Is Slash the New Lars Ulrich?
From Rolling Stone's Rock&Roll Daily blog comes word that a judge condemmed Kevin Cogill's arrest as "excessive":
In his hearing this week, a judge questioned the necessity of arresting Guns N' Roses leaker Kevin Cogill, calling it unnecessary. The man who posted nine songs from the previously unheard sessions for the forever-in-production Chinese Democracy was shown some leniency by the court as the presiding judge felt the proposed $50,000 bail was excessive and noted that a court summons would have been sufficient. Instead, as Cogill's girlfriend Shana told Rolling Stone, "They put him in handcuffs. They let me get him a shirt, and shoes without any laces before they took him away." Cogill has a preliminary hearing scheduled for September 17, and if he's found guilty of violating federal copyright law, he faces up to five years in prison.
It must be difficult for rockstars to act indignant over these kinds of incidents while simultaneously subverting culture—either they suffer some internal angst over blurring the line between suits and rebels, or they're experts at compartmentalizing their artistic credos and business interests. Slash seems to have no such qualms about bitching over leaked tracks, and went so far as to hate on Cogill to the L.A. Times, officially surpassing Lars Ulrich of Metallica for the title of Biggest Copyright Douchebag:
"I hope he rots in jail…It's going to affect the sales of the record, and it's not fair. The Internet is what it is, and you have to deal with it accordingly, but I think if someone goes and steals something, it's theft."
Question for the commenters: We're all gonna want a piece of C.D. when it comes out. Any thoughts on whether or not your average GN'R fan will pay for it?