If any of you Idiots downloaded the "Expendables" last year, put aside $3,000. Here's the scoop:
At least 23,000 file sharers soon will be notified they are being sued for downloading the Expendables in what has become the single largest illegal-BitTorrent-downloading case in U.S. history. A federal judge in the case has agreed to allow the U.S. Copyright Group to subpoena internet service providers to find out the identity of everybody who illegally downloaded the Sylvester Stallone flick — meaning the number of defendants is likely to dramatically increase as new purloiners are discovered.
Once an ISP gets the subpoena, it usually notifies the account holder that his or her subscriber information is being turned over to the Copyright Group, which last year pioneered the practice of suing BitTorrent downloaders in the United States. Subpoenas are expected to go out this week.
All told, more than 140,000 BitTorrent downloaders are being targeted. The litigation can be lucrative with settlements around $3,000 per infringement. The IP addresses of the alleged copyright scofflaws are easily discoverable. Film companies pay snoops to troll BitTorrent sites, dip into active torrents and capture the IP addresses of the peers who are downloading and uploading pieces of the files.