Voltage Pictures, the studio behind "The Hurt Locker," has added nearly 20,000 IP addresses to its piracy lawsuit, a new report claims.
According to enthusiast site TorrentFreak, Voltage Pictures last week delivered to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia the IP addresses of more people that it believes pirated copies of "The Hurt Locker." The newly added IP addresses are in addition to the 5,000 identified when the studio filed the lawsuit last year.
According to alleged court documents obtained by TorrentFreak, Voltage Pictures attorneys identified 10,532 Comcast customers who allegedly pirated the film. It also found more than 5,200 Verizon subscribers, 2,699 Charter customers, and 1,750 Time Warner subscribers. Smaller ISPs are included in the list, as well.
Voltage Pictures initially identified 5,000 IP addresses and accused them of using illegal file-sharing sites to steal copies of the highly acclaimed film, which won the Oscar for best picture last year. After filing the lawsuit, the studio's attorneys, Dunlap, Grubb & Weaver, requested to subpoena ISPs for personal information related to each IP address.
However, a few ISPs balked at the idea of providing the information to Voltage Pictures. Time Warner Cable, for example, said last year that looking up the thousands of IP addresses from its service would take too much time and potentially negatively affect the company's ability to work with law enforcement officials to prosecute more pressing issues.
It's a similar story this time around. In addition to listing the nearly 20,000 IP addresses, Voltage Pictures also informed the U.S. District Court that Time Warner Cable has refused to sign an agreement producing the personal information of subscribers included in the lawsuit.
"ISP has stated that it will not comply with any subpoena that requests information for IP addresses," Voltage Pictures wrote in its court document.
Unfortunately for accused file-sharers, some other ISPs didn't follow Time Warner Cable's lead.
According to the alleged court documents, Comcast has entered into a "confidential agreement" regarding the "production" of personal information of included IP addresses. Charter said it will deliver the personal information of 150 IP addresses each month through May 2013. Verizon has agreed to produce a total of 100 IP addresses included in this case, as well as other piracy suits.
As with many other piracy-related lawsuits, this one might go on for quite some time. In a filing with the court, Dunlap, Grubb & Weaver said it hopes to complete its "discovery" in the case at the end of 2013. At that point, it plans to "name and serve any putative defendants whom plaintiff wishes to pursue in this case."
