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Copyright Trolls Sue Bloggers, Defense Lawyers
davecb writes "Prenda Law has commenced three defamation, libel and conspiracy suits against: defense lawyers, defendants and all the blogger and commentators at 'Die Troll Die' and 'Fight Copyright Trolls'. The suits, in different state courts, each attempt to identify anyone who has criticized Prenda, fine them $200,000 each for stating their opinions, and prohibit them from ever criticizing Prenda again."
That is not how the world works.
Prepare to lose. Badly.
For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
Hornet's nest, meet boot.
Ask me how the Heisenberg Principle may or may not have saved my life.
I wonder if the Troll knows they will probably have to pay all the defendents costs if they lose?
Hooray for free speech!
They've just opened the gates of hell on themselves.
It's not going to end well for them; but if other peoples' pain is funny, this will be hilarious to watch.
Isn't this the same law firm that is facing allegations of fraud and identity theft?
Why yes, yes it is. And that case is scheduled for next week...
Keep in mind it took nearly two decades to get Jack Thompson disbarred for being an idiot as well.
The Streisand effect on this is going to be like a super nova.
Prenda's has boarded the ship of fail and it is about to st sail.
Its a law firm full of blood sucking lawyers who specialize in suing people. As much as we may think we know about law and how they are going to get their butts kicked, I'm sure they have some sort of angle or strategy here.
Fuck You.
Shoes for Industry. Shoes for the Dead.
Of all the people criticizing these copyright trolls, why would they strike back at the guys who know what they're talking about and have the means to defend themselves(lawyers). Waiting for someone to come here soon and say "And....it's gone" with a link to their statement about going bankrupt and closing shop.
is likely to get sued
How do you libel or defame those who are under investigation for being pretending to be that which they are not?
A federal judge in Los Angeles has suggested serious penalties for Brett Gibbs, an attorney at porn copyright trolling firm Prenda Law. Facing allegations of fraud and identity theft, Gibbs will be required to explain himself at a March 11 hearing. And if Judge Otis Wright isn't satisfied with his answers, he may face fines and even jail time. (http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/02/judge-hints-at-jail-time-for-porn-troll-prenda-law-over-identity-theft/)
My opinion is that they will be too busy staying out of jail to do anything worth $200,000 and some bothersome amendment about free speech.
Let's not forget, this is the same Prenda Law that has made the front page of Slashdot twice in the past quarter. In December, identity theft and fraud was alleged by Prenda and a federal district court judge granted a defendant's motion to explore that. Additionally, last month, a federal judge in Los Angeles suggested serious penalties for Brett Gibbs, an attorney at porn copyright trolling firm Prenda Law - including possible jail time. It sounds like this is the final breath of Prenda Law. They are going down in flames, and this is their last, desperate cry, and an attempt to silence those who have brought their injustices to light.
Given that they've sued thousands of downloaders, and continued to do so despite judicially admitting that many of them were innocent, I can't really say I feel sorry for them. Consider the amount of emotional turmoil and grief they've extracted over the past few years from suing people. Think it's fun to be named in a federal lawsuit? Think again.
Hopefully, this goes nowhere.
One thing that I don't understand is why the blatant abuse of a individuals first amendment rights is not actively protected more than "don't do that" kind of slap on the wrist when legal entities who know it's a violation commit these acts. These kind of abuses should be treated more as criminal offenses as they violate what the US has defined as a human right and be treated with such weight. I don't mean a heafty fine, but more akin to dis-Bar and a felony charged on the grounds of violating basic human rights by way of abusing social position (IE Lawyers abusing their knowledge of laws and funding to hold back the public, who may lack of knowledge of law or are unable to protect themselves due to lack of funding).
TFS says "state courts", but the lawsuits have been moved to the federal level already.
See Figure 1.
If they were smart people they wouldn't need to use this business model.
Do I get sued now?
Why would the defense want these cases removed to federal court? There are anti-SLAPP statutes in Illinois and Florida, where these suits were originally filed.
I do hereby criticize you in the harshest way possible. :p
So there.
Keep in mind it took nearly two decades to get Jack Thompson disbarred for being an idiot as well.
I think you answered your own question there...
"Here Lies Philip J. Fry, named for his uncle, to carry on his spirit"
Just in case there's any confusion. Prenda Law is a group of loser's that couldn't make an honest living so they turned to extortion. Oh, and I'm in British Columbia and it'll cost Prenda $35,000 up front to launch an action here, and Prenda will lose here too. But they probably aren't smart enough to figure that out.
First of all; the John Does should have first amendment protection. If the lawsuit works out in the trolls' favor; then kiss first amendment goodbye...because all future rulings will look back on this and say "yes, you can sue someone for sharing an opinion you don't like."
Those douches need to be spanked, and spanked badly. Beat them until their mothers cry. (Alright, so that's unlikely to happen since they all climbed out of some puddle of primordial ooze.)
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
That's what I heard, Prenda is run by a child molesting ring of Nazi baby killers. Does anyone else know anything interesting about Prenda?
Perhaps in a case like this the judge should fine the accuser if they lose and give the claimed damages to the defendants.There needs to be some sort of downside to this kind of abuse.
For ruling against them!!! Technically, there's no end to this is your lawyers are slimey enough. Technically it may even be possible to sue the members of SCOTUS...
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
Prenda is just going to offer to settle for $3,000 or something with each of these people (along with a gag agreement), and drop the case against them if they let it go to court. Bank on it.
It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
- E. Debs
...when the result of pulling this kind of stunt would be having a couple of company executives dragged out into the street and shot...."pour encourager les autres".
I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
In my opinion Prenda is a fucking turd.
And I'd like to meet you on the street.
I'll be the one carrying an axe.
Ask Barbra Streisand http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect how well this approach works, Prenda.
.338 Lapua Magnum. After all, they're lawyers (an overpopulated species at best)
Overpopulation control
If that were to happen Prenda Law (http://wefightpiracy.com/) would fold, declare bankruptcy with no assets available to their creditors and simply start a new corporation.
I'm truly sorry you thought there was a possible outcome of justice.
The problem is that three of four years down the road, when the whole process finally wraps up, the defendants might well have been bankrupted by the whole mess. The mother of a former housemate actually lost her house because even though she won a lawsuit (the AMA sued her for 'practicing medicine without a license' in the 1970s for acting as a midwife) and was awarded damages in the meantime she had spent so much time in court she lost her job and then lost her house.
"Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
You people don't get it. Why do you think these criminal idiots act in such a brazen fashion? Sure, they see themselves as being in the 'vanguard', and early skirmishes can so easily be lost, but they KNOW who is going to win this war.
In Germany, a politician got serious PRISON time for posting a link to a funny satirical flash cartoon showing multiple ways a buxom woman could be killed- all in a style all to familiar to anyone who loved the off-beat animation of the 70s, or 'Itchy and Scratchy' vignettes in 'The Simpsons'. His crime (a real crime with real punishment) was being 'politically incorrect'.
In extremist 'Muslim' nations ruled by despots placed into power by the West, women can be rounded up and whipped for wearing trousers, or alternatively rounded up and whipped for NOT wearing trousers, depending on the nation.
The monsters at the top are NOT true-believers. They do not believe in either the sacred nature of IP, or the sacred words in some 'holy' book. No, they are psychopaths who love poking the rest of use with ever sharper sticks, laughing as they watch us refuse to even make the most basic defense against their abuse.
We all know that the people who take legal action on the torrenting of obscure IP are also seeding said IP to maximise the number of 'infringers', and to minimise the effort required to find them. These criminals cosy up to the bigger players (those that 'safeguard' 'Hollywood' level IP), and thus the judges and politicians in the pockets of Hollywood.
If you think the repulsive criminals are disconnected from the big-boys, you are impossibly naive. Teams like 'Prenda' are the 'Dirty Dozen' of this particular industry- fighting at the cutting-edge in ways that lay down the path that the big-players will follow. For instance, only a handfull of months ago, an Eastern-European team with direct links to the criminals who run the 'ransomware' scams placed a facility online where you could check any Internet address for the torrents they had downloaded. A little later, these same companies are providing the technology used for the 'six-strikes' policies in France and the USA.
Our only saviour is THIS. Intelligence agencies want the Internet to be relatively free, so that ordinary people are encouraged to say things about how they think. This facility allows organizations like the NSA to survey the mindset of whole population groups, allowing the elites to perfectly craft political and mass media propaganda campaigns. The actions of monsters like 'Prenda Law' set in motion a chilling effect, supported by lower ranking (and infinitely corruptible) politicians. This 'Third World' despotic method of cowing the people is counter-productive for the vastly more ambitious First-World despots. The psychology is wrong, and 'weakens' the mob in ways the elites do not desire.
When those that wish to 'defend' IP at any cost (including significant loss of earning power of said IP) clash with those that really rule us, the result will be that Team IP is told to back down to a more sane and sustainable position, as happened with the VCR.
Just do as fox news does and pre-face everything you say with "some people say"
Disbarment? Oh, wait, they practice law in states where they don't have a license and get away with it... Carry on.
Peter predicted that you would "deliberately forget" creation 2000 years ago...
Be careful what you say here or they might sue us too.
I wanna be sued also!!!!!!
Dang, no one ever sues me...
Be seeing you...
This idiotic firm is quite simply a group of terrorists using the law to scare people.
What needs to happen is these assholes need to get not only an anti-SLAPP suit filed against them, and get them declared vexatious litigants, but also have terrorism charges brought upon them as well. There is a clear threat for political motivation. It is terrorism, pure and simple.
These total morons need to be exterminated by the very system they seek to abuse.
Hey, Prenda, don't like my comments? Yea, I'm on Die Troll Die, bring it. I'll give you the same treatment I gave Electronic Arts in the courtroom. Trust me, that wasn't pretty for them, and it won't be for you.
My info is quite public, if you want the most recent, go ahead, look it up RIF1200346 Riverside California court system. You can get my updated information there.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
Someone needs to post names and addresses of all Prenda's people.
I don't any details about this case and I'm not more than vaguely familiar with Prenda's practices, so grain of salt.
If the person who owns Prenda is suing personally in these states, he is a pro se litigant and as such, is entitled to represent himself. He can't represent other parties in those jurisdictions, but he has an absolute right to be his own counsel in a case in which he is a party. So, if he is suing personally, the fact that he is also an attorney doesn't enter the equation except for the old addage, "an attorney who represents himself has a fool for a client."
What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
Think how exciting it will be when they start applying this technology to passenger planes!
Have you tried turning it off and on again?
So "prenda" is Latin for asshat?
"I believe in Karma. That means I can do bad things to people all day long and I assume they deserve it." : Dogbert
> ...and prohibit them from ever criticizing Prenda again...
Challenge accepted!
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
What if all he does is sent threatening letters in which he claims he has standing to sue on behalf of the copyright holder?
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
If that were to happen Prenda Law (http://wefightpiracy.com/) would fold, declare bankruptcy with no assets available to their creditors and simply start a new corporation.
I'm truly sorry you thought there was a possible outcome of justice.
So, the judge says "post a bond to cover the defendants' legal fees and massive fine I'm most likely about to slap you with, or this goes nowhere."
I think you answered your own question there...
"... this it occurs to me [the GP] may have been employing a rhetorical device rendering [your] response moot."
Yeah, but Thompson was in Florida... Texas can't be any more than 75% as retarded as Florida, so figure 15 years to disbarment?
+1 Disagree
...the bark off my big fat purple-headed fuckstick.
And then when their new companies building mysteriously burnt down, followed by an equally mysterious and random fire at their homes and families homes, perhaps they will reconsider.
I wonder if insurance would pay out to a company that no longer exists?
Truly, some people rightly deserve being killed. That's the only workable answer.
Why doesn't someone just threaten this asshole company's asshole employee's families or attack their car or house until they give up or all their employees quit? They deserve it. They're turning the legal system into a circus and it's failing completely to do its job. So, I say vigilante time.
Unfortunately, the US legal system has been badly broken for a long time (some have argued that the system has been broken since the country was founded).
The problems with the patent and copyright systems aren't even the worst aspects of the problem, despite the massive popularity of discussions on those topics here on Slashdot. There are problems with many different aspects of the legal system, and some of these problems have far more negative impact on society (and on us nerds) than the broken patent and copyright laws.
Tort law is one of the particularly bad problem areas. It is not an accident that the USA is known as the "Land of the Lawsuit", or that there is a popular conception of lawyers as unethical jerks looking to abuse the system for their own gain (and at the expense of society). Rather, these things reflect a intuition that the public has that there is something fundamentally wrong in the legal system. Folks are starting to perceive that something is rotten in the state of law, so to speak, without really understanding the details.
For people who are in the right to effectively lose lawsuits because they can not afford to win them, or to effectively lose even when they "win", makes people scared of the legal system. Excessively complex laws, or contradictory laws, do the same. Scared people naturally look for somebody to protect them, and with respect to the legal system, the only ones that can provide protection are the legal professionals.
Thus, legal professionals, as a class in society, are in position of ethical conflict of interest with respect to many aspects of how lawsuits (and other legal matters) are handled. By choosing to handle these matters in a sloppy or incompetent manner, by making the legal system run in a glacially slow manner, by ignoring ethical conflicts of interest or fundamental rights, and by creating the perception that the legal system is complex, confusing, and scary, the legal profession creates long term business for itself.
This is not to say that all legal professionals are doing this. There are some good people in the profession. However, serious reform is needed, and it doesn't seem like there are enough good people in the profession for this to happen from within, which means it needs to be driven from outside the profession.