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Over 40,000 John Doe Copyright Troll Cases Dismissed

Posted by Roblimo on from the sometimes-the-good-guys-win dept.

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.

12 of 52 comments (clear)

  1. Safe torrents? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Can someone please tell me what kind of torrents are safe to download and what are not?

    1. Re:Safe torrents? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Also in Illinois! I got named as one of 300 John Does for a porn torrent I got from http://www.puretna.com/ a while ago. It's not the companies who are trying to go out of their way to chase alleged P2Pers, but rather the lawyers are making a business out of this and the lawyers are the ones who approach companies to do this.

      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. 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.

    2. Re:Safe torrents? by ThatsMyNick · · Score: 2

      If you looking to avoid fake files, I would say get from reputed Private Trackers (You might have to pay or get a referral to get into one though). But if you are looking to hide from MAFIAA, I would say use a VPN from some foreign country (one that has good privacy protection laws, and does not disclose your name without a warrant from a judge from the same country (and more obscure the country is the better)).

    3. Re:Safe torrents? by TheLink · · Score: 3, 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.

      --
    4. Re:Safe torrents? by Travelsonic · · Score: 2

      But of course first you need to define safe - safe with regards to legality or illegality, and/or likelihood of getting caught, or safe with regards to malware, etc? You gotta admit, "what is safe"? in of itself with nothing else is quite an ambiguous question.

      --
      If you believe in privacy, and believe you have "nothing to hide" at the same time, you're a goddammed idiot
  2. XLS? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It's pretty ironic that the EFF website offers case information in an .xls file. Where's the ODF love??

    1. Re:XLS? by TriezGamer · · Score: 3, 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.

  3. Re:ouch... by Roskolnikov · · Score: 2

    and of the top two downloaded porn files?

    #1 Teen Anal Nightmare 2
    #2 Batman XXX: A Porn Parody

    --
    Unix, an obscure operating system developed by bored researchers in an attempt to get a better game playing experience.
  4. a step in the right direction by inkscapee · · Score: 2

    Now how about sanctions and damages for obviously corrupt and bogus litigation?

  5. Obligatory by inKubus · · Score: 4, 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.

    --
    Cool! Amazing Toys.
  6. Re:ouch... by Sponge+Bath · · Score: 2

    #3 Slashdot and CmdrTaco: A Porn Nightmare

  7. Re:Again.... by HiThere · · Score: 2

    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.

    --

    I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.