OK. Imagine a guy who approached a small store’s owner and said: “You have a very neat shop here, it will be a shame if someone burns it down. But we can protect you, just pay us monthly”. Now this story makes its way to TechDirt and wild discussion erupts. But wait, why we are discussing business owner’s fire alarm system and he way his shop is wired electrically? Why negligence argument pops up and stays throughout the debate. I can understand that good discussion is worth my time: it is enlightening and entertaining. But... do we still remember the forest talking about the trees?
...because we are talking a very specific combination of user, location, ISP, etc.
"location" was added to troll's mantra only recently. Until they were pushed to the wall they tried to convince courts that it was impossible to deduct location from IP. Now some of them are pushing very bizarre conspiracy claims to overcome basic jurisdiction questions. All these games are nauseous and don't add to credibility of these "specifics".
What amuses me is how delusional these trolls are. When they fight in court with another lawyer, that’s a game with around 50-50 chance to win. So they project their inflated self-esteem to the general public, but to think that they are smarter than every defendant is kind of statistical idiotism. Out of thousands they sue at least few are much-much smarter, or powerful. That alone makes their scheme is doomed in the long run.
I don’t say than I’m smarter than my house troll Gill Sperlein, but being an irrational person, I refused to pay ransom, though based on pure math it was the easiest way out (at least how felt at that time). Well, I’m not too irrational, put it in this way: I’m not rational at expense of dignity. I believe that I damaged his extortion enterprise to some extent.
That's a big win for common sense. UK is the most similar country to US when it comes to jurisprudence, a little bit ahead though. This year we will witness the demise of copyright trolls in US as well, though I'm afraid our trolls will fade back into obscurity (read: under the bridge)unpunished.
No doubt lawyers both defend and prosecute, and this is normal, but we are not talking about copyright infringement cases with merit and probable cause, we are talking about this new phenomenon – predatory copyright trolling. After spending a couple of hours researching, a reasonable person will certainly agree that all the trolls are unethical, regardless of their subspecies. Do not jump to conclusions without thorough research.
Yes, of course there are differences, but methods are basically the same - pay up or face financial devastation (i.e. extortion - plain and simple). And the root of both cases is the same: abusing flawed laws.
I sadly observe that Righthaven victims tend to paint themselves as white knights of Fair Use and think about us, p2p troll victims, as a bunch of thieves. Again, we don't live in a Hollywood movie; the reality is far more complex. It is statistically idiotic to believe that every one of hundreds of thousands accused is guilty. And those who are not have ended up in much worse situation than bloggers harassed by Righthaven - we found ourselves in a Kafkian world of reversed Blackstone formulation and perverted presumption of innocence, we have to prove that we are innocent, not the other way around. Even those who in fact downloaded those filthy movies don't deserve the treatment they get: the entire scheme is built to make it impossible to fight back without fear of revenge. Antonio Almeida managed to anger Sperlein, and that’s why he is selectively targeted with Randazza’s help. I talked to Antonio: he does not even know the fucking difference between BitTorrent and eDonkey! His life is turned to hell so some greedy lowlifes would pocket more green paper.
I watch Righthaven cases, and wish you get informed about our problem. You are doing a great job with your blog and have a good heart, just misinformed IMHO. I find it unproductive to concentrate on differences, because clearly developments on one front impact the other.
Talking about Randazza, am I the only one who experience cognitive dissonance? His company is known for writing beautiful briefs in Righthaven cases, playing an important role in sinking this troll.
sophisticatedjanedoe (profile), 4 Jun 2011 @ 8:18am
Re: Need help
My blog is Its back. I suspected the worse, but it happened to be a stupid automatic spam flag (since I posted links in many discussions). Wordpress reasonably promptly resolved the problem.
sophisticatedjanedoe (profile), 3 Jun 2011 @ 1:14pm
Need help
I'm upset. My blog fightcopyrighttrolls.wordpress.com that was created to somehow connect Sperlein's victims and provide discussion room for those who oppose extortion tactics WAS SUSPENDED "for terms violations". I re-read the terms and failed to find any wrongdoings.
I send a request to Wordpess for explanation, but have no idea when and if they will reply me.
Seems like a cowardly attack on my right to speak freely.
I'm not absurd because I'm not a statement. I'm a homo sapiens. If I was born a statement, other statements would call me "hyberbole", "sarcasm" or other names, because statements understand irony, unlike many homo sapienses.
I also want to add that I recently found a bunch of extremely stupid people, they call themselves "Electronic Frontier Foundation": they advocate using open wireless. What a bunch of idiots!
Thank you. When I compared copyright trolls with terrorists on an ArsTechnica board, people thought it was too extreme. Then I pointed them to the Merriasm-Webster definition:
terrorism : the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion
I failed to find any part of this definition that was not applicable to legal extortionists.
Is there an official way to oblige a judge (or jury) to watch those copyrighted works in their entirety? Definitely it would strengthen Mr. Steele's standing.
And in "my" case, which is about sodomy pornography, naturally everyone would benefit from the screenings of those masterpieces.
On the post: Motion To Quash Against Copyright Troll Explains How IP Address Does Not ID User
Re: Re: Re: Re:
On the post: Motion To Quash Against Copyright Troll Explains How IP Address Does Not ID User
On the post: Motion To Quash Against Copyright Troll Explains How IP Address Does Not ID User
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
2. There were reference to judge's Baker's statement.
On the post: Motion To Quash Against Copyright Troll Explains How IP Address Does Not ID User
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
"location" was added to troll's mantra only recently. Until they were pushed to the wall they tried to convince courts that it was impossible to deduct location from IP. Now some of them are pushing very bizarre conspiracy claims to overcome basic jurisdiction questions. All these games are nauseous and don't add to credibility of these "specifics".
On the post: Motion To Quash Against Copyright Troll Explains How IP Address Does Not ID User
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
On the post: Motion To Quash Against Copyright Troll Explains How IP Address Does Not ID User
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
On the post: Motion To Quash Against Copyright Troll Explains How IP Address Does Not ID User
Re: Re: Re: Re:
On the post: Motion To Quash Against Copyright Troll Explains How IP Address Does Not ID User
Re: Re: Re:
On the post: Motion To Quash Against Copyright Troll Explains How IP Address Does Not ID User
I don’t say than I’m smarter than my house troll Gill Sperlein, but being an irrational person, I refused to pay ransom, though based on pure math it was the easiest way out (at least how felt at that time). Well, I’m not too irrational, put it in this way: I’m not rational at expense of dignity. I believe that I damaged his extortion enterprise to some extent.
http://fightcopyrighttrolls.com
On the post: UK Copyright Trolling Pioneers Sanctioned For Actions
On the post: Lawyer Trying To Trademark Bitcoin Threatens Techdirt With Bogus DMCA Takedown
Re:
On the post: Righthaven Loses Again; Has To Pay Legal Fees
Re: Re: Randazza
No doubt lawyers both defend and prosecute, and this is normal, but we are not talking about copyright infringement cases with merit and probable cause, we are talking about this new phenomenon – predatory copyright trolling. After spending a couple of hours researching, a reasonable person will certainly agree that all the trolls are unethical, regardless of their subspecies. Do not jump to conclusions without thorough research.
Yes, of course there are differences, but methods are basically the same - pay up or face financial devastation (i.e. extortion - plain and simple). And the root of both cases is the same: abusing flawed laws.
I sadly observe that Righthaven victims tend to paint themselves as white knights of Fair Use and think about us, p2p troll victims, as a bunch of thieves. Again, we don't live in a Hollywood movie; the reality is far more complex. It is statistically idiotic to believe that every one of hundreds of thousands accused is guilty. And those who are not have ended up in much worse situation than bloggers harassed by Righthaven - we found ourselves in a Kafkian world of reversed Blackstone formulation and perverted presumption of innocence, we have to prove that we are innocent, not the other way around. Even those who in fact downloaded those filthy movies don't deserve the treatment they get: the entire scheme is built to make it impossible to fight back without fear of revenge. Antonio Almeida managed to anger Sperlein, and that’s why he is selectively targeted with Randazza’s help. I talked to Antonio: he does not even know the fucking difference between BitTorrent and eDonkey! His life is turned to hell so some greedy lowlifes would pocket more green paper.
I watch Righthaven cases, and wish you get informed about our problem. You are doing a great job with your blog and have a good heart, just misinformed IMHO. I find it unproductive to concentrate on differences, because clearly developments on one front impact the other.
Peace.
On the post: Righthaven Loses Again; Has To Pay Legal Fees
Re: Randazza
Also, what kind of lawyer discusses "A reason to swallow and a reason to spit" on his professional blog, albeit jokingly?
On the post: Righthaven Loses Again; Has To Pay Legal Fees
Randazza
As for p2p porn copyright trolling, Randazza is a troll. Remember Leprechauns and Unicorns? Also, it is not widely known, Randazza is another troll's (Sperlein of IO Group - covered by TorrentFreak recently) proxy in a clear-cut trolling case in Florida. This is one of few showcases filed by Sperlein against individuals to increase pressure to settle. Read more on Sperlein in my blog.
I understand that we don't live in a Hollywood movie with good guys/bad guys and no shades of gray, but still...
On the post: Litigious Porn Producers Claim People Infringe Even If They Accidentally Downloaded Its Porn Disguised As Popular Works
Re: Need help
On the post: Litigious Porn Producers Claim People Infringe Even If They Accidentally Downloaded Its Porn Disguised As Popular Works
Need help
I send a request to Wordpess for explanation, but have no idea when and if they will reply me.
Seems like a cowardly attack on my right to speak freely.
On the post: Judge Slams Copyright Troll Lawyer John Steele's Latest 'Fishing Expedition'
http://www.scribd.com/collections/2997952/Case3-10-cv-03647-Dockets, #38
On the post: Judge Slams Copyright Troll Lawyer John Steele's Latest 'Fishing Expedition'
Re: reality check
I also want to add that I recently found a bunch of extremely stupid people, they call themselves "Electronic Frontier Foundation": they advocate using open wireless. What a bunch of idiots!
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/04/open-wireless-movement
On the post: Judge Slams Copyright Troll Lawyer John Steele's Latest 'Fishing Expedition'
Re: Re: IO Group, Inc v. Does 1-244
terrorism : the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion
I failed to find any part of this definition that was not applicable to legal extortionists.
On the post: Judge Slams Copyright Troll Lawyer John Steele's Latest 'Fishing Expedition'
And in "my" case, which is about sodomy pornography, naturally everyone would benefit from the screenings of those masterpieces.
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