A hacker who stole two unreleased Ed Sheeran songs and sold them on the dark web has been hit with an 18-month prison sentence.
Adrian Kwiatkowski, 23, sold the two Sheeran tracks along with 12 songs by rapper Lil Uzi Vert for the equivalent of A$233,250 in cryptocurrency.
These tracks were just the tip of the iceberg. When City of London police searched Kwiatkowski’s laptop, they uncovered 565 audio files. A further seven laptops and hard drives, featuring 1,263 unreleased songs by 89 artists, were seized.
The Ipswich man (pictured above) pled guilty to 19 charges: three charges of unauthorised access to computer material, 14 charges of selling copyrighted material, one charge of converting criminal property, and two charges of possession of criminal property.
In 2019, the New York District Attorney started investigating someone named ‘Spirdark’, who hacked a number of artist and label accounts and stole unreleased music, which was now being sold on the dark web.
Spirdark’s cryptocurrency account and Kwiatkowski home address were both linked by an IP account, leading to the arrest.
“He selfishly stole their music to make money for himself by selling it on the dark web,” Chief crown prosecutor Joanne Jakymec said, noting Kwiatkowski’s “complete disregard” for the artists.
“Not only did he cause several artists and their production companies significant financial harm, he deprived them of the ability to release their own work,” Detective Constable Daryl Fryatt added.