Anyone else keeping up with this?

If not, and you have some time to read, Ars Technica has been really good at keeping this at the front of their news feeds whenever something happens.
USCG sues over 14,000 Does in mass lawsuits against BitTorrent users

ACLU/EFF failed attempt to have joinder severed to force all cases to be filed separately

Judge orders USCG to prove jurisdiction

Extremely abridged version of the above links:

  • USCG (which is just s small law firm in D.C.) files 7 court cases against a total of 14,583 people for downloading some various small time movies (Far Cry and Hurt Locker being the two biggest ones).

  • The ACLU and EFF try to get the cases severed as there's not enough proof that all the defendants worked together in a single action. Judge dismisses motion.

  • Judge requires USCG to prove jurisdiction and gives 30 days (which we're still in)


Which brings us to the here and now. Today, an omnibus motion was filed by four lawyers hired 40 of the alleged infringers, advising that due to jurisdiction the cases should be thrown out, and the USCG be liable for all court costs due to the defendants having to hire lawyers in the jurisdiction they are not in. Ars article here and the actual brief here. Personally, I hope that this new brief can get this entire thing thrown out of court, as when you dig into it this law firm is essentially running a legal extortion job. They file the mass lawsuit, get the peoples info, then drop the mass lawsuit and sent out settlement letters to everyone saying "pay up $1,500-2.500 or we'll sue you for $150,000."

If this goes through, the profit engine which these mass lawsuits represent will be dead in the water, and the courts can go back to regular cases rather than the clogging of their courts with this type of case. I am not against people being held responsible for their deeds, but this is not the way to do it. By lowering the profit margin to a normal level, the USCG will have to choose it's fights wisely and *gasp* use the court system the same way everyone else does.

So, any opinions on this one? If you can't tell, I'm all for seeing the USCG get killed with this.