Time Warner cable not going along with US Copyright Group (trolling) for IP addresses. http://bit.ly/d9G4ZZ
US Copyright Group are an organization that files massive John Doe subpoenas for IP addresses of alleged file sharers. Even given that an IP address does not identify any given user and this approach has led to massive embarrassment when done by the RIAA, the reason Time Warner Cable are not going along is because of the massive burden being placed upon the cable company, along with dubious legality of the subpoenas.
The ISP has now asked the court to quash the subpoena for three reasons.
First, because US Copyright Group lawyer Tom Dunlap “has now simply reneged” on an agreement that he worked out with TWC to manage the flow of subpoenas.
Second, the entire approach to these lawsuits may be invalid. Filing lawsuits can be expensive; Most federal courts charge a $350 filing fee per case, along with a new set of paperwork. Each case also creates another docket to keep track of, making thousands of cases an administrative nightmare.
Instead of going this route, plaintiffs have gone the RIAA route, simply filing mass lawsuits against groups of “John Does,” in some cases by the thousands. But, says TWC, channeling its inner Ray Beckerman, “It is not evident from the complaint in this case that there is anything common to the 2,094 defendants that would justify joining them in a single litigation… Courts facing these identical circumstances have repeatedly held that a plaintiff may not join in a single action multiple defendants who have allegedly downloaded or facilitated the download of copyrighted material at different times and locations.