Copyright Trolls on Trail for Blackmailing Porn Lovers

[3113]

This story has it all! Blackmail, shell companies, money laundering, internet porn and copyright laws....

From here:

The business model of Prenda Law Inc. seemed to put the capital "T" in "Troll." The copyrights Prenda claimed to be defending covered pornographic movies, and that added a whole new layer of coercion to the process. Until U.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright II in Los Angeles sank his teeth into the matter, that is.

The Prenda saga already had everything a red-blooded legal observer might treasure: Pornography. Intimations of offshore money laundering. Alleged forgery and identity theft.

Then it got even stranger.

At a hearing last week, Wright asked several Prenda lawyers to explain their legal strategy in filing lawsuits accusing hundreds of Internet users of infringing porn movie copyrights by downloading the films from the Web.

Instead of answering, the lawyers pleaded the 5th Amendment.

"I've seen defendants invoke their right against self-incrimination," says Morgan Pietz, a Manhattan Beach attorney who represents several defendants in the Prenda lawsuits. "In my experience, it's unprecedented for a plaintiff's lawyer to invoke the 5th when asked to explain the conduct of his litigation."

You can't make this shit up. Enjoy!

 

[PayDay]

wtf?

blaming the Internetz over some1 watching a film?

Maybe they should stop charging for pain killers?

 

[slyc_willie]

This is disgusting, but it's also hilarious. You're right; you can't make this shit up.

When Gibbs' own lawyer, Andrew Waxler, tried to claim that Ingenuity and AF were distinct from Prenda, Wright shot him down.

"Seriously?" he snapped. "You can hardly keep a straight face, can you?"

"No, your honor," Waxler replied.

 

[Stella_Omega]

"If you say answering these kinds of questions would incriminate him, I'm inclined to take you at your word."

Oh, Joy, Joy! Rapture sevenfold!

Best thing I've seen on the internet today.

 

[JonB1969]

I'd like to buy that judge a drink! B-)