Judge Rejects DigiProtect's Demands For Made Up Legal Fees In Germany

from the there-goes-that-idea dept

Back at the end of last year, we wrote about how some had noticed that DigiProtect, one of a group of companies that purposely puts files online to see who downloads them, and then threatens them with "pay up or we'll sue" letters, was potentially in trouble in Germany for not following the law. German law says that you can't base "legal costs" on a contingency like winning. Yet, DigiProtect's agreement is that it only gets paid if it can collect on the pre-settlement letters. That goes against the law. And, now, a court has agreed, and found that DigiProtect can't ask for legal fees in Germany unless it can actually prove what those real fees are. The court did offer DigiProtect an out: open your books and show what the real costs are, and how they are paid. DigiProtect refused to do so. This basically cuts out pretty much all of the massive profits DigiProtect and others brag about.
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Filed Under: germany, legal fees, pre-settlement letters
Companies: digiprotect


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  1. icon
    Hephaestus (profile), 9 Feb 2010 @ 9:12pm

    Hooah!!! Sniped ... LOL ... I like definitions 1 and 2 in this situation, 3 was the one I was looking for.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 9 Feb 2010 @ 9:15pm

    Pharmaceutical corporations get most of their R&D funded via tax dollars (ie: they end up benefiting from tax funded R&D), they get government sanctioned monopolies on the results of such R&D, and yet they get to keep their books closed and hidden to hide their true R&D costs.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    NAMELESS.ONE, 9 Feb 2010 @ 9:32pm

    there not suing people

    and ill add thy actually DO WHAT THE PEOPLE WANT VERSUS SCRW THEM FOR 95 years plus another 70+ ( life of author)

    copyright at 14 years was to allow a company limited time to make a buck LIKE a patent then we the public using that example would get to have a generic made cheaper , that extra they charge for the 14 years would goto funding the added R&D of a new project.
    BUT as i said perhaps we should take that 100% under govt and have the govt fund the scientists and then we NEVER HAVE the 14 year period were we in society pay a lot more.
    EXCELLENT 2nd post thanks for reminding us how drug patents steal money form society.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 9 Feb 2010 @ 9:58pm

    Are you guys talking about the same story?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    Headbanger, 9 Feb 2010 @ 10:44pm

    Good news!

    I'm surprised I missed the article on Torrentfreak as I usually read through most of their work. It is good to see that this operation has been fundamentally shut down for the time being. What remains to be seen is if they find another supposedly lawful mean to extort people.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 10 Feb 2010 @ 2:41am

    Re:

    Off topic and nonsensical.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 10 Feb 2010 @ 2:42am

    Re: there not suing people

    Off topic and nonsensical. But we've come to expect this from you. Come on, stay focused! You can do iiiiiit!

    link to this | view in thread ]


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