The problem of piracy, in all forms of media, is a tough one. It's tough to make a dent in it by suing individual infringers, though the RIAA seems intent on trying. Activision Blizzard has been taking notes, as the software giant seems to have begun quietly suing individual citizens who have pirated copies of Call of Duty 3. Don't worry, it gets even weirder.

When GamesPolitics first began following this story, it was assumed that the six copyright infringers who have been sued by Activision Blizzard had been downloading the games off the 'Net, but that was not the case. One of the lawyers involved with the case contacted GamesPolitics and said that she "can advise you that we have never filed any litigation against a file-sharer on behalf of Activision."

That leaves physical copies, and Activision must have had the defendants dead to rights, since almost everyone settled for $100,000, except for one who woman settled for $1,000. Only one defendant had representation. After looking at the court documents, it's clear that the story is the same in almost every case: the papers are filed, the defendant agrees to pay, and it's all over.

The gaming site cleverly named GameCyte claims to have spoken to two of the defendants, and the details provided are even odder. "Audibly shaken, our contact explained how he was scared into a costly settlement by attorneys who determined how much to sue based not on the actual material infringed, but on his purchase history, the equity on his home, and the number of cars in his driveway," the site reported. "If he were to get an attorney, he was informed, he would have to pay even more."

Both this source and a second anonymous source who was reported to be one of the defendants claimed that the settlement amounts listed above were exaggerated, although those were the numbers on file in the court documents. The sources also claimed Activision Blizzard never detailed its evidence and that Call of Duty 3 was not one of the copied games.

Ars Technica tried repeatedly to contact Activision Blizzard and the lawyers involved, but none of our requests for comment were returned. Efforts to track down the defendants also proved fruitless, but that's unsurprising: the settlement includes a legal warning against speaking about the case. Activision Blizzard's silence is somewhat confounding, though, as a series of wins against piracy is usually worth some publicity. It might even scare others away from pirating a shooter... from 2006.

So far the total reported settlements add up to $326,000, which has to be more money than Call of Duty 3 has been pulling in at retail lately. The differing amounts of the settlement are also head-scratchers, as the complaints don't detail what the defendants are actually being sued for. Why are most people settling for $100,000, one settled for $25,000, and one for $1,000?

The RIAA-style tactics here don't seem to be a coincidence. "Activision's lead attorney on the cases, Karin Pagnanelli, has worked on numerous copyright cases on behalf of clients in the music business," GamePolitics reported.

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