AfterDawn: News

Guns N' Roses pirate pleads not guilty

On August 26th, 27-year-old Kevin Cogill was arrested on suspicion of violating federal copyright laws. FBI agents say Coghill had nine unreleased Guns N' Roses songs on his site in June.

The blogger allegedly had been streaming songs from the still unreleased new Guns N' Roses album "Chinese Democracy" on his site for some time.



Coghill, despite admitting twice in writing to the FBI that he was guilty, pleaded not guilty in court today. He faces up to three years in federal prison if convicted of copyright infringement and up to five years if the court believes he posted the songs for commercial gain.

The defendant was originally given a public defender attorney but has now retained his own lawyer and is fighting the charges.

The FBI reported that in June, Coghill admitted to the crime and signed it in writing, confessing that he uploaded the songs but then took them down because the traffic took down the servers running his site.

Guns N' Roses added that they do not condone Coghill's actions, but that their real "interest is in the original source" of the material.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 21 Oct 2008 15:33

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• 13 comments

• windsong

  "Coghill, despite admitting twice in writing to the FBI that he was guilty, pleaded not guilty in court today."
  
  That is what the Feds call a "knock and talk". They do the same for child porn downloaders. They get you to start gabbing in an attempt to get out of being arrested (while your confessing, the arrest warrant is in the Fed officer's back pocket). They tell you "it will be easier for you if you write out an apology (also considered a confession letter). Apologies can only hurt you in court. Juries ALWAYS convict on apology letters.
  
  You dont talk to the police without a lawyer, and certainly NEVER without asking first if youre being arrested. The cops exist only for the cops. They dont care if youre guilty or innocent.

  21.10.2008 16:01 #1

• slickwill

  ^
  Yeah, I agree with you 100 percent. They also call interrogations "interviews".....LOL...totally takes out the negative connotation associated with word interrogation.
  
  This guy was probably under a lot of pressure and forgot his 5th Amendment right.

  21.10.2008 18:01 #2

• ugc

  after this:
  "despite admitting twice in writing to the FBI that he was guilty"
  
  what are the odds of him not going to jail? Kinda of stupid on his part for saying he is guilty, then changing his mind.

  22.10.2008 10:36 #3

• TSRSteve

  Here is a video of a cop and a law professor that explains why you should never speak to police. Although it would be hard not to under that amount of pressure. I guess people always feel compelled to defend themselves when they're questioned.
  
  
  Law professor and cop agree: never ever ever ever ever ever ever talk to the cops about a crime, even if you're innocent.

  22.10.2008 10:43 #4

• rlessmue

  Quote:Guns N' Roses added that they do not condone Coghill's actions, but that their real "interest is in the original source" of the material. LOL...they have a "leak" in their organization!
  Cheers!

  22.10.2008 12:30 #5

• slickwill

  Originally posted by TSRSteve: Here is a video of a cop and a law professor that explains why you should never speak to police. Although it would be hard not to under that amount of pressure. I guess people always feel compelled to defend themselves when they're questioned.
  
  
  Law professor and cop agree: never ever ever ever ever ever ever talk to the cops about a crime, even if you're innocent.Thanks for posting that video. I had watched it before, but watched it again as a refresher.

  22.10.2008 19:21 #6

• 1Adonis4u

  Thanks for posting that video; it is awesome!

  23.10.2008 10:50 #7

• Azuran

  Originally posted by TSRSteve: Here is a video of a cop and a law professor that explains why you should never speak to police. Although it would be hard not to under that amount of pressure. I guess people always feel compelled to defend themselves when they're questioned.
  
  
  Law professor and cop agree: never ever ever ever ever ever ever talk to the cops about a crime, even if you're innocent.Yea I have that bookmarked. Awesome lecture. I really like the stuff on the fifth amendment.

  23.10.2008 17:25 #8

• windsong

  Also remember that when/if you are ever in that room with the police and have already stated you will remain silent...they will lie to you and tell you that you're already guilty/we're just trying to save you thousands in legal fees/doesn't matter if you go limp and silent/yada yada. Don't fall for it. Cops lie all of the time and its technically not illegal to do so..they have quotas to meet. The more arrests/prosecutions they get, the more funding they receive as well as making themselves look good to the public.
  
  Seems their lying backfired with this guy:
  http://www.firefightingnews.com/article-US.cfm?articleID=55158
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRIY_Q-HlG4

  23.10.2008 18:01 #9

• iluvendo

  Originally posted by TSRSteve: Here is a video of a cop and a law professor that explains why you should never speak to police. Although it would be hard not to under that amount of pressure. I guess people always feel compelled to defend themselves when they're questioned.
  
  
  Law professor and cop agree: never ever ever ever ever ever ever talk to the cops about a crime, even if you're innocent.
  Watched it. Incredible. Thank God for the Fifth Amendment
  

  "The flimsier the product,the higher the price"
  Ferengi 82nd rule of aqusition
  
  

  23.10.2008 19:04 #10

• Leningrad

  What a dumn human being, if he wrote that he is guilty who with a intelligent mind would plead innocent after that? That is a suicide for a few more years in prison.

  24.10.2008 19:49 #11

• scorpNZ

  Depends if it was under duress & can be proven after all we don't know if there was a bargain "plead guilty & sign confession for a get out of jail free card"

  31.10.2008 13:36 #12

• heraldsun

  Originally posted by windsong: "Coghill, despite admitting twice in writing to the FBI that he was guilty, pleaded not guilty in court today."
  
  That is what the Feds call a "knock and talk". They do the same for child porn downloaders. They get you to start gabbing in an attempt to get out of being arrested (while your confessing, the arrest warrant is in the Fed officer's back pocket). They tell you "it will be easier for you if you write out an apology (also considered a confession letter). Apologies can only hurt you in court. Juries ALWAYS convict on apology letters.
  
  You dont talk to the police without a lawyer, and certainly NEVER without asking first if youre being arrested. The cops exist only for the cops. They dont care if youre guilty or innocent.He may have a master plan up his sleeve :)

  31.10.2008 15:50 #13