sophisticatedjanedoe (profile), 21 Dec 2016 @ 6:58am
Re:
Despite that Voelker is a superlaywer, I doubt he knows anything about the loot. Duffy did not know everything either to begin with. I'm more surprised that Adam Urbanczyk didn't appear in the indictment, even by initials, although the collusion and faux defendants were mentioned.
sophisticatedjanedoe (profile), 26 Oct 2016 @ 7:10am
Re: "Well, we had to drop that case. Time to focus on the other 27 currently in the works..."
I share your pessimism. While reading this story, I couldn't help seeing a parallel between this fraud and Prenda's Cook county shenanigans. If you don't remember, Steele/Hansmeier colluded with a "defense" attorney Adam Urbanczyk in order to secure an "agreed order" to subpoena ISPs for addresses of thousands of future shakedown targets. I wrote about it 4 years ago.
Judge Taylor clearly saw this massive fraud, there is absolutely no doubt about it, yet a mild slap of the wrist was the only result. It took federal courts, dedicated attorneys, and 4 more years to dismantle Prenda. Meanwhile, Steele is still practicing (as well as disbarred Hansmeier - vicariously through his wife), shaking down small businesses. And if Urbanczyk is ever indicted over this, I'll be immensely surprised.
sophisticatedjanedoe (profile), 20 Oct 2016 @ 6:48am
Venue
To say that the following justification for the venue is weak would be an understatement:
This Court has personal jurisdiction over Defendants Trump for President, Inc., Trump Sr., Trump Jr., and Pence because they do business and/or transact business within the State of Illinois. Defendants Trump for President, Inc., Trump Sr., Trump Jr. and Pence have conducted tortious acts of infringement in the Northern District of Illinois, conducted acts directed at this District, and/or transacted or done business within this District.
Defendants have social media profiles wherein they have individuals who follow their social media posts (hereinafter “Followers”). Defendants have Followers in Illinois and in the Northern District. Defendants actively sought to campaign in the Northern District of Illinois and have scheduled and promoted rallies in support of the same.
I don't have time to review Prenda's argument in this case, but it is worth noting that a year ago during the 9th Circuit appeal argument, Prenda's attorney specifically asked for that -- to judges' disbelief:
Judge Pregerson: "Do you want us to send this back and have it turn into a criminal contempt? Is that what you want?"
Daniel Voelker: "At a minimum? Absolutely, You Honor: my clients want their day in court..."
Also, the very people who are supposed to benefit from this law, most likely would be in disadvantage.
While copyright trolls are experienced in scaring people into paying, folks with legitimate grievances are not. The tribunal call can issue an injunction... and then what? There is no “small enforcement” procedure and the losing side can safely ignore the judgement because in order to collect, a "winner" will necessarily have to face significant expense, which is contrary to the whole idea of such system to begin with.
Reservoir Dogs? Why is that the name of the movie? a friend once asked me. Well, I told them, in areas with wild dogs they hang out near watering holes, ponds, or puddles or whatever but as the summer goes on in some places it starts to dry up and the dogs, who once shared the water begin to turn on each other.
Humans do it for a lot less than water is the difference.
sophisticatedjanedoe (profile), 28 Jun 2016 @ 7:38am
Re: Re: Re:
But wouldn't the very act of having a judge say that a person is a non infringer completely negate the case?
It would, but the judge didn't say that. He just allowed the counterclaim to stay for a future resolution, which will take place either during a trial (not likely) or on a motion for summary judgement.
A common mistake is to conflate case with complaint: while a plaintiff conjures a case by filing the complaint, it does not have power to close the case, only to dismiss its own claims (subject to rules). If the defendant doesn't counterclaim, dismissing the complaint normally results in an administrative closing. However, if the defendant files a counterclaim, the plaintiff has no power over it, and the case stays alive.
sophisticatedjanedoe (profile), 13 Jun 2016 @ 4:34pm
Meanith Huon
Meanith Huon... A ghost from the past. He represented a gay pornography studio Flava Works in a couple of bittorent lawsuits, and even won $1,5M (not sure the plaintiff was able to collect though). Search TorrentFreak for Flava — TF is down now, so I can't provide a link. Flava is a bit of outside of my area of interest because this company didn't extort file-sharers, but instead went after the initial downloaders via watermarking the films. I'm even reluctant to call them copyright trolls.
In the course of discussion of those lawsuits, Raul unearthed and posted some unflattering links (related to the allegations Above the Law was sued for). In two weeks someone, who I believe was Mr. Huon himself, stopped by and attempted to threaten us:
It would be fairly easy to issue a subpoena for your IP address and name you as a John Doe and sue you for defamation. Every day this posts remains is a republication o the defamatory statement.
Accusing someone of a crime is defamatory. The blog develops the content of the comments. Thus, Section 230 of the CDA does not apply. The John Doe commenters are also liable for defamation. A subpoena will reveal your IP address. Keep it up.
After he realized that we wouldn't succumb to intimidation, he relented. Nonetheless, he was successful in intimidating some online media, and many articles (for example, in St. Louis Post Dispatch) were removed.
Kind of a shady and unpleasant individual. Won't be surprised if Mike receives some threats from him.
On the post: Team Prenda Finally Goes To Jail: Hansmeier & Steele Indicted & Arrested
Re:
On the post: Team Prenda Finally Goes To Jail: Hansmeier & Steele Indicted & Arrested
Re: Should have demanded a pinky promise too
On the post: Command Line Interface Copyright Case: Not Fair Use... But Not Infringing Thanks To Scenes A Faire
On the post: Take Note: Copyright Troll Gets Stiff Response From Someone It Tried To Bully, Immediately Runs Away
My take
On the post: Conspiracy Theories Run Amok Over Copyright Office Executive Changes
On the post: Canada Copyright Troll Threatens Octogenarian Over Download Of A Zombie War Game
Nothing new, but no less disgusting.
On the post: With Interest In Profile Defenders' Questionable Lawsuits Rising, The Lawsuits Start Falling
Re: "Well, we had to drop that case. Time to focus on the other 27 currently in the works..."
I share your pessimism. While reading this story, I couldn't help seeing a parallel between this fraud and Prenda's Cook county shenanigans. If you don't remember, Steele/Hansmeier colluded with a "defense" attorney Adam Urbanczyk in order to secure an "agreed order" to subpoena ISPs for addresses of thousands of future shakedown targets. I wrote about it 4 years ago.
Judge Taylor clearly saw this massive fraud, there is absolutely no doubt about it, yet a mild slap of the wrist was the only result. It took federal courts, dedicated attorneys, and 4 more years to dismantle Prenda. Meanwhile, Steele is still practicing (as well as disbarred Hansmeier - vicariously through his wife), shaking down small businesses. And if Urbanczyk is ever indicted over this, I'll be immensely surprised.
On the post: Actor James Woods Gloats Over Death Of Random Twitter Troll He Sued To Unmask [Updated]
On the post: Skittles Photographer Actually Sues Trump Campaign Over Infringement
Venue
To say that the following justification for the venue is weak would be an understatement:
Ohai, John Steele & Guava LLC.
On the post: Skittles Photographer Actually Sues Trump Campaign Over Infringement
That's how.
On the post: Prenda (Mostly) Loses Again; Court Says 'We Warned You To Stop Digging, But You Still Did'
Re: Re: The chewbacca defense?
Judge Pregerson: "Do you want us to send this back and have it turn into a criminal contempt? Is that what you want?"
Daniel Voelker: "At a minimum? Absolutely, You Honor: my clients want their day in court..."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObZDipKRH0c -- skip to 16:50
On the post: A Dozen Bad Ideas That Were Raised At The Copyright Office's DMCA Roundtables
On the post: Prenda (Mostly) Loses Again; Court Says 'We Warned You To Stop Digging, But You Still Did'
On the post: Bill Introduced To Create Copyright Small Claims Court... Which Copyright Trolls Are Going To Love
While copyright trolls are experienced in scaring people into paying, folks with legitimate grievances are not. The tribunal call can issue an injunction... and then what? There is no “small enforcement” procedure and the losing side can safely ignore the judgement because in order to collect, a "winner" will necessarily have to face significant expense, which is contrary to the whole idea of such system to begin with.
It’s a lose-lose proposition. A bad idea.
On the post: Malibu Media Sues Its Former Lawyer Over Missing Funds, Breach Of Bar Rules
On the post: Judge Calls Out Malibu Media For Its Attempt To Cut And Run When Faced With Challenge To Its Infringement Claims
As the first comment aptly notes,
On the post: Judge Calls Out Malibu Media For Its Attempt To Cut And Run When Faced With Challenge To Its Infringement Claims
Re: Re: Re:
It would, but the judge didn't say that. He just allowed the counterclaim to stay for a future resolution, which will take place either during a trial (not likely) or on a motion for summary judgement.
A common mistake is to conflate case with complaint: while a plaintiff conjures a case by filing the complaint, it does not have power to close the case, only to dismiss its own claims (subject to rules). If the defendant doesn't counterclaim, dismissing the complaint normally results in an administrative closing. However, if the defendant files a counterclaim, the plaintiff has no power over it, and the case stays alive.
On the post: General Mills Granted A Design Patent On A Tortilla Bowl Because Why Even Pretend Anymore?
On the post: Supreme Court Makes It (Slightly) Easier To Award Attorneys' Fees For Bogus Copyright Lawsuits
On the post: Peter Thiel's Plan To Destroy Gawker Went Way Beyond Hogan's Case
Meanith Huon
In the course of discussion of those lawsuits, Raul unearthed and posted some unflattering links (related to the allegations Above the Law was sued for). In two weeks someone, who I believe was Mr. Huon himself, stopped by and attempted to threaten us:
and (twice)
After he realized that we wouldn't succumb to intimidation, he relented. Nonetheless, he was successful in intimidating some online media, and many articles (for example, in St. Louis Post Dispatch) were removed.
Kind of a shady and unpleasant individual. Won't be surprised if Mike receives some threats from him.
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