Well, let's see. Lawyers are expensive. Flying from the UK to the US to appear in court is expensive in time and money. If Mr Steiner never intends to visit the US to be served it's unlikely the judgement will ever truly be fulfilled.

Moreover, and it's very important: By not appearing, he rendered the judgement meaningless. There is no finding of fact, no precedent set, no ruling which can be pointed to in other cases. It's an empty default judgement against a guy who appeared to be all but collection proof.

It's nothing - but yes, the torrent freak guys love anything anti DMCA.