‘Chinese Democracy’ Leaker Pleads Not Guilty

Swoon’s Untitled (2008).

Kevin Cogill, the blogger who bravely and selflessly posted nine tracks from Chinese Democracy on his Website in June — back when we all still assumed the thing would never actually come out — pleaded not guilty today in an L.A. federal court. Apparently for Cogill to get the maximum five-year sentence he’s facing, the jury must find that he leaked the tracks for profit (which seems unlikely), instead of just for simple rocking (which will put him away for only three years). It is our firm position that it would be lame to toss him in the clink for sharing not a long-lost musical artifact but just some crap you’ll be able to get at Best Buy in a month. [Reuters]

‘Chinese Democracy’ Leaker Pleads Not Guilty