I have never seen “The Expendables.” An action movie directed by and starring Sylvester Stallone? No, thanks.
And those who have seen it? Many are left with more than just a feeling of pity for the state of action movies these days. In fact, more than 23 thousand might be left in debt.
The new age of digital pirating has come with its fair share of challenges, but none like this. The studio responsible for “Expendables,” Nu Image, along with BitTorrent, has begun the biggest file-sharing lawsuit in U.S. history. The lawsuit is so widespread that many websites are providing lists of the IPs (a user’s unique internet identification number) targeted so users can check if they will be getting a subpoena demanding $2,000.
Decide not to pay it? Well, Nu Image has promised to take all who don’t to court for a much, much bigger payout. Think $150,000.
Many lawsuits like this have been shot down for infringing on users’ privacy, but not this one. U.S. District Judge Robert Wilkins gave the go-ahead to track down the contact information of any and all IPs associated with the illegal download of the movie.@@http://www.google.com/search?q=U.S.+District+Judge+Robert+Wilkins&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a@@
Needless to say, many pirates are terrified. Past lawsuits have seemed harmless and distant and usually were. Companies fighting copyright infringement have almost always gone after the individual downloader, not the mass distributor (The Pirate Bay, Demonoid, etc.). And these lawsuits were usually fruitless, as the distributors often operate outside U.S. territory. This personal attack on so large a group is unprecedented and may mark the future of illegal file-sharing punishment.
As more IPs are being tracked down, the number of defendants is growing and is expected to surpass 100,000 users. Think of the payload.
File sharing has always been a controversial issue. Some artists, like OK Go’s Tim Nordwind, say file-sharing is part of the media industry and that “bands must learn to adjust.” There is a growing sense of inevitability in the media industry about file sharing, and with the creation of the internet hacking group Anonymous, combating file sharing has its own dangers.
For instance, last year, several movie companies arranged for internet attacks on some well-known piracy sites, only to have their own websites, and the websites of their associates, attacked. One wonders how this powerful hacking organization will deal with this most recent lawsuit.
But for now, it appears that Nu Image is ahead. The internet world is still held in suspense over what will happen next. My guess is that even if Anonymous does strike — an outcome I would put my money on — this suit will put a damper on the enthusiasm of the average pirate and perhaps lead him to more safe means of operation (like streaming or direct download).
Will this create more revenue for the box-offices and record companies? Highly doubtful. Even with the threat of a lawsuit hanging over their heads in a manner more close to home than ever before, pirates embody the phrase “where there’s a will, there’s a way.” I foresee the rapid downloads of anonymous file-sharing programs like BitBlinder and I2P. I foresee an influx in unrestricted video streaming sites like MegaVideo and MovShare.@@both websites correct@@
But, most importantly, I foresee a backlash on Nu Image and its associates, the likes of which they’re too confident to expect. The internet community is a defensive and elite force that many bigwig companies underestimate.  Whether this battle (for that is what it most certainly will become) will mark a point on the side of the copyright holders or the copyright infringers is a matter yet to be played out.
For the rest of us, well, I say we just sit back and enjoy the show.