Lawsuits targeting movie pirates could include millions of BitTorrent downloaders

The latest effort by moviemakers to fire a shot across the bow of online video pirates is taking shape in a federal court in Washington, D.C., where the U.S. Copyright Group has filed several lawsuits against some 20,000 individuals the group alleges illegally download movies.

The Hollywood Reporter says some of the suits already have been settled, but that the others are still wending their way through the courts.

The suits were filed on behalf of several indie producers and THR says additional torrent downloaders, as many as 30,000 more, could be next up on the court's docket. The move, says THR, may be a test that sparks suits against people using BitTorrent to download films, a number that could be in the millions.

For more:
- see The Hollywood Reporter article

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