Twenty-seven-year-old Kevin Cogill was arrested by FBI agents at his home Wednesday and charged with violating federal copyright laws. He is accused of releasing several Guns N' Roses songs from their album Chinese Democracy before the album's commercial release.
After Cogill's arrest, his colleagues wrote about how Cogill was arrested in his pajamas before 7 a.m. and how government agents recommended bail be set at $50,000. Cogill was released on a signature bond of $10,000 after the judge said he thought Cogill should have received a summons instead of being arrested at his home.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 17, and Cogill's arraignment is scheduled for Sept. 22 in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.
The FBI investigation has been reported in Rolling Stone, Time magazine, and The Los Angeles Times.
Debate on Cogill's own blog shows followers split between those who believe the government overreacted and those who believe Cogill and others like him are to blame for the music industry's falling revenue.
Stay connected and informed by visiting our Enterprise IT Community!

Become a member today for instant access to free InformationWeek research, expert advice, peer perspectives, and more on the following topics:
- Application Performance Management (APM)
- Security Management
- Mainframe 2.0
- IT Automation
- Service Assurance
Also, visit our Government, Retail and Financial Services groups to see how these technologies apply specifically to those industries.
NOTE: Offer valid for U.S., U.S. possessions, & Canada only.