Guns N' Roses blogger dodges time in slammer

A Los Angeles man who pleaded guilty to illegally uploading nine Gun N' Roses songs onto his music site has dodged jail time.

Earlier this week a federal judge sentenced Kevin Cogill to a year's probation. He will also serve two month's confinement, have his computer activity monitored by the government, and record a public service announcement for the Recording Industry Association of America.

Prosecutors in the case had hoped to see the man thrown in the slammer for six months for leaking part of G N'R's latest album, Chinese Democracy, to the interwebs prior to its release last year.

Cogill was arrested last summer after posting tracks on 18 June from the album to the Antiquiet website. He saw the copyright violation charge against him reduced from a felony to a misdemeanour after he admitted to streaming the pre-release tunes. ®