I have hope that eventually the courts will realize that an IP address != a person. There have already been legal precedents for this, but it is far from being widely accepted. These lawsuits are nothing but extortion. As mentioned in the article, the plaintiffs have no desire to go to court and are just trying to milk people for money. "We're suing you for $200,000 but will settle out of court for $1500". I think there needs to be a law against frivolous / predatory lawsuits.