LAWYERS STANDING BY TO DEFEND ACCUSED PIRATES

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has gathered the names of some 75 attorneys who have agreed to come to the aid of anyone accused by the U.S. Copyright Group (USCG) of illegally downloading movies from BitTorrent websites. The EFF issued the list on Friday after reports that some Internet service providers (ISPs) had agreed to cooperate with the U.S. Copyright Group after receiving subpoenas demanding that they turn over the actual names and addresses of persons who had downloaded movies produced by clients of the U.S. Copyright group. The movies include The Hurt Locker, last year’s Oscar winner, as well as such films as Far Cry, Steam Experiment, and Uncross the Stars. Using newly developed monitoring technology, the USCG has reportedly obtained the IP addresses of some 20,000 users who have downloaded the movie and has sent subpoenas to ISPs demanding that they turn over the actual names of the persons associated with those IP addresses. “[The USCG] attorneys bringing these suits are not affiliated with any major entertainment companies, but are instead intent on building a lucrative business model from collecting settlements from the largest possible set of individual defendants,” the EFF said. Attorneys on its “Subpoena Defense List,” it noted, are not affiliated with the EFF, and while some have agreed to accept cases on a pro-bono basis, others are demanding fees upfront. The website TorrentFreak.com said that one law firm, White Berberian, has agreed to negotiate settlements on behalf of the accused for $249, saying on its website, “If we cannot negotiate a settlement better than what Plaintiff offered, we will refund your money.”