Earlier this month we reported that 23,332 people were to be targeted for downloading The Expendables via BitTorrent, with a judge forcing ISPs to hand over information regarding the identities of the data thieves. Today, the makers of The Hurt Locker, are looking to break this record, targeting 24,583 pirates in a massive lawsuit.
The Hurt Locker, winner of the Best Picture award at the Academy Awards, and its makers Voltage Pictures are looking to recoup millions of lost dollars in settlements for users that have illegally downloaded the film. Initially this lawsuit only targeted around 5,000 alleged pirates, however Voltage Pictures has since added nearly 20,000 more people to the lawsuit to bring that total to the huge 24,583.
TorrentFreak obtained a status report that shows Voltage Pictures lawyers handing a massive list of alleged file-sharers to the United States District Court of Columbia. It was revealed in this report that the nearly half the defendants were Comcast subscribers (10,532), followed by Verizon (5,239), Charter (2,699) and then Time Warner (1,750).
This report also apparently details deals with the ISPs to hand over IP details, with Charter looking up 150 addresses per month, Verizon looking up 100 per month and the Comcast is without a deal. This means that without a court forcing a subpoena of all IP addresses collected, it could take years for the identities of all alleged pirates to be revealed. However, with the recent The Expendables case as proof, it is likely that a subpoena will occur.
The Hurt Locker case will be decided upon whether it should continue by former RIAA-lobbyist Judge Beryl Howell in the coming weeks. Previously this judge dismissed all dismissal requests by numerous defendants in the original case.