Massachusetts Legal Developments Blog

Breaking Glass Pictures v. Swarm Sharing Hash File

Looks like someone has not been paying attention.  Just as the last of the remaining Massachusetts bittorrent cases are in the process of being severed and dismissed, Alexandra Capachietti has filed three new cases against a total of 84 individual John Does.  The cases filed are:

 1:13-cv-10732-JLT - Complaint
 1:13-cv-10734-RGS - Complaint
 1:13-cv-10733-MBB - Complaint

Each case alleges that various John Doe defendants downloaded a film titled Six Degrees of Hell, a remarkably poorly rated horror film.

Although the complaint takes pains to point out that, unlike other similar cases, the film involved in this case is not a pornographic film (a fact disclosed in the complaint in bold, capital lettering), that fact does not address the concerns that has led the judges in Massacusetts to conclude that joinder in cases such as these is inappropriate. 

The fact that other such cases have involved pornographic material was just one of several concerns for the judges who have been busy dismissing these cases from their dockets.  The primary concern, and conclusion reached after no small amount of soul searching ont the part of the courts, has been that a transaction identified by an IP address simply does not sufficiently identify a person with enough certainty to justify filing a case. 

Whether the film at issue is pornographic or not, I would expect these three cases to meet the same end as those that came before, but only time will tell.

If you have been contacted by your ISP, or anyone else, regarding one of the three above matters, contact an attorney immediately to discuss filing a motion to quash the subpoena.