Fighting a subpoena that attempts to reveal your identity is a waste of money because you will reveal your identity by fighting it.

This means downloading porn illegally is statistically more risky than downloading other copyrighted material.

Owners of copyrighted porn know that people are more likely to pay money to settle porn download lawsuits than other illegal download lawsuits simply to avoid the embarrassment of being listed in a federal lawsuit claiming you downloaded porn.

You do not need to accept their first offer.

You can generally negotiate the settlement amount.

The following are a few practical tips to consider if you find yourself as a “John Doe” defendant in a lawsuit involving claims that you illegally downloaded a video, movie, or music:

If you did not settle the claims, either you get sued or the copyright owner decides it is not worth suing you.

You either (a) consult with an attorney, (b) ignore the threat and hope it goes away, (c) negotiate a lower settlement amount, or (d) pay the settlement amount demanded by the copyright owner.

The copyright owner sends you a letter threatening legal action unless you pay a settlement amount (usually $2,500 to $4,500).

The IP logs connect the illegally downloaded material to an IP address, and your ISP can connect that IP address to you because it was assigned to your internet connection at the exact time of the illegal downloads. The copyright owner gets a subpoena ordering your internet service provider (ISP) to provide your name and contact information based the IP logs.The copyright owner files a lawsuit in federal district court.The company that owns the copyright to the illegally downloaded material (“copyright owner”) identifies your internet connection’s IP address either by (a) using torrent software to connect to your torrent software or (b) getting a list of IP addresses from the website you downloaded from by getting a court order for that website to release it’s IP log files.You or someone with access to your internet connection downloads a movie, video, or music using torrent software (like BitTorrent, µTorrent, Xunlei, Vuze or BitComet), a web browser, or other internet downloading software (Kazaa, Bearshare, LimeWire, etc.).

The following steps are the typical process for “John Doe” defendants in an illegal download case: Responding to an Attorney’s Cease and Desist Letter.

Companies Behind the Movie Download Cases.

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