Blogger gets house arrest for Guns n Roses songs

Back in August of 2008 I wrote about how the FBI overreacted to the temporary actions of a blogger. The blogger, Kevin Cogill, posted 9 tracks of the Guns n’ Roses Chinese Democracy album on his blog, Antiquiet. He also removed the tracks. All of this long before the album went on sale later that year.

In that post I stated.

“…Since when does the FBI bother with a copyright issue? Isn’t this normally an issue that lawyers resolve with a stroke of a pen, threatening a lawsuit if the material is not removed (which it was)?

This is overkill, and a problem for bloggers of all sizes. If ABC News, or MTV, the news media, or Sirius Radio played the songs before release (which radio stations have long done) there would never be FBI closing down those companies. The DJ responsible would never be yanked of the air until they can make bail. They would never have to face criminal charges in court.”

But arrested he was. By a fully armed team of FBI agents armed to the teeth at dawn. You would have thought Cogill was an international criminal the likes of a terrorist. But he is nothing of the kind.

Cogill lost his job. He was incarcerated. He plead guilty to a misdemeanor. And the prosecution was still not satisfied. On behalf of the RIAA, the prosecution sought to have Cogill jailed. Thankfully the judge did not agree.

Cogill was sentenced and will have 2 months house arrest. The Government will have access to his computer, and he has to make a PSA for the RIAA against copyright infringement. All in all, more than what was deserved for what he did.

I realize that the law was broken. I understand that punishment was due, in some form, considering all the manpower that was used to make him a scapegoat. But none of this was necessary.

A simple request from the record companies near-limitless horde of lawyers could have ensured compliance. It is a fact that he had already removed the information by the time the FBI got involved. But instead a statement was made that day.

“…Arrests because you used a public photo (with credit to its source) of a politician in a negative post? Possession of a podcast or post on a laptop or cell phone means federal charges for distribution or receiving stolen goods? And how long is it before a blogger just gets arrested because they wrote something someone else did not like.”

I have never agreed with the manner or the reasoning why the FBI ruined the life of Cogill. I still don’t now that he has been sentenced. And I still believe that all bloggers should keep an eye out for actions like this one. Especially with the current government in power.

At least the album was decent. The least of positive news, but the only real positive in this story.