"Hurt Locker" Lawsuit Target Pirates

The war against movie piracy is getting downright explosive.

The producers of "The Hurt Locker" are preparing a massive lawsuit against tens of thousands of people who pirated the Oscar-winning drama online. The case could be filed as soon as Wednesday.

Voltage Pictures, the film's financier, has signed up with the U.S. Copyright Group, a Washington D.C.-based venture that has begun a litigation campaign targeting users of the BitTorrent peer-to-peer (P2P) service.

"The Hurt Locker" first leaked onto the web more than five months before its U.S. release last June, and was a hot item in P2P circles after it won six Oscars in March, including best picture and director. Despite the accolades, the film grossed only about $16 million in the U.S.

The U.S. Copyright Group has already filed lawsuits over about 10 other films, including German filmmaker Uwe Boll's "Far Cry," "Call of the Wild 3D" and "Uncross the Stars." Reports of those suits raised alarms in some circles, whereas others joked that the movie industry was merely suing those with poor taste.

"You can guess that relative to the films we've pursued already, the order of magnitude is much higher" with "Hurt Locker," said Thomas Dunlap, a lawyer at the firm.

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U.S. May Sue Arizona Over New Immigration Law

Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday that the Justice Department may sue Arizona over a new state law that authorizes police to question the immigration status of anyone they suspect of being in the country illegally.

"I'm very concerned about the wedge it could draw between communities that law enforcement is supposed to serve and those of us in law enforcement," Holder said.

And Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the new state law could siphon away federal money and staff needed to hunt down dangerous immigrants.

The critical comments by the nation's top law enforcement official and the Cabinet secretary responsible for enforcing immigration laws came four days after Arizona's governor signed into law the measure designed to crack down on illegal immigrants.

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid backed off his pledge to fast-track an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws after fellow Democrats voiced skepticism and a key Republican supporter abandoned the effort.

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Beaten College Student John McKenna Will Sue Police, Lawyer Says

The University of Maryland student whose beating was caught on video plans to sue the police officers he has accused of assaulting him, his lawyer said today.

John McKenna, 21, is still recovering from the physical injuries he received last month when he got caught up in a celebration of his school basketball team's win over Duke. Newly released video shows three Prince George's County police officers in riot gear ramming the student and then beating him with batons.

Left unconscious in the street, McKenna suffered a concussion and defensive-type bruises on his arms. He needed eight staples in his skull to close his head wound, his lawyer, Chris Griffiths, told "Good Morning America."

"He's a young man ... and he's recovering from the physical injuries," he said, "but obviously there was quite a bit of emotional distress he suffered in the incident."

One officer has been suspended and authorities have promised a thorough investigation into the incident on a College Park, Md., street, which was documented in a police report that Griffiths called a "cover-up." But Griffiths said he and his client want to make sure the officers involved are held accountable in civil court.

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Fla. Man Sued For $15K Over Negative eBay Remark

Can posting your opinion on eBay cost you in real life?

So far Michael Steadman has spent $7,000 for his, and he isn't yet done defending himself in a $15,000 defamation lawsuit brought by the man who sold him a reportedly defective time clock.

Steadman bought the clock for $44 in 2008, and said it arrived in three pieces that didn't fit together or even seem to be the same model. He got a refund through PayPal's buyer protection plan and sent the merchandise back, but wanted other potential buyers to beware.

So on the profile of emiller1313, he wrote: "Bad seller; he has the ethics of a used car salesman."

Steadman thought that was the end of it until a process server arrived with a court summons.

It turned out that emiller1313 was a Miami Beach lawyer, and he wanted damages for ruining his 100 percent customer approval rating and "commercial reputation."

"The laws don't work for us. Because I don't have the money to fight them, I'm losing," Steadman said. "It's not right. I'm speechless."

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13 Attorneys General Sue Over Health Care Overhaul

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Attorneys general from 13 states sued the federal government Tuesday, claiming the landmark health care overhaul bill is unconstitutional just seven minutes after President Barack Obama signed it into law.

The lawsuit was filed in Pensacola after the Democratic president signed the bill the House passed Sunday night.

"The Constitution nowhere authorizes the United States to mandate, either directly or under threat of penalty, that all citizens and legal residents have qualifying health care coverage," the lawsuit says.

Legal experts say it has little chance of succeeding because, under the Constitution, federal laws trump state laws.

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum is taking the lead and is joined by attorneys general from South Carolina, Nebraska, Texas, Michigan, Utah, Pennsylvania, Alabama, South Dakota, Idaho, Washington, Colorado and Louisiana. All are Republicans except James "Buddy" Caldwell of Louisiana, who is a Democrat.

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Serial Suer Drops All Lawsuits

Erik Estavillo has a long record of litigation against a number of large gaming corporations and celebrities for reasons some might call "frivolous". In July, he sued Sony for banning his PlayStation Network account, which he relied on for socialization due to suffering from agoraphobia, a fear of crowds. In November, he sued Microsoft after his Xbox 360 suffered the infamous "red ring of death," as well as Nintendo for a recent update that disabled a homebrew Wii Channel that he used to unlock characters in Mario Kart Wii.

The suits failed to take into account niggling details such as the fact that Estavillo was banned for behavior, the "red ring of death" is fixable at no cost to the consumer, and there were a number of updates available to re-enable his homebrew channel, but Estavillo has never shown much interest in the details of his case. Furthermore, many of his cases were outright dismissed, though until now that hadn't stopped him from trying.

In his decision to drop the cases, he cited the stress of the long wait for his cases to resolve, which in turn led to his doctor advising he walk away. Estavillo also cited panic disorder and Crohn's disease as health issues keeping him from following the lawsuits to completion. Also, a number of changes were made that apparently appeased Estavillo.

The fact that he couldn't afford the process server fees to serve people like Bill Gates and Winona Rider probably helped the decision along as well. Estavillo has since dropped off the map: All his sites and blogs have been obliterated from the internet. Whether we've truly heard the last of this man remains to be seen.

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Process Server Serves Papers to 72 Year Old Woman Who is Being Sued By Her Favorite Football Team

It’s almost time for that annual rite of Fall — the kickoff of the NFL season. Only this year, quite a few season ticket holders will be sitting at home with a lawsuit in their lap instead of a set of pom-poms.

The Washington Post has a compelling story about Redskins’ season ticket holders who’ve asked out of their multi-year contracts because of financial hardship. Instead of that happening, many of them have been sued by the team. The list includes Pat Hill, about as diehard a Redskins fan as they come:

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I’ve Been Shot – I Mean Sued!

Consider this scenario: You are in your office working on an important business matter. Your assistant informs you that a deputy sheriff is in the lobby and would like to see you. Worried, you go outside to meet the deputy. He asks you to confirm your identity. As soon as you do, he hands you a Summons and Complaint. You say: “What is the meaning of this?” He says: “Call a lawyer. Have a nice day.”

As soon as the papers are in your hands, you have been sued. It happens. If you run a business, whatever its size, it is almost inevitable that you will get sued at some point by a customer, competitor, disgruntled former business partner or employee, or other person who thinks your business has done something wrong. What should you do when that day comes?