Team Prenda Loses In Default Judgment; Ruling Clearly Names Steele, Duffy And Hansmseier As Prenda Law

from the and-another-arrow-comes-in dept

Wed, Oct 2nd 2013 2:15am — Mike Masnick

Team Prenda is taking hits from pretty much every direction these days. The latest is that, in yet another AF Holdings case, this time in Massachusetts, Prenda had been told to put up a bond of $60,000, which it appears to have ignored. The court has now signed off on a default judgment ruling. Basically this just adds to the pile of money that Team Prenda owes. But a key point here is in the footnote:

As noted in the supporting memorandum, AF Holdings has been found to be an alias of Prenda Law, Inc. and its principals -- John Steele, Paul Duffy and Paul Hansmeier.

Steele and Hansmeier keep trying to claim they have absolutely nothing to do with Prenda, and Steele argues that he's got nothing to do with AF Holdings. Having more courts officially note that AF Holding is really Prenda, and Prenda really is Steele, Duffy and Hansmeier, is going to make their argument more and more difficult going forward.

Of course, as if on cue, in a different case, Paul Duffy is now arguing strenuously that it's unfair to lump Prenda Law in with Steele and Hansmeier or to connect it with AF Holdings. Of course, sooner or later, Duffy is going to realize that if he keeps making this argument, he's actually hanging himself out to dry, almost certainly leading up to Steele and Hansmeier quickly tossing Duffy under the bus when the opportunity permits (one assumes soon after they're done doing the same to Mark Lutz).

Endorsed Order Allowing Motion for Default Judgment (PDF)Endorsed Order Allowing Motion for Default Judgment (Text)

172534639 Case3 12 Cv 02396 EMC (PDF)172534639 Case3 12 Cv 02396 EMC (Text)

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: default judgment, john steele, mark lutz, paul duffy, paul hansmeier
Companies: af holdings, prenda, prenda law

22 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Anonymous Coward, 2 Oct 2013 @ 2:20am

And so the glorious legacy of copyright and copyright enforcement marches on.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Richard (profile), 2 Oct 2013 @ 2:46am

a/c s
The anonymous cowards just hate it when copyright enforcement goes pear shaped!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
That One Guy (profile), 2 Oct 2013 @ 2:57am

Re: a/c s
You give them far too much credit, Prenda and co's actions were to 'copyright enforcement' what 'hey, nice shop you've got here, be a shame if something were to happen to it...' is to a standard business deal.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 2 Oct 2013 @ 3:15am

Re: Re: a/c s
Not really. Prenda's operating procedures were largely built upon the success of the RIAA's intimidation-based settlement system, and how you can threaten anyone into paying up thousands of dollars to avoid a lawsuit war of attrition. Pornography merely helped to accelerate the moneymaking due to the greater unwanted association.

Thanks to these trials being brought to light a lot of copyright enforcement's models and schemes, like their 30% error rate that largely went unquestioned by judges. Prenda's usage of the RIAA business model is unravelling in no small part thanks to their attempt to game the system by being producer and lawyer both at once, which is thankfully revealing more problems in the system.

Copyright enforcement will be going pearshaped and now Prenda is on the books as precedent in case anyone decides to be recklessly sue-happy.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Peter, 2 Oct 2013 @ 4:04am

Pow right in the kisser.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Ninja (profile), 2 Oct 2013 @ 4:09am

Prenda punch bags for sale! The best stress-relieving devices you'll ever have!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 2 Oct 2013 @ 4:45am

Re:
Got a Prenda douchebag instead, or are those all sold out?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 2 Oct 2013 @ 4:45am

Re: Re: Re: a/c s
That really is no difference.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
mcinsand, 2 Oct 2013 @ 5:37am

Re: re: a/c s
That One Guy,

Now, you give Prenda too much credit. Their business model is really, 'nice reputation you have there. It would be a shame if you lost it because of basically baseless porn downloading allegations.' They have taken the protection racket to make it even more sleazy.

Regards,
mc
[ link to this | view in thread ]
DannyB (profile), 2 Oct 2013 @ 6:17am

Don't forget the IRS and state bars investigating
The IRS and state bars investigating members of Team Prenda may find useful the rulings that connect the individuals to the empty shells that do their evil copyright bidding.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Niall (profile), 2 Oct 2013 @ 6:45am

Re: Re:
Would anyone want to douche with one of them/those?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
PRMan, 2 Oct 2013 @ 7:13am

Re: Re: Re:
Well, if you need a massive douche...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Jim W, 2 Oct 2013 @ 8:41am

Flight risk?
So, has anyone started a betting pool on when these guys flee the country?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
mcinsand, 2 Oct 2013 @ 9:05am

Prenda Flight Betting Pool
Jim, I'm confident that they will flee within 48 hours after Lutz conveniently, permanently disappears. They have worked so very hard to portray him as the only one that has key information, and, given Steele's completely narcissistic and amoral character, I don't think he'll take a chance of the courts finding out either what Lutz does or does not know.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
DOlz (profile), 2 Oct 2013 @ 9:31am

And then there were none
"Duffy is going to realize that if he keeps making this argument, he's actually hanging himself out to dry, almost certainly leading up to Steele and Hansmeier quickly tossing Duffy under the bus when the opportunity permits (one assumes soon after they're done doing the same to Mark Lutz)."

Before that there were Alan Cooper and Bret Gibbs. This is starting look like an absurd version of Agatha Cristie's "Ten Little Indians".
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Question, 2 Oct 2013 @ 1:37pm

Re: Don't forget the IRS and state bars investigating
Is the outcome of the IRS investigation public? Shari Duffy was complaining on her facebook about just now paying up on taxes, wondering if that was part of this investigation or if there was more fun to come.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Question, 2 Oct 2013 @ 1:38pm

Re: Flight risk?
Well supposedly the Duffy's are heading to Puerto Rico for an extended Christmas Vacation so who knows.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
That Anonymous Coward (profile), 2 Oct 2013 @ 5:43pm

What is more money when no one is making you pay?
Seriously, the bill can hit 42 quadrillion dollars and it won't matter.

1 - The next step is them missing the date to pay up, the people owed money incur more costs to file more papers pointing out they haven't paid and asking for more money.
2 - Pretenda files a pointless answer 3 days after the due date for the reply, Judge rules adds more cash.
3 - Goto Step 1.

All of the income an assets were allegedly tracked on a single spreadsheet. Giving them months to find legal ways to hollow the shells out more, so that no one gets anything.

Get caught with some pot in your car, they can and will take the damn car.
Get caught defrauding the court system, here have another 2 years to hide that money so we can't find it.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Eh, 2 Oct 2013 @ 6:52pm

Re: Prenda Flight Betting Pool
[ link to this | view in thread ]
RyanNerd (profile), 3 Oct 2013 @ 12:08pm

I just can't get this tune out of my head...
The wheels on the bus go round and round.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
simality (profile), 3 Oct 2013 @ 7:40pm

Re: Flight risk?/Betting Pool
I'm genuinely surprised that they haven't do so already.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Stevethegeek, 3 Oct 2013 @ 8:40pm

Re: Re: Flight risk?/Betting Pool
I promise you that Steele will most likely leave the country. I saw him a few times in court back in Illinois and I always was shocked by the fact that he would waltz into the courtroom in a 3 piece 10000 suit! He was unethical, slimy and reminded me of a used car salesman or a wannabe mobster. The family court judges usually laughed in his face because his arguments were never grounded on anything remotely to do with Illinois state law and clearly weren't in the best interests of the child. The only reason I remembered him was because of his off the wall arguments and those flashy Gucci suits. I'm sure he's put most of his money off shore and is planning an extended vacation in Mexico or some other country without an extradition treaty. I really wonder if they didn't knock off lutz? I cannot believe how many twists and turns are in this whole saga. Never seem lawyers this corrupt without being tossed in jail for contempt of court or disbarred???
[ link to this | view in thread ]