Hakker was in possession of 1263 unreleased songs from various artists.
On the hacker’s hard drive was found e.g. Unreleased music by Ed Sheeran. PDO
A hacker who stole unreleased songs from well-known artists has been sentenced to 18 months in prison, BBC news. Captive Adrian Kwiatkowski had traded the pieces he stole, earning cryptocurrency. There was, for example, by Ed Sheeran and By Lil Uzi Vert songs.
A 23-year-old English hacker had been able to break into artists’ accounts and thereby gain access to music. 565 audio files were found on one of the man’s computers.
According to the police, the hacker had earned cryptocurrency worth 131,000 pounds, or about 151,000 euros, with the music he stole. The man pleaded guilty to 19 offences, including copyright infringement and possession of criminal material.
An investigation into the case began in the United States already in 2019. The managers of several artists had informed the New York district attorney that a person who went by the name Spirdark had infiltrated several accounts and sold the content they had.
The Spirdark moniker was connected to Kwiatkowski in the investigation, after which the case was transferred to the London police and the man was arrested in September 2019. According to the police, seven devices were confiscated from the man, which included a hard drive containing 1263 unreleased songs from 89 artists.
Criminal investigator Daryl Fryatt commented on the case, mentioning that Kwiatkowski was a very skilled hacker who unfortunately channeled his skills into criminal activity.
“He not only caused a number of artists and their production companies significant financial damage, but deprived them of the opportunity to publish their own works,” Fryatt said.