Adi Lederman, an Israeli who hacked the personal computer of Madonna’s manager and sold demos for songs from an as-yet unreleased album was sentenced to 14 months in prison, and a NIS 15,000 ($4,000) fine.
Lederman admitted that from the beginning of 2014 to his arrest in February this year he hacked the computer of Kevin Anthony, Madonna’s musical manager, as well as several other computers. Lederman pulled files for song demos for the album “Rebel Heart,” and parts of Madonna’s meeting schedule.
Lederman’s attorney, Efrat Nahmani-Bar, said Lederman is “an over-zealous fan who went a bit too far” and maintained that he did not cause any harm and did not breach Madonna’s privacy.
Lederman confessed to hacking the computer, to breaching Madonna’s privacy and to copyright theft.
Tel Aviv Magistrate Court Judge Tzachi Uziel wrote in his ruling that “the ease in committing such offenses for those who have the necessary skills, like the defendant, and the difficulty in exposing the offenses and the offender, necessitate an appropriate penalty which sends a deterrent, uncompromising message.”
He mentioned Lederman’s confession and lack of criminal history as mitigating circumstances.
Madonna. (screen capture: Madonna, Instagram)
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
From the Liveblog of
Thursday, July 9, 2015
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
