US rock band The Red Hot Chili Peppers have hit out at a music "pirate" who leaked their new album, Stadium Arcadium, onto the internet.

 

Bass player Michael "Flea" Balzary said the group would be heartbroken if fans downloaded it illegally before its official release. Stadium Arcadium, the band's first studio album in four years, is due to go on sale next week. A spokeswoman for the band said she did not know who leaked the album.

 

In a letter on the band's website, Flea wrote: "For people to just steal a poor sound quality version of it for free because some asshole stole it and put it on the internet is sad to me. I cannot put in words how much this record means to us, how sacred the sound of it is to us, and how many sleepless nights and hardworking days we all had thinking about how to make it be the best sounding thing we could. Now for someone to take it and put it out there with this poor sound quality it is a painful pill for us to swallow."

 

The Rolling Stones, Coldplay, Radiohead, Oasis and U2 are among the other stars who have fallen victim to internet leaks. Falling CD sales have been blamed on piracy but an industry campaign to prosecute illegal uploaders has struggled to contain the problem.

 

In the US, people who pirate music and films before their official release date face up to 11 years in prison under the 2005 Family Entertainment and Copyright Act.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4972790.stm

Who can blame them for being upset.