The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) have filed thousands of lawsuits accusing individuals of unlawful downloading of films and music, “but largely because of the legal costs few have been contested and none have gone to trial. This has left several controversies unresolved, including the lawfulness of how the associations get access to ISP records and whether it’s possible to definitively tie a person to an IP address in the age of Wi-Fi.” That may change, however. Universal Pictures and the MPAA have told Shawn Hogan that they’re suing him for downloading Meet the Fockers over BitTorrent, but Hogan says he didn’t do it and already owned the film on DVD. Hogan happens to be a software millionaire and says he’s prepared to spend $100,000 or more in legal fees to put MPAA and Universal to their proof rather than fork over the demanded $2,500. (David Goldenberg, “Shawn Hogan, Hero”, Wired, Aug.).
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