A 19-year-old UK hacker has been arrested in on charges of stealing unreleased songs from major international music artists and selling them for cryptocurrency, according to AP.
The teen, who reportedly accessed musicians websites and cloud-based accounts illegally, was arrested Thursday in Ipswich, England. His name is being withheld due to the UK’s privacy laws. Though authorities have not made it clear which recording artists’ music was stolen, they reportedly began investigating after receiving complaints from a number of music management companies, reports the AP.
Detective Inspector Nick Court of the City of London Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit said in a statement:
“Today’s action marks a significant point in our investigation into the individuals responsible for stealing music and selling it on illegal streaming websites, worldwide. This sort of crime causes significant financial loss to those who work so incredibly hard to produce, write and make music for their fans to love and enjoy.”