Downloading case to have 23,000 defendants
May 11, 2011 by Katie Gatto 
Image credit: Chaaps
(PhysOrg.com) -- How many of you remember the film The Expendables? It was an action flick, featuring some of the biggest names in blowing things up, and soon it will be known as the film that has created the largest illegal-BitTorrent-downloading case in U.S. history.
A federal judge recently gave the U.S. Copyright Group the right to subpoena the records of Internet service providers in order to see who downloaded the movie illegally. So, while 23,000 is the current expected number of defendants that number may increase by leaps and bounds as more downloads are found.
When an ISP gets a subpoena they will generally tell the account holder that their subscriber information is being shared with the Copyright Group, pursuant to their investigations. So, if you are part of this suit, you will likely find out sooner rather than later. This is not the Copyright Groups only attempt to take legal action against bit torrents. One the whole, this group is taking legal action against roughly 140,000 BitTorrent downloaders, primarily for downloading B-movies and pornography.
Eventually, these kinds of suits will become a bigger revenue stream than the films sales themselves. Under the current U.S. copyright law damages of up to $150,000 per infringement can be obtained. For a film that only grossed $103,068,524 domestic, if this level of damages were paid, the dollar figure would well out pace film sales.
With subpoenas are expected to go out this week, one has to wonder if this is not a good time to not only forget about the bit torrenting, but also about feature films altogether. After all, if these users had wanted the film that badly, they could have bought it for roughly $20 or rented it for $6, and none of them chose to do so. That may speak to the quality of the film, as much as the ethics of the fans.
© 2010 PhysOrg.com
-
From lemons to lemonade: Reaction uses carbon dioxide to make carbon-based semiconductor,
32 comments
-
Thioridazine kills cancer stem cells in human while avoiding toxic side-effects of conventional cancer treatments,
3 comments
-
SpaceX private rocket blasts off for space station (Update),
42 comments
-
Climate scientists say they have solved riddle of rising sea,
31 comments
-
Research team claims to have found evidence Lake Cheko is impact crater for Tunguska Event,
18 comments
-
Need a rigid insulation material???
8 hours ago
-
magnets or EMF in car bumpers to protect from fender bender
May 26, 2012
-
length of wire in a coil of known dimensions?
May 25, 2012
-
India Engineering Powerhouse
May 25, 2012
-
electromagnet core dereference between hard and soft iron
May 25, 2012
-
Measuring water pressure in an open tank
May 24, 2012
- More from Physics Forums - General Engineering
More news stories
Browser wars flare in mobile space
The browser wars are heating up again, but this time the fight is for dominance of the mobile Internet.
1 hour ago |
not rated yet |
0
SpotterRF debuts Radar Backpack Kit (w/ Video)
(Phys.org) -- SpotterRF has announced a special radar backpack kit designed to enhance situational awareness for soldiers on the ground. The company says its special radar is designed for warfighters as part ...
Technology / Hi Tech & Innovation
22 hours ago |
5 / 5 (5) |
12
|
Probability of contamination from severe nuclear reactor accidents is higher than expected: study
Catastrophic nuclear accidents such as the core meltdowns in Chernobyl and Fukushima are more likely to happen than previously assumed. Based on the operating hours of all civil nuclear reactors and the number ...
Technology / Energy & Green Tech
May 22, 2012 |
3.6 / 5 (21) |
56
|
HyperSolar shows dirty water no barrier to power world
(Phys.org) -- The Santa Barbara, California, company, HyperSolar, is set to transparently share the ups and downs of its research experiences toward the company’s ultimate vision, successfully producing ...
Technology / Energy & Green Tech
May 24, 2012 |
4.8 / 5 (15) |
17
|
Tesla to launch electric sedan in US on June 22
Tesla Motors said Tuesday it would begin deliveries of "the world's first premium electric sedan" on June 22, slightly ahead of schedule.
Technology / Energy & Green Tech
May 22, 2012 |
4.5 / 5 (11) |
18
Nvidia trumpets Tegra 3 phone design wins for 2012
(Phys.org) -- Nvidia’s competitive war paint has a name, Tegra 3. On the heels of Nvidia announcements about lowering costs of its Tegra 3 processors and Nvidia-enabled tablets running Android Ice Cream ...
Scientist: Evolution debate will soon be history
(AP) -- Richard Leakey predicts skepticism over evolution will soon be history. Not that the avowed atheist has any doubts himself.
Dell tablet leak: 10.1-inch display, two-battery choice
(Phys.org) -- Headline after headline talks about vendors’ tablets in the wings as likely number-one contenders for the iPad. Such claims have justifiably been taken with a grain of salt, considering ...
SpaceX capsule has 'new car' smell, astronauts say (Update)
SpaceX's Dragon cargo vessel smells like a new car, said astronauts at the International Space Station after opening the hatches Saturday following the spacecraft's landmark mission to the orbiting lab.
Thousands of shellfish found dead in Peru
Thousands of crustaceans were found dead off the coast of Lima following the mystery mass death of dolphins and pelicans, the Peruvian Navy said Friday.
Australia hails surprise super-telescope decision
Australia has hailed a surprise decision giving it a role in a radio telescope project aimed at revolutionising astronomy, vowing to draw on its decades of experience in space science.
May 11, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (15)
May 11, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (16)
May 11, 2011
Rank: 4.9 / 5 (12)
May 11, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (3)
https://www.eff.o...nloaders
https://www.eff.o...t-trolls
May 11, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (6)
May 11, 2011
Rank: 3.8 / 5 (14)
America is a pathetic farce.
May 11, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (1)
A whole new spin on the prisoner's dilemma, hilarious though, going to jail for something so worthless as 1 pound. And don't tell me it's for the principle of the thing, at most the principle of the thing should offer is a pound for a pound, so a nice round 1 pound.
May 11, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (1)
May 11, 2011
Rank: not rated yet
May 11, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (5)
What is happening is classic entrapment where the "infraction" is facilitated by the very same money interests behind these prosecutions.
May 11, 2011
Rank: 3.7 / 5 (3)
May 11, 2011
Rank: 4.6 / 5 (7)
The original concept of copyright law WAS to benefit society, by protecting one's interest in art and innovation and the ability to profit off of it - thus encouraging people and companies to innovate and produce new art, music, and technology.
Obviously this concept went way off the rails back in the 40s and 50s, and has been getting crazier ever since.
Did you know for example, that all of charlie chaplain's work is STILL copyrighted by a troll of a company in New York that wanted to charge a little british girl thousands of dollars per performance for a fund raiser, and additional thousands for her youtube video of a Charlie Chaplan song??
May 11, 2011
Rank: 4.3 / 5 (3)
*subject to some limitations
May 11, 2011
Rank: 3.9 / 5 (8)
So copyright laws make a great deal of sense.
HOWEVER, there is clearly something indecent when a company encourages or allows thefts because its more profitable prosecuting people for that than selling that product. Given that its not that hard to develop schemes where content is encrypted, and people can download time limited copies, the onus should be on the content provider to prove they did all they could to prevent the theft. And the fines should be MUCH less.
May 11, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (4)
I think two things should happen.
1. Knowing that you can keep a copyright for 170 years now is not any incentive for innovation or creation. Having your copyright expire in 25 however would give more impetus to keep creating instead of suing everyone.
2. If you steal a CD from the store, they can't sue you for 150,000. The amount for downloading a song should be brought in line with theft, and sharing the song should be adjusted accordingly.
Why are the punishments for digital theft so much higher than for shoplifters? because that's essentially the level of criminality of these people at worst.
May 11, 2011
Rank: 4.7 / 5 (3)
May 11, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (2)
May 11, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (1)
I continue to feel the same way day after day of living here. We are at our ideal situation of a decent standard of living, and with most of the population barely scraping by. Gives the government the most money they can get, constant spending and a state where people are too busy getting by to deal with stupid sh!t the government wishes to impose on us.
May 12, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (2)
What kind of actor or musician wants to be part of a film or track that might later might be involved in one of these subpoenas? Who will want to go or buy films from the studio that made Expendables?
May 12, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (3)
May 12, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (1)
May 12, 2011
Rank: 3 / 5 (2)
Why? Because the ratio of albums with a majority of crap songs went from 1 in 8 to 3 in 4. Worse, even big name artists started cynically releasing albums with one big hit on them, the rest of the album - at best - filler.
Even now, if, say, I watch a movie on line, it's to give me an idea whether it's worth watching, never mind shelling out for.
Everyone welcomed Youtube as wonderful means of free self promotion - until cash billionaire Google bought it and naked greed kicked in, supposedly on behalf of inexperienced newcomers, but newcomers' main concern is getting noticed.
Researchers of all kinds've shown time and time again people who can afford it, pay - if they trust the artist.
This's all about stopping consumers investigating products for free in the forlorn belief it'll force them into gambling their purchases won't be crap.
This's about the collection agencies' cut.
May 12, 2011
Rank: not rated yet
I do like your sentiment, but I just cannot agree with you. I work with authors in my off time, and while the art is part of their motivation, the idea of getting paid is often what drives them to take something to completion.
A business would put much less effort into R&D if they knew that all they needed to do was copy someone elses hard work.
The extreme view is almost always wrong. copyright laws are in dire need of fixing and update, but that does not mean that they are completely useless.
If I write a novel, you should not be allowed to republish it six months after I write it and make all the money off it. If a company makes widget A that is twice as effective as all other widgets, they should get some time to recoup their investment. This makes sense, does it not?
May 12, 2011
Rank: not rated yet
Maybe. I'm not sure it's a right worth protecting. It comes at the cost of ever increasing invasive ness and monitoring.
Not really. They already have a first-mover advantage. If the invention concerns something non-trivial it will take serious time and effort to replicate, during which you have a de-facto monopoly and a chance to maintain and expand your lead. Removing patents gets rid of patent trolling like a patent on one-click shopping; it gets rid of biopiracy, like the patent on basmati rice; it gets rid of lengthy patent terms, which diminish the incentive to make further improvements.
E.g. James Watt used his separate condensor principle to hold back steam engines for ~30 years.
May 13, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (4)
Stealing a CD is even worse because you are stealing physical object someone payed to produce. Data however; has no scarcity.
-
What's more important to you? That these monsters who downloaded shitty porn and movies get their lives ruined or that your liberty is preserved at a minor or even imaginary expense to corporations?
May 15, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (1)
Copyrighting for movies is reasonable. If someone REALLY wants to see it they can cough up the $7 for a matinée or wait the 2 months for it to hit red box and rip it.
Now patenting something you never intend to produce... not that should be illegal. There should be an "out in 5(years) or you are out" policy.
May 15, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (1)
MC Lars had it right.
May 17, 2011
Rank: not rated yet
http://www.geek.c...2011027/
http://www.shirky...-models/