Updated: Michael Jackson's music back catalogue hacked
Updated: 2012-03-07
Michael Jackson's music back catalogue has been stolen by hackers, which have allegedely downloaded more than 50,000 music files, dailymail.com reported. The hack was discovered during routine monitoring of social networking sites, Michael Jackson fan sites and hacking forums.
Sony Music paid $250 million to the Estate of Michael Jackson for the catalogue, including unheard material from studio sessions when he recorded Off The Wall, Thriller and Bad. The contract allowed Sony to release ten Michael Jackson's album in seven years.
A source tells Britain's Sunday Times, "Everything Sony purchased from the Michael Jackson Estate was compromised. It caused them to check their systems and they found the breach. There was a degree of sophistication. Sony identified the weakness and plugged the gap."
Among the unreleased songs stolen are reported a duet with Freddie Mercury and Black Eyed Peas singer Will.i.am.
The attack was discovered by computer experts when they examined a 'fingerprint' allegedly left behind, weeks after hackers targeted Sony's PlayStation Network in April 2011, but was confirmed by a Sony Music representative last Saturday as there was no customer data involved.
The Serious Organised Crime division examined the case and the two men identified as hackers, James Marks, 26, from Daventry in Northamptonshire, and Jamie McCormick, 25, from Blackpool, appeared in court last week charged with offences under the computer Misuse Act, where denied all charges and were remanded on bail. They are ordered to stand trial in January 2013, guardian.co.uk reported.
Update
The two defendants are confident they can prove their innocence in court, their lawyer said Wednesday, AP reported.
Solicitor Karen Todner said James Marks and Jamie McCormick "are eager to point out to Michael Jackson's fans and family that they would never do anything to harm the legacy that is Michael Jackson's music."
"As Michael Jackson has said," she added, "'Lies run sprints but the truth runs marathons.'"
The two British men were arrested last year after Sony Music Entertainment noticed a breach of its systems.
The case is not believed to be linked to Anonymous or Lulz Security, loose-knit hackers' collectives, broadly sympathetic to the WikiLeaks' secret-spilling site, who have targeted government and corporate websites around the world.
Last year, hackers targeted Sony Playstation and Sony Online Entertainment networks, compromising personal information, email addresses and the security of millions of user accounts. At the time, Lulz Security claimed responsibility for the hack.
On Tuesday, the FBI announced that five alleged Lulz Security members had been arrested in the U.S., Britain and Ireland after one of the group's leading hackers turned informant.