The studio that produced The Hurt Locker sued 24,583 unnamed people for illegally downloading the film. Now more than 21,000 of those John Does can breathe a little easier because the studio has dismissed them from the suit, leaving more than 2,300 in its sights.

TorrentFreak reports the studios dismissed the masses of John Does without prejudice, meaning the studio could possibly go after them again somewhere down the line. The suit named 12 alleged offenders — three of whom have been dismissed — and says the unnamed defendants used ISPs including Comcast, Sprint and Verizon, among several others.

Lawyers for the studio say they need 60 more days to collect identifying information from more than 2,000 IP addresses because John Doe defendants have apparently filed motions that have caused their ISPs to stall the proceedings. It’s not known how many of the dismissed defendants paid the studio to drop its claims.

Record-Breaking BitTorrent Lawsuit Decimated [TorrentFreak via Media Beat]

Previously: Hurt Locker Producer Sues “Moron” Downloaders

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