the newswire.

"Dear Lady Gaga, I am ashamed of what I have done. I did not think about the consequences," he reportedly wrote.

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