The MPAA has been busy filing law suit after law suit on folks they accuse of “pirating” — defined as downloading (illegally uploaded, to be sure) films off the Internet. Most times they offer to settle for a hefty fee, but one a lot lower than going to court would cost. Most times those offers are taken, regardless of guilt or innocence, because the hapless kid, parent, or grandma doesn’t see much choice.
Last November, Shawn Hogan received an unsettling call: A lawyer representing Universal Pictures and the Motion Picture Association of America informed the 30-year-old software developer that they were suing him for downloading Meet the Fockers over BitTorrent. Hogan was baffled. Not only does he deny the accusation, he says he already owned the film on DVD. The attorney said they would settle for $2,500. Hogan declined.
Now he’s embroiled in a surprisingly rare situation – a drawn-out legal fight with the MPAA. The organization and its music cousin, the Recording Industry Association of America, have filed thousands of similar lawsuits between them, but largely because of the legal costs few have been contested and none have gone to trial. This has left several controversies unresolved, including the lawfulness of how the associations get access to ISP records and whether it’s possible to definitively tie a person to an IP address
in the age of Wi-Fi.Hogan, who coded his way to millions as the CEO of Digital Point Solutions, is determined to change this. Though he expects to incur more than $100,000 in legal fees, he thinks it’s a small price to pay to challenge the MPAA’s tactics. “They’re completely abusing the system,” Hogan says. “I would spend well into the millions on this.”
The problem with being a bully is that, sooner or later, you run into someone who can actually fight back.
Huzzah! 😀
Oh, that does put a smile on my face! Heh.