Michael Jackson Hackers Escape Jail Time, Serve Community

The two British hackers who allegedly stole Michael Jackson`s music after breaking into Sony`s servers got away without prison time but were sentenced to complete 100 hours of community service, according to The Guardian.

27-year old James Marks and 26 year-old James McCormick confessed they were big fans of Michael Jackson, which made them search for evidence that his posthumous songs weren’t interpreted by an impersonator. In the cyber-attack they managed to download hundreds of files from other singers too.

“Mixed emotions,” Marks said about the end of the court battle on his Twitter account. “I’m grateful to the Judge for being lenient and fully accept I accessed the server, & apologize to Sony.” He also suggested “one day people will know more.” “There`s a lot more, I just need to find the correct, legal and respectful output.”

The hacker maintains that he downloaded 300 illicit files. “Please don`t believe the press, or SOCA. 7900 files… wasn’t it 49,000 last year? It`s more like 300 files. They added files from elsewhere,” Marks said.

Marks and McCormick initially pleaded guilty to computer misuse and copyright offenses. The six-month sentences were suspended for a year and replaced with community service. The two men managed to hack into Sony`s US servers from their home computers.

The entertainment giant has a $250 million deal signed for seven years to sell the unreleased recordings of Michael Jackson, who died in 2009.