Business News

Adult film industry targets porn pirates in legal dragnet

Aug 22, 2011, 21:55 GMT

San Francisco - The US adult film industry is targeting so-called porn pirates in a legal dragnet pioneered by Hollywood and the record labels, in a move sharply criticized by privacy watchdog the Electronic Frontier Foundation, according to a report Monday.

According to the Silicon Valley newspaper the San Jose Mercury News, the adult film world has recently sued more than 200,000 anonymous defendants, accusing them of illegally downloading copyrighted material.

In the lawsuits, the defendants are identified only by the IP addresses of their computers, but lawyers for the porn producers hope to persuade judges to order internet providers to divulge the names of the defendants.

The defendants may then be offered a settlement in which they can pay fines of between 1,000 dollars to 2,000 dollars per violation, or fight the charges in court where their porn viewing habits will be exposed in public.

The EFF said the legal tactic amounted to an abuse of the legal system.

'The intent of these lawsuits is to get peoples' identifying information and attempt to extort settlements out of them,' said Corynne McSherry, EFF's intellectual property director.

Industry lawyer, John Steele, known as the 'pirate slayer,' defended the practice.

'Our clients are losing millions of dollars from people stealing their movies,' he told the paper. 'They should get their money back from thieves.'