In a development that could impact providers of free Wi-Fi services and broadband subscribers who rely on wireless routers, Liberty Media Holdings LLC has asked a Massachusetts federal court to rule that broadband subscribers with wireless routers may be held liable for copyright violations when other persons illegally download copyrighted content through unsecured wireless network connections. Liberty’s complaint targets fifty defendants in Massachusetts—including several unnamed “John Does”—whose IP addresses were traced to illegal downloads of an adult film copyrighted to Liberty. The lawsuit claims that the defendants in question (1) used the BitTorrent file sharing website to download the material in question directly, or (2) contributed indirectly to illegal downloading activity by neglecting to secure their wireless network connections. Asserting that the defendants “failed to adequately secure their Internet access, whether accessible only through their computer when physically connected to an Internet router or accessible to many computers by use of a wireless router,” Liberty told the court that the defendants’ negligence “allowed others to unlawfully copy and share Plaintiff’s copyrighted motion picture” and caused “financial harm to Plaintiff.” The lawsuit seeks actual or statutory damages from each of the defendants. While an attorney for two of the defendants termed Liberty’s argument as “novel,” officials of Liberty offered no comment.