British teenager held for ‘hacking unreleased music by top stars’ including Radiohead and Beyonce
A BRITISH teen has been held for allegedly hacking unreleased songs by US stars and selling them for cryptocurrency.
The 19-year-old was arrested at his family’s home on suspicion of breaking into cloud accounts.
Rap king Kanye West’s forthcoming new album Yandhi was leaked on YouTube at the end of July, containing nine demos and recordings.
US cops said they could not give details of victims due to Britain’s “strict privacy laws.”
However, City of London Police confirmed the hacker had allegedly accessed “world-famous recording artists’ websites and cloud-based accounts illegally.”
Manhattan’s District Attorney’s office initiated the probe after a complaint from the stars’ management. New York cops then identified the Ipswich teen.
UK police searched a property in North London and the family home.
Detective Inspector Nick Court said: “Today’s action marks a significant point.”
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In June this year hackers were said to have stolen unreleased music from Radiohead and demanded a £120,000 ransom.
Thom Yorke’s band revealed that instead of paying they would make the 18 hours of music available for £18.
Beyoncé also had ten old tracks and demos leaked on Spotify last year – fooling fans into thinking it was new.
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