The U.S. Copyright Group (USCG) has stated that hundreds of lawsuits are in the works, with thousands possible, as the group continues its legal campaign against online movie piracy.
The USCG has already helped the producer of 'The Hurt Locker' sue thousands of accused file sharers, and the group his now building on that "success" by ramping up further lawsuits, RIAA style. Approximately 5,000 people of an initial 50,000 IP address group have already been targeted, with additional lawsuits expected on the horizon.
Similar to its work with Voltage Pictures, the USCG has its sights on thousands that can be targeted in a "pay up or else" type of legal attack. Specifically, USCG executive Thomas Dunlap released several videos aimed at clients -- which have been removed, except for one. The USCG is supposedly tracking file sharing among 300 target films currently.
Ideally, the USCG is interested in offering file sharers settlements between $1,500 and $2,500 per case -- trying to fight in court likely will increase the fine, which makes a settlement for a few thousand dollars a more appealing option for many of the accused pirates.
This is the exact opposite of what these groups should be doing -- but this is a much easier way to receive monetary extortion compensation from accused pirates. If the USCG is tracking 300 films, that certainly opens up the door to thousands of settlement letters being sent out to ISP subscribers across the United States.
I still think these movie studios should avoid going to such drastic measures and instead work with file sharers to figure out what can be done to limit piracy. Peer to peer file sharing is expected to only increase in the next four years. To help combat piracy, the UK Film Council and British Film Institute recently offered free access to high quality streaming movies, a much better tactic than suing thousands of your own customers.
