CHICAGO — Just three days after Illinois attorney John Steele filed, then voluntary removed, a porn BitTorrent suit targeting 22 John Does, a U.S. judge saw this as an opportunity to blast Steele for his tactics.
U.S. District Judge Milton Shadur wrote in a May 9 order that his court has already “rejected attorney Steele’s efforts to shoot first and identify his targets later” in a previous case, CP Productions vs. Does 1-300.
In that case, Steele attempted to sue alleged pirates for content stolen from ChicasPlace.com in its Cowgirl Creampie section.
“It would seem feasible for Steele and his client to pursue the normal path of suing identifiable and identified defendants rather than a passel of Does,” the judge wrote.
The judge continued to say that it would be in Steele’s interest not to bring any more Doe cases with a list of IP addresses of people who may or may not live in Illinois.
“The practice would also facilitate the determination as to which defendants are emenable to suit here in Illinois,” the judge wrote.
“Boy Racer is free to advance its copyright infringement claims against one or more identified defendants on an individual basis or, if appropriate, a plausible conspiracy theory.”
Steele filed the suit against the Does for pirating “L.A. Pink,” a movie owned by Boy Racer, the parent company of Burning Angel. Steele told XBIZ that he dismissed the case voluntarily at the request of his client and said his other cases are moving forward.
“The other 29 cases have been granted discovery, and they are proceeding,” Steele said.
