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Copyright Trolls Rightscorp Are Teetering On The Verge Of Bankruptcy (arstechnica.com)
JustAnotherOldGuy writes: Rightscorp, the copyright trolls whose business model was convincing ISPs to freeze their customers' Internet access in response to unsubstantiated copyright accusations, and then ransom those connections back for $20 each, will be out of money by the end of this quarter. Despite a massive courtroom win against Cox Cable in 2015 (and a counterbalancing gigantic fine for its robocalls), the company couldn't win a technology cat-and-mouse game against its prey -- the wily file-sharers who switched to VPNs and other anonymizing technologies. For the moment, the company is teetering on the brink of financial collapse. It raised $500,000 on February 22, the company reported, but it needs another $1 million to stay afloat. It has only enough cash on hand to continue "into the second quarter of 2016," according to the company's latest financial report.
No, I don't think I have a violin small enough for this.
How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
Bad weed never dies, I wouldn't hold my breath
while my power was off for three days during an ice storm while I was out of town, I know they just pick IP addresses at random. Of course, my connection being down wasn't enough to keep CenturyLink from giving them my info anyway so I still got threatening letters.
And nothing of value was lost.
Karma: Frotzed (mostly due to the Frobozz Magic Karma Company)
Teetering On The Verge Of Bankruptcy
I have a patent on verge-related teetering, you'll be hearing from my lawyer.
Too many secrets
Party at my place when they finally go under. :)
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
*downloads the Simpsons from KAT*
*Plays loops of Nelson saying "HA HA" to them via robocall.*
And this post might be all they need to find that next investor to cover the million. Best to wait till they actually fail before posting/blogging/tweeting about them.
Considering I-5 is a parking lot at those times and it goes through the middle of downtown, that isn't surprising.
... of this "earned" money is still in the company? I would be interested to see the take home pay (and shareholder drawings) of the shysters, I mean directors, who run this company.
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This. My LTE iPad doesn't work for about six hours a day. I'm on the corner of James and 8th overlooking downtown. I wish I had better access at home so I could work from home rather than taking a a bus that takes a minimum of 70 minutes each way to get to Redmond.
You don't get to be a billionaire by not being selfish.
Because that's the only thing that makes sense with their underhanded practices. Anyone with half a clue would never put his money or personal affects behind something like that, because these scammers are basically setting themselves up for a huge lawsuit. What they do is fling poop and see what sticks and how far they can take it before they get slapped left and right. And surprisingly enough, so far there has been rather little slapping.
I fully expect this to be some kind of test balloon, with the rights holder themselves surprised it stayed afloat this long. The idea was to create a shell that goes about and violates any and all limitations of copyright law to see what can be done before someone cries bloody murder. Once the company gets countersued and there is a judge with enough sanity left to actually dock them the fine they deserve, the shell goes 'poof' and the next one emerges.
That's likely also why nobody ever bothered to drag them to court over their practices, knowing that it is futile, even if you win you'll be left with the expenses and nothing to compensate it. That shell has no money whatsoever. Never had, never will. Any money they actually make (aside of the 20 bucks pebbles) will instantly leave that husk.
Such constructs are very useful when you want to ignore laws, to say the least...
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
"Bankruptcy" here being a relative term I'd imagine. Most of these companies operate more like organized crime than a company due to the shady nature of their operations. I would imagine that they have moved most of their assets off of the company rolls into some shell companies. It may even be a ploy to avoid the fine, claiming poverty until they get a court action to void their "debts" and then re-infusing the money from the shell companies after the auditors have left.
I accept the possibility that they are performing an important service, protecting IP rights, but the manner in which they have done so is appalling; stomping on rights and IPs.
Let's get together and finish pushing them over that cliff...
So we know the next venture they start, so we can avoid them like the plague.
The thing is the patents and copyrights these companies hold don't go away when the company dies. Like Bilbo's ring these things just go to the next person that finds them irresistible and the cycle starts over. Even if some large company, say microsoft, scoops them up in the name of protecting themselves, eventually it becomes a cudgel again.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
And some lawyers say gifts of copyrights to the public domain aren't valid in the US, so there's no Mount Doom to throw them into.
...some lawyers say gifts of copyrights to the public domain aren't valid in the US...
Yes, lawyers certainly do have like to have fun with the words "yours" and "ours". Isn't it great how words mean whatever we want, whenever we want?
Beside SCO, maybe, I couldn't care less about those bloodsuckers going down the drain...
See subject: For his "ministry of UNTRUTH" that I shot his INCORRECT beliefs down on easily https://slashdot.org/comments....
* So, is THAT the "best you got" after I tore you apart? Talking behind my back?? Yes... you're nothing but a brain-damaged by 'outism' retard menial (& you know it).
APK
P.S.=> You're a pitiful "ne'er-do-well" LIMITED punk, & nothing more... apk