Pair 'hacked stars computers to steal tunes'

Published on Friday 3 December 2010 15:19

Two German computer hackers allegedly stole pop songs from Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, Ke$ha and Kelly Clarkson, selling them online and forcing the advanced release of several singles.

An 18-year-old high school student from Duisburg and his alleged accomplice, a 23-year-old unemployed man from Wesel, are under investigation for using a "Trojan horse" program to hack into the artists' computers for a year before being discovered.

They earned more than ?€10,000 (8,500) in illegal sales of tracks acquired from the stars' computers.

Both men live with their parents in the two cities, which are about 20 miles apart.

Reached at his home the 18-year-old, an amateur disc jockey known as "DJ Stolen" whose name has been reported as Deniz A, said he had been out of touch with his alleged accomplice, Christian M.

"I haven't heard from him for a while," he said.

According to local media reports, the two had attached the program to an MP3 file that was then sent to the official addresses of the stars, their managers and their record companies.

Bild newspaper quoted Deniz A, who is a German citiizen of Turkish origin, as saying he meant no harm.

"I'm a fan and I just wanted to have cool music," he was quoted as saying. "I'm no blackmailer."

Police were informed of the hacking after a fan of American star Kelly Clarkson alerted her management that unreleased songs by the singer were being offered for sale online without permission.