Over 40,000 John Doe Copyright Troll Cases Dismissed 52
Requiem18th writes "From the EFF site: Thousands of unnamed 'John Does' in P2P file sharing lawsuits filed in California, Washington DC, Texas, and West Virginia have been severed, effectively dismissing over 40,000 defendants. The plaintiffs in these cases must now re-file against almost all of the Does individually rather than suing them en masse."
Despite the dismissal, EFF has received reports that some Does are still receiving notices from their ISPs informing them that their identities are being sought in relation to these cases. If you get one, contact the EFF immediately.
Safe torrents? (Score:2, Insightful)
Can someone please tell me what kind of torrents are safe to download and what are not?
Re:Safe torrents? (Score:5, Informative)
Luckily earlier this month the case was dismissed for all 300 Does involved, so my ISP will thankfully not be releasing my information to the plaintiff's lawyer, John Steele... he is one of the "bad" kind of lawyers.
If you are named on one of these John Doe subpoenas, contact one of the lawyers on this list from the EFF [eff.org]. I contacted five different lawyers, one offered pro bono and another looked up my case in advance and sent me documents from the court showing it had been dismissed. Another lawyer referred me to the pro bono one, and another lawyer told me $180 an hour. I don't think the fifth lawyer replied. Overall, results were good.
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"Return to sender, Nobody with the name John Doe lives here."
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BUY your media?
Why yes, I do. I buy blanks to back up my torrent files.
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That's fine for 640x480 but what if you want high def? Un-DRMed high def media isn't for sale.
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Un-DRMed standard def media isn't for sale either, last I checked. It's just trivially easy to break DVD protection so it might as well be - although I think SlySoft has a BluRay product as well (back when I ripped my entire DVD collection, their AnyDVD offering made it almost too easy)
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Only terrorists and pedophiles download torrents.
... and Linux Users
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All torrents are safe to download. It's only when you upload the files that the torrents describe, that you become vulnerable.
Re:Safe torrents? (Score:4, Interesting)
Can someone please tell me what kind of torrents are safe to download and what are not?
Check the laws of your country? Or get a help from a lawyer friend if you are not sure?
I generally don't use stuff like bittorrent, unless the stuff is legal for me to upload. Because that's what you are doing when you "torrent" - you are uploading/distributing stuff.
In many countries there is a big difference between downloading and uploading or distribution.
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XLS? (Score:2, Insightful)
It's pretty ironic that the EFF website offers case information in an .xls file. Where's the ODF love??
Re:XLS? (Score:4, Insightful)
It seems pretty obvious to me. Why use a format that a clueless user coming to the site cannot open, if another format serves the same purpose? EFF needs all the support it can get. As much as I dislike closed formats, it's not going to benefit anyone to present information to the public in a way that many of them can't read it.
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Doesn't OpenOffice (and, I presume, LibreOffice, and KCalc, etc.) open xls files without problem? If they included non-working macros or something, I could see the problem. Otherwise...
you might want this. (Score:1)
ouch... (Score:2)
ok, grab the excel case list and look at the files claimed, they could shame some into paying....
really.
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and of the top two downloaded porn files?
#1 Teen Anal Nightmare 2
#2 Batman XXX: A Porn Parody
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#1 Teen Anal Nightmare 2
Wow. Sodomizing terrified teenagers is a popular fantasy, nowadays? Japan's contribution to the world is starting to show...
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#1 Teen Anal Nightmare 2
Wow. Sodomizing terrified teenagers is a popular fantasy, nowadays? Japan's contribution to the world is starting to show...
"I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description [hard-core pornography]; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it, and the motion picture involved in this case is not that." Justice Potter Stewart
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#3 Slashdot and CmdrTaco: A Porn Nightmare
I don't know... (Score:1)
I thought Teen Anal Nightmare 4 was much better. It was the first one they filmed of course (under its original title Starfish Whores), and then after they did 5 and 6, they went back to the beginning of the saga.
Spreadsheet html'ed (Score:1)
What's the penalty for trolling? (Score:2)
Please tell me they're paying more than just the filing costs for abusing the legal system.
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There is, it's just that it has to be pretty clear that the standard is pretty high, you don't get disbarred just for representing a client that's full of it or trying to utilize legal loopholes or overreaching. It has to be pretty substantial. I mean just look how long it took to get Jack Thompson disbarred.
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As far as taking them, or the company they
a step in the right direction (Score:2)
John Doe gets blamed for everything. (Score:2)
Obligatory (Score:5, Insightful)
I know times are hard, but please donate to the EFF. Even $5. They send you an awesome bumper sticker and/or t-shirt.
Again.... (Score:1, Interesting)
If people didn't pirate, things wouldn't be like this. Funny how it's all the RIAA and MPAA's fault, but people won't take responsibility for them taking something for free instead of paying for it.
"Now how about sanctions and damages for obviously corrupt and bogus litigation?"
How about people pay for stuff that isn't theirs to take? If you don't like the price of something, don't buy it, complain to the company about the price. Gives you no right to NOT pay for it, though.
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Your justifications don't work. I'll agree that it isn't theft, but that doesn't mean it isn't a crime.
OTOH, the MPAA & RIAA are so corrupt, and have so corrupted the laws and courts, that I really wouldn't care if you killed them. But please don't use that silly justification of "I was only moving bits around" ever again.
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If it was just about copyright infringement and not about control, why not just use the laws that exist instead of tacking on new stuff?
? How do you know people aren't being responsible, or that you aren't miscategorizing people [especially by assuming that opposing RIAA == supporting piracy, erroneous on many levels]?
How is it possibvle that trhis isn't a troll at worst, flamebait at best?