In a involving alleged copyright infringement of pornographic material through BitTorrent, New York Federal Magistrate Judge Gary R. Brown wrote in his opinion dismissing the litigation, "the assumption that the person who pays for Internet access at a given location is the same individual who allegedly downloaded a single sexually explicit film is tenuous, and one that has grown more so over time."

"[I]t is no more likely that the subscriber to an IP address carried out a particular computer function -- here the purported illegal downloading of a single pornographic film -- than to say an individual who pays the telephone bill made a specific telephone call," he added.

In pursuing BitTorrent users for violating copyright laws, Wiley is deploying a used by the music industry. It's filing thousands of "John Doe" lawsuits. Once it identifies the John Does by prying IP information from ISPs, it offers the alleged infringer a choice of paying a settlement or going to court.

Violators of Wiley's copyrights can pay fines of up to if found guilty.

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