"Some ISPs track their customers by MAC address."
http://compnetworking.about.com/od/n...dressing_2.htm
even if an ISP doesn't track MAC addresses for security and internet connection authorization it doesn't mean they don't have access for this info and don't log it.
"The MAC address is an important element of computer networking. MAC addresses uniquely identify a computer (or a router) on the LAN. MAC is an essential component required for network protocols like TCP/IP to function."
They know about you bit more than you might realize. Its the same as your router may know/display MAC addresses of computers in your LAN.

Put gideon gallery on da case.

The movie was very good.

I remember downloading it from the net and going like "woah, this movie kicks ass... why isn't it in theaters?"

Yup, that pretty much sums up the plot.

This is how I understand it to work.

They send you a threatening letter telling you that they know you have illegally downloaded the movie and they offer you a flat settlement fee in order to avoid further legal action. If you choose not to pay them (or I assume you could contact them and offer an alternative settlement) they then might choose to take you to court over it.

If they sue there will be a hearing where you (the defendant) will ask for the case to be tossed out due to lack of evidence or simply because it wasn't you. They will put forth their evidence and the court will decide if the case should go forward. If the court decides there is adequate evidence against you then you can end up going to trail. They will try to prove your guilty and you will try to prove your innocence.

You are considered innocent until proven guilty because in a full trial they will still have the burden of proving that you did what they say you have done. Maybe they will be able to prove it, maybe they won't. You still have to defend yourself.

Here is the link to the story
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64B0AU20100512

In the story it says: After unmasking individuals who have illegally downloaded films, the U.S. Copyright Group then sends a modest settlement offer. Lawyers at the firm are seeing some returns on the first two lawsuits filed back in January. About 40% have settled, according to the U.S. Copyright Group. Those who haven't settled will be sent another round of settlement offers, and the group promises to eventually serve lawsuits on these individuals.

It was a good movie, but does not exactly have a mass appeal.
Somebody must be really pissed to sue so many filesharers.

Hollywood AKA the MPAA is not behind these lawsuits. It's just one group of ambulance chasers trying to sell their services as an alternative means of revenue to independent movie studios.

The problem with mass lawsuits like this that require the ISP's to scan through IP addresses is the man power needed to do it. To sum it up, it's not even feasible to sue so many people because of the work it would require to go through the IP address requests.(this is coming from the ISPs themselves)

Once that fact becomes more wide-known then their scare tactics will stop working so well and people will stop paying up front out of fear. Of course there will be some sacrificial lambs before they give up on suing everyone, but the odds are definitely in the favour of the pirates (7 million downloads of one movie compared to a handful of lawsuits)

With a company like Time-Warner, which is both the studio and the ISP, it would seem that they are in a much better position to coordinate such a lawsuit against illegal downloaders and uploaders of their content. If it's so easy to track down these people to get settlements, why hasn't Time-Warner stepped forward to sue or legally threaten hundreds of millions of people?

I had never heard of the movie when I posted..now just for the hell of it im tempted to watch it the weekend just to see if it sucks or not....