Variants of this practice have been going on for quite some time. However, past incidents involved actual user records subpoena'd from ISPs based on IP address

Variants of this practice have been going on for quite some time. However, past incidents involved actual user records subpoena'd from ISPs based on IP addresses identified as sharing a torrent [1]. In either incarnation, it's ultimately shady and is (IMO) infuriatingly close to blackmail. [1] http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20007446-261.html http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20007446-261.html