Accused of file-sharing? The EFF can point you to help

By Nate Anderson

If you're one of the 14,000+ US citizens targeted by the US Copyright Group for allegedly sharing movies with BitTorrent, a letter has already arrived or will do so shortly. That letter will contain a polite request: pay us around $1,500 within the next few weeks or run of the risk of a federal copyright lawsuit, where lawyers will demand the maximum $150,000 penalty.

We've heard from many readers in this position, most confused about how to proceed (and many claiming bafflement and total ignorance of the charges). Should they try to quash the initial subpoena? If so, what should they say? Do they need to hire a lawyer? And can the lawyer be local, or does she need to practice in Washington, DC, where these cases have all been filed?

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has tried to help those in this situation by organizing willing groups of local lawyers around the country. The EFF made that list public today; if you need help, this is a good place to start. Be aware, though, that the lawyers aren't offering free services.

"Because so many people need legal help, and usually on a very short time frame, the following attorneys have offered to assist those targeted to understand their options and may, if necessary, file a motion to quash or litigate on their behalf," wrote Eva Galperin of the EFF. "The attorneys on this list are not affiliated with the Electronic Frontier Foundation in any way and by offering their names EFF does not intend to give any individual endorsement of them. Fees are negotiable on a case by case basis."

None of these cases have yet proceeded to trial; many ISPs are still in the process of looking up IP addresses and turning them over to the plaintiffs. Those who have sought to quash these subpoenas have, almost without exception, filed badly argued, hand-crafted legal documents that are routinely denied (we've seen only one successful Motion to Quash, and it was based on a technicality that looks unlikely to be repeated).

But the EFF's most important work may not focus on individuals at all. The group joined forces with Public Citizen and the American Civil Liberties Union to file a "friend of the court" brief in several of these cases recently that goes right to the heart of the plaintiffs' litigation strategy. EFF asked the court to "sever" these lawsuits into hundreds or thousands of individual cases, making them much more difficult and expensive to bring in bulk; one federal judge has already demanded that the plaintiffs respond to this argument.