Sperlein
Today’s developments
- An article in TechDirt
- Yet another 2 victims paid their ransoms. By the way, the second name was not even listed in the detailed section of the amended complaint. Is it possible to dismiss a person who was not even charged?
Fight © Trolls 
Thank you for following this case.I just got the settlement letter from Sperlein’s office, after the settlement deadline.I’ve been all nerves about it all weekend.Friday morning some lawyer i’ve never heard of called my house telling me I was being sued.Because it’s the weekend, I have to wait until Monday to call him back to talk to him and ask for legal consultation.
Like I said, i’ve been anxious and restless all weekend with thoughts of either forking over over $3300 bucks for a settlement, or still paying a lot of money for a lawyer to try to get this case dismissed, possibly on the grounds of jurisdiction because this is all happening in California and I live in Illinois, but even then what are chances of success?They could still come after me later, so is it worth it?
It would be nice to talk with other people in this case to find out what they’re doing about this.I emailed Sophisticatedjanedoe, but didn’t get a reply.I want to think this a scare tactic to shake us down for money, but after reading that article on torrentfreak i’m worried this guy might really come after me.
I am a defendant in a different case. My was from a different lawyer. I am not giving any advise whatsoever I am just telling what happened to me. I got a settlement letter about 2 months ago, followed by count less phone calls wanting me to settle. Then a week ago I got a second letter and another phone call. I basically ignored all of it. The judge then transfered the case to another judge who called for a status report asking the plaintiff to name everyone and the lawyer appeared to have caved in because I saw that my ip was listed as dismissed. (I did not pay) The only people not dismissed were the ones that had papers filed (motions to squash etc…) Now I know that the lawyer has my name and address, but it appears that most of these cases they are simply looking for a bunch of people to pay up and then they move on. Like I said this was not advice (I am certainly NOT an attorney) I was just sharing my story with you. I will give you one bit of advice though. Relax, remember this is not the end of the world.
I received a scam letter a while ago telling to pay up or be prepared to lose everything. At first it also scared me a bit. The Trolls also informed me that there is NO defense that will work. What a load of crap. I have proof that unauthorized people have been on my network. If a jury believes you, your defense will work. Also if the Trolls come across as being a bunch of money hungry bottom feeders (you think so?), a jury can rule against them – very possible. BTW – I’m no lawyer, so don’t take this as advice. After a little time to research the issue and reflect, I found it was best to ignore the Trolls. They want you to reply/respond to them. The business model the Trolls are following is to spend as little time and money as possible to maximize their return from their victims. If you live in a State other than the one the case was filed in (Federal court), the court does not have jurisdiction over you. Yes they can file in your State, but that will cost them more time and money – unlikely. It is so much easier for the Trolls to pick a new piece of copyright protected media being shared, collect the IP address, and file a case for a couple hundred dollars. As previously stated, relax and take it one step at a time. – Doe Ray Me
Now that i’ve actually spoken to a lawyer he layed out the situation as such….they are trying to shake people down for money because settling is cheaper than defending….a lot cheaper.I didn’t realize I would need an actual California attorney, which he said could run up to 10k.If we do nothing, they win by default.
The only way to fight this is to either have a lot of people share the cost of a lawyer, or lawyer, perhaps someone eager to shut someone like Mr. Sperlein down, willing to take this on for free.