Slashdot Mirror

Collection agency Unicredit America is accused of staging a fake courtroom complete with fake judge in an attempt to convince visiting debtors to pay. Officials in Pennsylvania were so impressed that the Attorney General has invited victims to plead their case in front of a real judge. From the article: "The Attorney General's Office told Team 4 that Unicredit lured debtors to the building by sending employees who appeared to be sheriff's deputies to their homes, implying that they would be taken into custody if they failed to appear at the phony court hearings. 'It really galls me that someone would stoop that low,' Erie County Sheriff Robert Merski said. 'This certainly seems to be a scam, and it upsets me that they are trying to play on the integrity of this office, the office of sheriff. We've been here since the beginning of the United States.'"

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "Just when you think they've reached rock bottom, it seems the RIAA always finds room to sink a little lower. This time they've sued an innocent, 19-year-old transplant patient, hospitalized with pancreatitis and needing islet cell transplants. Although the young Pittsburgh lady claims that she did not infringe any copyrights, she failed to answer the complaint in time, and a default judgment was taken against her. A Pittsburgh area lawyer has stated that he will represent her pro bono and make a motion to open up the default."