"The Hurt Locker" mass lawsuit on the way

[admin]

Producers of the Oscar winning movie The Hurt Locker is preparing to launch a mass lawsuit in the US against suspected illegal downloaders of the film. Voltage Pictures has signed up with the US Copyright Group. The US Copyright Group is a privately run operation specializing in monetizing online piracy, and has already launched similar lawsuits on behalf of several independent filmmakers, including the notorious Uwe Boll.

Users using the BitTorrent network will be targeted, although it is unknown at this time how many users will be issued with notices to either face court action or pay up a settlement fee to avoid going to court. Groups like the US Copyright Group rarely takes matter further, although fear of a lawsuit is usually enough to make users pay up, even if they are unaware of the illegal downloads being made using their connection.

More:

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=10620723

[admin]

MTV has posted an article about the producer of The Hurt Locker, Nicolas Chartier, whose company is pursuing this lawsuit. Apparently, he was banned from attending the Oscar ceremony for breaching campaigning rules for the award, by lobbying friends in Hollywood to vote for The Hurt Locker instead of "a $500M film", referring of course to Avatar.

The article also publishers an email written by Chartier in reply to a polite email arguing against using mass lawsuits as a way to stamp out piracy. Chartier's reply was not as polite, to say the least.

More:

http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2010/05/19/infamous-hurt-locker-producer-follows-up-oscar-ban-with-misplaced-anti-piracy-rant/