What To Expect When You're Expecting Prenda Law To Get A Judicial Beat Down
from the a-scorecard-for-those-playing-along dept
Earlier today we had a post about Judge Otis Wright ordering nearly everyone associated with copyright trolling operation Prenda Law to be in his courtroom on Monday. We made the rather obvious understatement that it appeared Wright was not happy with Prenda or what he had seen happening in the various Prenda cases he is presiding over. If you're just picking up the story now, you may have missed some of the backstory behind all of this, but, no worries, Ken White at Popehat (a former federal prosecutor and long term litigator) has put together a post that lays out, in great detail (and in an easy to understand format for non-lawyers) both exactly how we got here and "what to expect." It's worth a read.It actually leaves out some of the history and details that suggest Prenda/John Steele/others have been acting with something less than good faith. As we've discussed in the past, it often feels like Prenda Law is using an any means necessary approach to getting access to people's identities, often piling questionable legal trick upon questionable legal trick to create a multi-layer operation of questionable activity, all designed to get identities to then start hounding those people for "settlements." Even leaving aside many of those tricks, many of which don't touch on this particular case, Prenda's actions in this case alone are quite incredible. And as White makes clear, each move by Prenda lawyer Brett Gibbs seemed to only draw more attention from Judge Wright. This started early on, when Gibbs sought sanctions against the opposing lawyer, Morgan Pietz, which the judge quickly denied. As White points out: "It's a bad sign when the judge denies your motion summarily before the other side can even oppose it."
Throughout our coverage of this case, we've repeatedly pointed out that Gibbs could have just put most of the questions to rest by identifying Alan Cooper. But his continual tap dancing around the simple question "who is Alan Cooper?" has been pretty damning. Responding: "I am sure there are hundreds of Alan Coopers in this world," really seemed to make clear that something fishy was going on here. Personally, I was wondering if there was some reasonable legal strategy that I was completely unaware of, that would explain the failure to answer the Alan Cooper question, and White points out that everyone's general suspicions are correct: it makes no sense unless there is no such Alan Cooper:
I've been a lawyer for almost 19 years now. I've practiced in federal court that entire time. Here's what's very strange to me about Gibbs' opposition to the ex parte application, and about Gibbs' sanctions motion: they conspicuously avoid direct engagement with the most incendiary accusations Pietz makes. It's one thing to argue that Pietz' evidence is insufficient, or that other courts have failed to act based on them. It's quite another to evade the question of who "Alan Cooper" really is. I find it very difficult to imagine a scenario in which an experienced litigator would have a good reason to avoid confronting such a serious charge of fraud head on by saying, for instance, "the Alan Cooper who is a principal in Ingenuity 13 LLC is a real person who is resident of the State of X, living at Y, and has no relation to the Alan Cooper who has made scurrilous allegations against Prenda Law. Here is a declaration from the Alan Cooper who is a principal of Ingenuity 13 LLC, and here are reasons why the other Alan Cooper has a grudge against Prenda Law and is lying." It is very difficult to imagine an innocent scenario explaining why Prenda Law would not offer such a response if it could.So, what to expect? White lists out four possibilities, with a focus on the last two as being the most likely:
3. Some of the individuals named could assert that exigent circumstances or medical conditions prevent them from attending, or could ask for an extension to allow them to retain counsel and get their new counsel of up to speed.I've been wondering if Judge Wright would grant an extension, given the extremely short notice on all of this. Normally such an extension would be pretty normal, and lawyers and judges often bend over backwards to try to accommodate things like that. But given that it appears Wright is clearly deeply concerned about the possibility that Prenda is committing fraud on the court, I wonder if he'll be a little less lenient than might otherwise be normal.
4. Some of the individuals named could show up and answer Judge Wright's questions.
Oh, and for those wondering if this could end in jail time for everyone showing up in court, White is a little more skeptical there, but suggests it is entirely possible that it leads to a criminal case, which could result in jail time:
Judge Wright could certainly issue monetary sanctions against, at a minimum, Mr. Gibbs. The question of what other attorneys he could sanction under Rule 11 and his own inherent authority depends on a tedious discussion too long for this post; suffice it to say that he might conclude that he can sanction supervisory attorneys with Prenda Law.In the meantime, I'm curious if anyone can pinpoint the moment at which John Steele/Prenda Law surpassed Righthaven in the Hall of Fame for the Spectacular Self-Destruction of Copyright Trolls.
Judge Wright's terrifying comment aside, his ability to jail people before him for contempt is quite limited when they have not been charged with a crime by the executive. That, too, is a discussion too complex for this post. But Judge Wright might well refer the case to the U.S. Attorney's Office for criminal prosecution if he concludes that criminal contempt or fraud has occurred. Such referrals tend to get immediate and intense attention. Moreover, if Judge Wright finds misconduct, he could refer the matter to various state bars.
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Filed Under: brett gibbs, john steele, ken white, otis wright, prenda, prenda law, sanctions
Companies: prenda, prenda law
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Great...
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Popehat's Article Definitely worth a read!
This is gonna be... awesome!
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When your business model relies on extortion, even if you can find a fanciful legal methodology to make your extortion (and what they do IS extortion, even without the large leaps in logic the try to use to equate infringement to actual theft) appear legit, your entire argument loses a lot of validity as far as most people are concerned.
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Time
I'm more than half expecting bench warrants to come out of this. I wonder if anybody is trying to set up a live blog for this? I'd watch.
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I think we're pretty much all in agreement here...
Pass the popcorn!
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Enough Euphemisms Mike
Monday's looking to be a legalese bloodbath, and at this point Prenda, especially Brett Gibbs in particular, looks right and proper fucked (to use the technical phrase).
The Zen Master says, "Someone get the popcorn ready. This should be good."
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Re: Enough Euphemisms Mike
It actually leaves out some of the history and details that suggest Prenda/John Steele/others have been acting with something less than good faith.
I see this extreme euphemism as some pretty directed sarcasm, it's downright hilarious ;)
Still, I hear the Master and obey. Popcorn has been stockpiled!
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That is what explains what PopeHat describes: and and That Judge Wright has previously issued a series of rulings in copyright cases against Prenda explains everything.
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Seriously just order the guy to appear. I don't see why he cannot be compelled or even subpoenaed???
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Re:
1) The following persons are hereby ORDERED to appear on March 11, 2013, at 1:30 p.m.:
a) John Steele, of Steele Hansmeier PLLC and/or Livewire Holdings LLC;
b) Paul Hansmeier, of Steele Hansmeier PLLC and/or Livewire Holdings LLC;
c) Paul Duffy, of Prenda Law, Inc.;
d) Angela Van Den Hemel, of Prenda Law, Inc.;
e) Mark Lutz, CEO of AF Holdings LLC and Ingenuity 13 LLC;
f) Alan Cooper, of AF Holdings LLC;
g) Peter Hansemeier of 6881 Forensics, LLC; and
h) Alan Cooper, of 2170 Highway 47 North, Isle, MN 56342.
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Re:
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Who is the real criminal
Then I look at TPB.
Who has a respectable ethos? The first group is just about money and nothing more.
TPB actually stands for something. You can argue about its content, but they have a moral code, damn it. The first group consists of nothing but snakes.
It's ironic, isn't it?
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Re: Who is the real criminal
Its a free ride when you've already paid...
Its like a pissed of Judge that you just couldn't shake...
who would of thought... it figures....
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It's almost...
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At the fully packed courtroom theater ...
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Music to listen to...
So here's my proposal for music for Monday:
Phoenix Wright has the best music so far but I'm open to suggestions.
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Re: Music to listen to...
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Re: Music to listen to...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnHmskwqCCQ
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Re: Re: Music to listen to...
Warning: G Thompson is not responsible for this song getting in your head and staying there
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGu1YlXHVFM
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Re: Re: Re: Music to listen to...
Something appropriately by a parodiest.
Something fun.
Sorry, this probably is an ear worm most of you have heard at some point.
Though, it is one many of us probably wouldn't mind listening to on repeat (though, probably for a predefined time limit).
Oh, nearly forgot to mention is has a tangential relation to Eric Idle, who I feel is associated w/ a show that this thing could've appeared on. Bogus points if you get both references.
I give you...
Dare to Be Stupid
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This is like asking what is Reality and what isn't. Its the Cave paradox that Plato first postulated.
Or for those of a more physics and not metaphysical bent
Think of a Box, place Prenda and Righthaven in the box.
Seal the box.
Insert a random Judge with a huge freakin stick into the box.
Does Righthaven get beaten over the head first by the judge or Prenda? Who really knows... or cares ;)
Basically the best solution is to take out the judge, seal the box and let Righthaven and Prenda bask in their own pestilence where no one can ever see them again.
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Re:
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epically disastrous
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