As reported earlier (TMT News), Kevin Cogill, a.k.a. "Skweri," leaked nine songs from Guns N' Roses ' long-awaited new album/Dr. Pepper promotional vehicle/braid-dreadlock awareness doctrine Chinese Democracy on his blog back in June. And yesterday, August 27, more than two months later, Cogill The Leaker was arrested by FBI agents and accused of violating federal copyright law.
Cogill's been cooperating, apparently, but he still faces the possibility of three years in federal prison and $250,000 in fines. In addition to these criminal penalties, Cogill might get slapped with a civil suit filed by the "copyright holders" (Axl, his management, and his label).
I can only assume that the opportunistic glints in the eyes of Axl Rose and his people are eerily similar to that of Cogill when he came across the GNR MP3s for the first time. If only Cogill had taken the advice Axl himself dispensed in the band's 1987 hit Welcome to the Jungle:
And you're a very sexy girlThat's very hard to please
You can taste the bright lights
But you won't get them for free
Meanwhile, rumor has it that Chinese Democracy will be released as a retail exclusive, either through Wal-Mart or Best Buy. Rumor also has it that it'll come out November 25 to coincide with the rain expected around that time
