First, TorrentFreak rules. Second, TorrentFreak rules. Third… Well, you know what third is! The guys over there point out that the Electronic Frontier Foundation, sorta like the ACLU for tech, will appear in federal court this week, trying to stop all those Hurt Locker BitTorrent lawsuits. The main reason is that the U.S. Copyright Group, which is just a fancy-sounding name for an otherwise unremarkable law firm, is denying justice to the thousands of individuals wrapped up in this mess. If the USCG is truly interested in justice, it would file suit against each person individually and let them have their day in court one-on-one.
But no, the USCG, using childlike logic, says that, well, since all these people used BitTorrent to download Hurt Locker (and others), they’re all equally guilty. That is, there’s no reason to single out Person A versus Person B because they both did the same exact thing (used BitTorrent to download a movie).
While we’re at it, let’s try all drunk drivers in a single trial because, well, they all consumed alcohol and all decided to drive an automobile…
Here’s how the USCG explains itself:
Essentially, because of the nature of the swarm downloads as described above, every infringer is simultaneously stealing copyrighted material through collaboration from many other infringers, through a number of ISPs, in numerous jurisdictions around the country.
Correct, Techdirt: if the USCG is truly concerned about “stealing,” then why not call the police? After all, “stealing” is a criminal offense, not merely something try to shake them down with a lawsuit.
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Oh, that’s right: because the USCG is a sham, and all these lawsuits are nonsense.
It’s all about making as much money as quickly as possible. Justice doesn’t even come into it.
So let’s all hope the EFF can convince the United States District Court in Washington, D.C. to either kill these lawsuits in one fell swoop, or force the USCG to break up the lawsuits into individual parts.
