Blackmail charges have been dropped against a pair of hackers accused of mounting an extortion scam against MySpace as part of a plea-bargaining agreement. Shaun Harrison, 19, and Saverio Mondelli, 20, of Suffolk County, New York, pleaded guilty to developing code that tracked MySpace users in exchange for an agreement by prosecution lawyers to drop charges that they attempted to extort $150,000 from MySpace.
An illegal access charge was also withdrawn as part of an agreement that saw the duo agree to three years" probation instead of facing charges punishable by up to four years" imprisonment. Harrison and Mondelli also agreed to pay $13,500 in damages to MySpace and to serve 160 hours of community service as part of the agreement, AP reports. The duo further agreed to limits on their use of the internet, such as restricting themselves to one email address each, in order to avoid possible imprisonment.