Hackers Release Two U2 Songs on Internet

AP (1996-11-18)

LONDON (AP) – Hackers have distributed two unreleased U2 songs on the Internet, possibly after tapping into computers at the Irish rock group’s recording studio, the Sunday Times said.

The songs, “Discotheque” and “Wake Up Dead Man,” have appeared on Internet sites in at least four countries, the newspaper said. The songs are to appear on an album scheduled for release in the spring.

Since their illicit appearance on the Internet, the songs have also been copied onto compact discs, the Times said. The bootleg CDs are going for $10 at street markets in Ireland and Britain.

“It is an infringement of our copyright,” Marc Marot, managing director of Island Records, told the Times.

Island Records did not immediately return calls for comment Sunday. The Sunday Times said the record company is trying to shut down the Internet sites.

Conventional, low-tech theft of the songs has been ruled out the newspaper said.

Band managers are investigating the possibility that hackers tapped into computers at U2’s Dublin studio, it said. They may have gained access through cables that have been feeding images of the band’s recording sessions to an Internet site maintained by island Records.

Since 1981, U2 has sold 70 million records and grossed more than $1.5 billion.

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