Red Hot Chili Peppers blast album leak

Red Hot Chili Peppers have blasted web pirates who leaked their new album onto the internet.Bass player Michael 'Flea' Balzary also slammed fans that have downloaded the album before it is released in shops.He said: "For people to just steal a poor sound quality version of it for free because some a**hole stole it and put it on the internet is sad to me."In an open letter, Balzary said the band had spent "sleepless nights and many hardworking days" trying to make the album their best yet.He added: "I cannot put into words how much this record, 'Stadium Arcadium,' means to us, how sacred the sound of it is to us."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 band's spokeswoman admitted she has no idea how the album was leaked but vowed to track down the offender.

If the person responsible for the leak is caught, they could face up to 11 years in jail.