Good article by Ars Technica.  Steele Hansmeier has all but one of the John Does dismissed without prejudice from one of their CA cases.  http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/08/bittorrent-users-dont-act-in-concert-so-judge-slashes-mass-p2p-case.ars?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss

Statement from the court – The Court finds that permissive joinder of the Doe Defendants does not comport with the “notions of fundamental fairness,” and that it will likely cause prejudice to the putative defendants. The joinder would result in numerous hurdles that would prejudice the defendants. For example, even though they may be separated by many miles and have nothing in common other than the use of BitTorrent, each defendant must serve each other with all pleadings – a significant burden when, as here, many of the defendants will be appearing pro se and may not be e-filers. Each defendant would have the right to be at each other defendant’s deposition – creating a thoroughly unmanageable situation. The courtroom proceedings would be unworkable – with each of the 188 Does having the opportunity to be present and address the court at each case management conference or other event. Finally, each defendant’s defense would, in effect, require a mini-trial.

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Less money and more paperwork for the Trolls.    Well at least this is a start.