In January we reported that the studio wanted file-sharers to hand themselves in and pay $1000, an ‘amnesty’ scheme that mysteriously appeared to work. In addition, the company has started over a dozen (mass) lawsuits against thousands of BitTorrent users who allegedly shared their content without permission.

In a recent case filed on Monday, Liberty Media and their lawyer tried something new. Instead of simply joining the various defendants in one suit, the company is actually suing a BitTorrent swarm in the case tiled: “Liberty Media Holdings, LLC v. Swarm of November 16, 2010 et al.”

In the complaint they explain:

“The defendants are a group of BitTorrent users or peers whose computers are collectively interconnected for the sharing of a unique file, otherwise known as a ‘swarm’. The particular file a BitTorrent swarm is associated with has a unique hash,” Liberty Media’s lawyer writes.

“The torrent swarm in this case is not an actual entity, but is rather made up of at least 95 individuals, acting in concert with each other, to achieve the common goal of infringing upon the Plaintiff’s copyright both by illegally duplicating the Plaintiff’s Motion Picture and illegally distributing the Plaintiff’s Motion Picture.”

The lawyers then continue with a very detailed reconstruction of how the swarm came about. For every defendant they list the IP-address and the exact time when they joined the swarm. As the title of the case already suggests, all infringements took place on the same day – November 16, 2010.

Liberty Media’s lawyer then continues the complaint by describing how BitTorrent works, and how the alleged defendants worked together to distribute the files. Not only for their own pleasure, but also to the benefit of the entire swarm.

“In the BitTorrent world, there is honor among thieves. Those who merely download files, without publishing and sharing files, are derisively called ‘leechers’,” Liberty Media’s lawyer writes. “Being a leecher is not only negative due to the pejorative terminology, but leechers are also punished by the torrent swarm.”

According to the complaint the swarm and the 95 ‘does’ are, aside from copyright infringement, also believed to be guilty of a civil conspiracy. “The center of this conspiracy is the scheme to traffic in infringing content,” the complain reads, adding that the role of the torrent swarm is essential in this process.

Although it’s not explicitly stated, we assume that the emphasis on the swarm and the conspiracy are an attempt to circumvent the jurisdiction and improper joinder issues that led to the dismissal of previous suits.

By arguing that all defendants shared bits and pieces in the Southern District of California, even those who live elsewhere, the plaintiffs claim that the Court has jurisdiction. Similarly, it is argued that, since all defendants were part of the same swarm on the same day, joining them in one case should be justified.

Despite this innovative “sue a swarm” approach, the end-game of Liberty Media is the same. They want to know who the people behind the IP-addresses are, to kindly ask them for a few hundred or thousand dollars to settle the dispute. Pay up or else…

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

By McSweeney

The Recording Industry Association of America has enriched your life through music since you were a baby. But now you betray us? We will destroy you. This is your notice that you will be sued for one of the following:

1. Downloading a song from the Internet.

2. Singing the “Happy Birthday” song.

3. Other.

4. None of the above.

If you would prefer not to be stripped of your home and dignity, please send us $3,750 in the return envelope. If your toddler has been named in this lawsuit, explain to them that the fruits of their labor as an adult will go to pay a debt that will ultimately lead to their death at a young age due to their inability to afford medical insurance. Toddlers never understand that, but they’ll get the point if you make them cry. If your household pet has been named in this lawsuit, it will be euthanized. If you are a 13-year-old girl, do not expect that the bad publicity in the past has made us hesitant to sue little girls—it has only made us hate you even more. If you, your household pet, or your toddler did not commit any of the acts above, then we will sue you and ruin your life forever for lying. Then we will sue you again, because it’s not about the money anymore. It’s about revenge.

If you would like to make an excuse, please mark one of the boxes below with a No. 2 pencil and return.

1. My computer was hacked.

2. I am poor and cannot afford music. That is why I download songs at the public library. Please don’t sue me or my children will starve. :(

3. One of your goons was in a van outside my house using my wireless connection to frame me.

4. Other children were singing the “Happy Birthday” song, but I was just lip-synching.

Read more at mcsweeneys.net

via

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

BREIN claims to have taken down 50% of all BitTorrent sites in the Netherlands.

Brein often threatens the site owners to admit they are infringing copyright and asks them to give BREIN all the information about their members or we will sue. These threatening and intimidating talk seems to work, although Brein has no legal power, they do have the money to sue.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

Here are two fragments from both press releases.

April 12, 2005

Those who are paying the price of piracy include a German judge, a French cook and a British local councilor.

April 4, 2006

A wide variety of people are finding themselves on the receiving end of legal action and paying large financial penalties. They include a Finnish carpenter, a British postman, a Czech IT manager, a German judge, a French chef, a British local councillor and a retired German couple.

Sure, I know that these “lively” examples are just a propaganda tool that is used to make us feel vulnerable. But still, they could have been a little more creative.

Ok, I have to admit, the postman, carpenter and the retired couple are new, and very appealing. They replaced last years nurse, truck driver and car salesman. But I wonder why they sue the retired couple as “a couple”. How does that work? Did they share a single windows account or what?

Well, I think the bottom line is that the IFPI announced 2000 new lawsuits, so we all should be very scared. Everybody is vulnerable, and the next person that’s going to be sued could be YOU.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

The official press release states that the MPAA targeted Isohunt, Torrentspy, Torrentbox, BThub and Niteshdw.

Niteshdw decided that settling was the best option:

I’ve now official retained a lawyer from Madson & Austin here in Salt Lake City. The goal is to settle the case with the most favorable outcome for both parties.

While some of you may be disappointed, or just plain angry, at my decision to settle, I hope you can at least appreciate my reasons.

First, I do not have the funds necessary to fight a prolonged legal battle. NiteShdw.com was never about making money. I wanted a place where science fiction fans could come together and enjoy their favorite shows together by discussing them together. If I am unable to obtain a satisfactory settlement, I always have the option to continue with litigation, even if I have to do so pro se

Second, my first priority is to my family and especially my 8 month old daughter. As a father my priority is to provide for her before anyone else.

In my negociations, I am trying to propose a business plan to the MPAA and/or its members. I want to take this lawsuit as an opportunity to share with them what we as consumers want and how they can actually make money from it rather than push us away. People have freely donated to help NiteShdw.com pay for its server costs. That proves that people are willing to pay to get the TV shows they want when and how they want them.

Gary from Isohunt on the other hand is not willing to settle and fights back. I asked him some questions about the pending case:

TorrentFreak: What is the exact nature of the accusation?

Isohunt: That the sole purpose of isohunt.com and torrentbox.com is to infringe on MPAA’s copyrights.

TorrentFreak: What are your counterarguments, why is the mpaa wrong according to you?

Isohunt: Because we process copyright takedown requests daily, and have done so for hundreds of requests in the past, if not thousands. We work with all copyright owners, and even the RIAA email us routinely. The MPAA is the only organization unwilling to cooperate with us. It’s unfortunate, because we respect copyrights.

TorrentFreak: Who are you teaming up with to fight the MPAA

Isohunt: The EFF, other sites being sued, and a top-notch lawyer specialized in internet copyrights.

TorrentFreak: You say you’re opening a legal defense fund, is this going to be a fund for this case only, or a torrent search engine fund in general. Monitored by the EFF for example. (think lokitorrent)

Isohunt: Only for us at this point, possibly another fund that extends to other parties. We’ll look into whether the EFF can help in acting as a sort of Escrow for trust assurance. But what’s different already between us and Lokitorrent is that a lawsuit has already been filed against us. Lokitorrent didn’t.

TorrentFreak: Is there anything we can do to help apart from donating money?

Isohunt: Bad publicity against the MPAA. It’s one thing we can really use against them in our negotiation. We need people to know our stance, and that it is the MPAA who is wrong here. And we can because it’s true. So spread the word!

TorrentFreak: Ok, the MPAA sucks, spread the word people…

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

“This is a shame for a country which has produced so much good music,” IFPI head John Kennedy, referring to ABBA, Ace of Base and The Cardigans.

I hope the guys from Piratebay don’t take it to personal.

By the way, do you know what N-DOTS means?… New Drug On The Streets, thats how the MPAA calls Pirated DVD’s nowadays

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.