sophisticatedjanedoe 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (235)

• On the post: Copyright Troll Carl Crowell Ups The Ante: Now Demands Accused Pirates Hand Over Their Hard Drives

  

  sophisticatedjanedoe ( profile ), 29 Sep, 2017 @ 11:49am

  There is a followup to this story, and it's good:

  Magistrate judge to copyright troll: you may cut and run if you want, but first compensate defendant.

  tl;dr: Crowell tried to cut-and-run (drop the defendant without paying for his troubles), and Magistrate Beckerman (who is not a fan of Crowell, to put it mildly), said "no" to the troll: pay up.

• On the post: Copyright Troll Insists Septuagenarian Is An Enormous Copyright Infringer, Then Runs Away After Backlash

  

  sophisticatedjanedoe ( profile ), 24 Aug, 2017 @ 03:20pm

  Re: Doesn't use the Prenda tragedy

  Speaking of Prenda tragedy, then why do you even bring it up?

  There is a term for that: Gertruding.

• On the post: Copyright Troll Insists Septuagenarian Is An Enormous Copyright Infringer, Then Runs Away After Backlash

  

  sophisticatedjanedoe ( profile ), 24 Aug, 2017 @ 02:24pm

  "A 72 y.o. person? Hold my beer!" -- said an East coast copyright troll -- "I sue dead people!" Stay tuned.

• On the post: Voltage Picture's Lawyer Sues Copyright Trolling Participants, Calls Lawsuits Unethical

  

  sophisticatedjanedoe ( profile ), 08 Aug, 2017 @ 07:19am

  Re: What I want to know

  2 cases I can think of (doesn't mean I don't miss something important):

  • Dallas Buyers Club v Underwood (CAND 15-cv-05537): a case when it became known that the trolls plunder not only laypeople, but also the actual movie producer/rights holder.
  • Dallas Buyers Club v Ahmari (CASD 15-cv-01614), where the defendant (represented by Clay Renick) won after putting up a very good and aggressive defense.

  Note that the defense attorney in the former case was Nick Ranallo, who was instrumental in the Prenda demise and overall a very effective and competent in this area of litigation attorney. Now he is after Crowell: so I believe that Davis, while being somewhat ripe to turn against his former employer, is not that important: it could be anyone else in a similar situation. The forces who dream to destroy Guardaley are always ready to jump on an opportunity: either a "clean" defendant who is resolved to fight, or, like in this case, a former troll with a heightened sense of inevitable crackdown. When such an opportunity presents itself, it's a win-win situation: the worst case scenario is a sizeable settlement unfavorable to a troll (as recently happened in Malibu Media v Doe CAND 15-cv-04441), yet I always hope for a bigger, Prenda-sized, outcome.

• On the post: Film Director's Op-Ed Ignores Reality To Push Hollywood Lobbying Talking Points

  

  sophisticatedjanedoe ( profile ), 07 Aug, 2017 @ 10:29am

  According to director's surname, he must be thinking that an opportunity is something created only once, long time ago, when the grass was greener.

• On the post: Government Knocks Hansmeier's Attempt To Talk Court Out Of Federal Prosecution

  

  sophisticatedjanedoe ( profile ), 09 Jun, 2017 @ 02:44pm

  Re: Re:

  No, Richard: Eric, who wrote this story, didn't get a raise for a long time. You probably confuse him with Maryanne. So, alas, Diane, your assumption is wrong.

• On the post: Government Knocks Hansmeier's Attempt To Talk Court Out Of Federal Prosecution

  

  sophisticatedjanedoe ( profile ), 09 Jun, 2017 @ 12:26pm

  Re: Re:

  Agreed. Look at two subtle hints in the government's reply: p. 17:

  Although Hansmeier now claims to have believed his copyright infringement claims were legitimate (Doc. 49 at 38-41), the jury will find that during the relevant time period Hansmeier knew that: (1) his conduct was not lawful; (2) as noted above, if courts had known what he was doing, they would not have permitted him to obtain early discovery; and (3) if users had known what he was doing, many would not have settled with him.

  p. 24:

  To the extent that defendant argues he believed his conduct was lawful, and therefore he lacked the requisite intent to defraud, this is a factual issue that should be resolved at trial, not through a motion to dismiss.

  Someone's shadow is lurking behind the bus. Is it John's?

• On the post: Telenor Looks To Lead The Anti-Troll Fight In Europe

  

  sophisticatedjanedoe ( profile ), 02 Jun, 2017 @ 09:39am

  Re: ISPs directly get more customers from availability of "free" content, and they don't care about the distant creators.

  And finally: if content was downloaded as alleged, then it's not trolling, or "extortion", or "mafia" tactics, but lawful redress of grievance for infraction of civil law.

  You are woefully ignorant, and your Google is broken.

• On the post: Copyright Troll's Tech 'Experts' Can Apparently Detect Infringement Before It Happens

  

  sophisticatedjanedoe ( profile ), 31 May, 2017 @ 10:58am

  Re:

  It's an uphill battle: usually judges adhere to the "out of sight - out of mind" philosophy and are reluctant to look into voluntarily dismissed cases. However, a defendant can prevent a voluntary dismissal by counterclaiming when answering the complaint. The trolls vehemently fight against this tactic, but they are losing. Last year Judge Alsup explicitly denied Malibu Media's attempt to dismiss such counterclaim:

  Malibu Media’s motion seems more like a gimmick designed to allow it an easy exit if discovery reveals its claims are meritless. Section 505 of Title 17 of the United States Code provides that a “prevailing party” may be awarded attorney’s fees in a copyright infringement action; however, when a copyright plaintiff voluntarily dismisses a claim without prejudice, the defendant is not a prevailing party. […] Absent defendant’s counterclaim, if events reveal that this case is meritless, Malibu Media could voluntarily dismiss its affirmative claims without prejudice under Rule 41(a)(2), seeking to avoid an award of attorney’s fees. If, however, defendant’s counterclaim remains alive, he will be able to press his counterclaim.

  I witness more and more attorneys now successfully use this tactic. Just yesterday, Malibu settled with (paid to) a counterclaiming defendant in New York.

• On the post: Copyright Troll's Tech 'Experts' Can Apparently Detect Infringement Before It Happens

  

  sophisticatedjanedoe ( profile ), 31 May, 2017 @ 09:43am

  Re: Business Opportunity For Lawyers?

  That's an emerging trend in Illinois. I was tipped that after I publicized Chicago Volunteer Legal services, many low-income people (primary trolls' targets) contacted this organization. In addition to direct impact (competent representation), this way more attorneys become aware of (and appalled by) the scam, some well-sourced law firms among them. I'm cautiously optimistic.

• On the post: Judge Alsup Threatens To Block Malibu Media From Any More Copyright Trolling In Northern California

  

  sophisticatedjanedoe ( profile ), 18 May, 2017 @ 07:00am

  Update

  A quick update

  More interesting things may happen during/after today's hearing.

• On the post: Well, Duh: Facebook's System To Stop 'Fake News' Isn't Working — Because Facebook Isn't The Problem

  

  sophisticatedjanedoe ( profile ), 17 May, 2017 @ 11:19am

  It's a great story, and it 100% confirmed my own thoughts on this issue: teaching critical thinking is the right answer.

• On the post: Judge Alsup Threatens To Block Malibu Media From Any More Copyright Trolling In Northern California

  

  sophisticatedjanedoe ( profile ), 15 May, 2017 @ 12:01pm

  AVN

  Two days ago AVN (Adult Video News -- probably the most read x-biz news outlet) reported on this order. Maybe the general audience didn't notice, but I felt a significant shift in how this outlet (and adult industry in general) feels about copyright trolling phenomenon: the industry, which isn't happy about piracy, is now seemingly even less happy with increased government's attention.

  These concerns are not new: this 2-year old opinion is pretty convincing that suing general public is perilous for the entire industry. However, AVN was implicitly approving (at least in my perception) of "going after porn thieves." Apparently not anymore.

• On the post: Paul Hansmeier Argues Convicting Him Of Fraud Would Seriously Damage The Judicial System

  

  sophisticatedjanedoe ( profile ), 25 Apr, 2017 @ 01:00pm

  Re: Pejorative Terms

  That's a hilarious observation.

• On the post: Paul Hansmeier Argues Convicting Him Of Fraud Would Seriously Damage The Judicial System

  

  sophisticatedjanedoe ( profile ), 25 Apr, 2017 @ 12:23pm

  Other copyright trolls* have to be applauding this motion

  Would those other trolls return the favor and file an amicus brief? Just like Steele and Hansmeier did in a sinking Lipscomb's case 5.5 years ago?

  It would be amazing.

• On the post: Feds Say Jewelry Company CEO Scrubbed Google Results With Fake Court Orders And Forged Judge's Signatures

  

  sophisticatedjanedoe ( profile ), 21 Apr, 2017 @ 10:12am

  Judges are more equal than others I guess: forge a judge's signature -- go to jail; forge 500 declarations in bittorent cases -- "but but piracy!"

• On the post: Mormon Church Tries To Censor MormonLeaks Using Copyright, Streisand Effect Takes Over

  

  sophisticatedjanedoe ( profile ), 16 Mar, 2017 @ 12:59pm

  Readers of this site will be familiar with Randazza and his reputation for repudiating bogus takedowns and lame uses of intellectual property in this matter.

  I'm totally agree with this story's position... but LOL.

• On the post: Copyright Troll Sues Tor Exit Node, Gets Partial Win

  

  sophisticatedjanedoe ( profile ), 02 Mar, 2017 @ 12:18pm

  And sometimes -- well, maybe just this once -- the IP address being sued is actually a Tor exit node [...]

  Almost 5 years ago Prenda (Lightspeed to be precise) sued a TOR exit node operator. It didn't end well (for the trolls).

• On the post: Team Prenda Finally Goes To Jail: Hansmeier & Steele Indicted & Arrested

  

  sophisticatedjanedoe ( profile ), 29 Dec, 2016 @ 12:54pm

  I OCRd the indictment, and added some links for those who is new to this saga.

• On the post: Take Note: Copyright Troll Gets Stiff Response From Someone It Tried To Bully, Immediately Runs Away

  

  sophisticatedjanedoe ( profile ), 26 Dec, 2016 @ 05:59pm

  A followup: Copyright troll David Lowe drops three defendants after defense attorney threatens to expose fraud

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