CEG-TEK
Ira Siegel replies to judge’s order, helps me to spread the word
Have you ever heard about the Streisand Effect, Mr. Siegel? The sole reason of my fight is to make sure my (and other victims’) side of the story is heard by judges, not to influence them, but to make sure their decisions are fair and balanced. Now I have a huge helping hand from the least expected player: a troll! Thank you Mr. Siegel! Given the significance of this help, I even forgive you for the veiled threats you’ve extended towards me. I’m immune against threats, you should have known it if you read this blog carefully.
Did you? Or, yes, you did: the reply was filed one day after the deadline imposed by the court. I have only one explanation to that: reading my blog was such a thrilling experience that Mr. Siegel lost the sense of time. Well, this is quite a plausible explanation since it seems that the sense of time is not the only sense Mr. Siegel had lost.
Update
Since I posted this article, some good analysis of Ira Siegel’s filing had emerged:
Fight © Trolls 
I also saw that the reply was a day late. My only thought is that now if Siegel’s reply is not adopted or accepted by the court, then the court now has a justification for dismissing his case based on a failure to timely respond rather than severing and dismissing the case based on the merits of his argument. Interesting that he did not respond to the questions posed in the judge’s order. Also interesting that he’s reading your blog.
There is a 1-5 star rating control at the top of every post. My previous (famous) post was rated 5;5;1. Any wild guesses who gave it “1”?
And now, since I know that I’m a crappy blogger, I’m going to cry all night long with elephant tears.
My guess would be Deputy Attorney General John Cole, or maybe one of the cleaners in the Oval Office.
Is it just me or did Ira basically tell the judge to go @#$% himself?
That should work out well for him.
Pathetic attempt to smokescreen a settlement mill operation there Ira.
I wonder if these John Does are caught in Honeypots possibly created by Copyright Enforcement Group (CEG)? Since these porn companies are working with them, wouldn’t it mean they may be distributing their own work if these were Honeypots?
Hope someone takes away CEG’s credibility and this would stop this scheme cold.
I think that the reason he submitted it a day late is so that the case gets thrown out, therefore he doesn’t have to come up with all the answers that the judge is asking for, just in case that the court forces the plaintiff to disclose all its dirty and illegal secrets. They can easily re-file when they SHOP for a stupid judge that doesn’t know anything about the internet in a different state when the case is dismissed without prejudice.
Wow! Congrats to Jane for getting Ira worked up. I plan to make a longer comment about his response, but here are some points I noted.
1. Ira just proved why WE act anonymously. The threat of being sued not for illegal activity, but for opening our mouth and spreading the word of the methods of the Copyright Trolls. Ira claims that two of the comments are “tortuous.” He knows we will read this and it is made as a threat (weak one at best).
2. I loved that Ira mentions the court referred to the defendants as victims. Was that a slip??? 🙂 .
Ira admits that that are going to be a few people who are wrongfully accused. Really? So your methods and procedures are not perfect? We already knew this. But your methods of trying to get ALL the defendants to settle without consideration of “your” freely admitted “exceptional” situations is unreasonable. You do no other investigation beyond obtaining the IP address from BitTorrent and send out your settlement letters.
3. Quoting the Bible? Really. Thou shall not steal applies to you as well Ira, not just the infringers.
4. Take a closer look at Ira’s response to the order. Dannielle Staub Raw was released to the public on or about 9 June 2010. When he employed CEG: 21 May 2010. Now why is the CEG employment date for this film before the release date? Now there may be a good reason, but I would like to hear it first. Someone could say it looks a little suspicious.
5. Here is the big one that Ira fails on. The Judge ordered him to disclose the TOTAL amount received in settlements from any of the defendants. Ira objects – noted and expected. But he then goes on to state that information is confidential by contract. Yes Ira, the details on each defendant is confidential by contract, NOT the TOTAL amount you have gathered from ALL the defendants! Come on Ira. I no lawyer, but at least I can read. WHAT IS THE TOTAL AMOUNT.
*Like*
Now you guys are also known in “good old Germany”:
–> http://www.gulli.com/news/17047-us-abmahnanwalt-verweigert-offenlegung-von-einnahmen-2011-09-06
Net-citizens from Europe and the U.S. need to build an ally to wipe out those copyright trolls! Let’s use the INTERconnected NETworks for sharing relevant information.
🙂
By the way (off-topic): Am I the only one who got the impression, that the U.S., Great Britain and Germany seem to be the cash cows of the content-gangsters?
I do have the feeling, that those copyright trolls seem to concentrate their business on the mentioned countries…
Yes, so far I’m aware of only 3 countries. And all the trolls except Steele use German IP-harvesters. Steele guards his “secret software” with elbows and teeth, so it is very well may be a leaked version from Germany. Since they shamelessly copy each other’s court filings and scary letters, it wouldn’t be a surprise.
I’m also puzzled by the fact that IO group goes after eDonkey, not BitTorrent. eDonkey’s defendants comprise less than 1% of the 200,000 targeted. Why it was necessary to go through the hassle of supporting another, quite different, protocol when BitTorrent fishing proved to be lucrative enough?
We have a new member in our “elite” club:
And I also known in Poland.Today I see 17 unique visitors from *.pl It is funny to read my own words translated to Polish 🙂
I just got a letter from this Ira Siegel and need some advice. Please it seems like a scam.
Yes it is a scam, BUT it is “legal” (but unethical) scam. Please read the blogs and file a motion to dismiss. There are plenty of examples out there. If you can scan the letter (and any other documents – just remove your personal data), that would be great. What is the case number for it? How much is he asking for?
DieTrollDie 🙂
I, too, received this letter. DOES-2010, I thought it was some kind of scam, but sure enough, I received a letter from “Ira” and apparently they got my name from Verizon. I’ve been pouring through the Internet and have found tons of information. Ira isn’t the only attorney making money on this. I contacted several for help and was told that for this particular kind of assistance, there is a $10,000.00 retainer. Now I know why people settle even if they are not guilty. How can I defend myself against this huge legal conglomerate??? And why do they still file in the same district court?
Anonymous,
You do what the rest of us who cannot afford an attorney do. Fight back any way you can. First off, get a PACER account and look up your case. I would suggest using the RECAP plugin on the Firefox Web browser (https://www.recapthelaw.org/) – that way you can get some of the paperwork for free, as well as upload any document your pay for from PACER. Get one of the many templates for a Motion to Dismiss from us and tailor it to fit your case. Post it to SCRIB and ask for people to review and suggest any edits – then file it with the court. Do not speak with the Troll and post any correspondance from them. None of the people here have actually been taken to court. Saying that, if you ever receive any official court summons, do not ignore them! The only thing the Trolls have going for them is when a Doe doesn’t defend themselves and they get a “default” judgement from the court. The reason they keep filing in the same jurisdictions is each judge is different and they have a chance of success. Plus this is a huge money making operations – just do the math. Figure 2000 Does at $2500 a peice – that is $5,000,000!!!!!! OK they will not get everyone, so lets say 50% – that is $2,500,000. Please don’t cave in and don’t beleive the Troll. Here is a good read for you – https://dietrolldie.wordpress.com/2011/10/12/two-wrongs-dont-make-a-right/
DieTrollDie 🙂
Thank you for providing such an amazing and informative forum. The troll(s) can be quite intimidating and this has been a huge eye opening experience. Maybe one day someone will have obtained enough knowledge to spread the word on how to protect innocent people from getting their info hacked into. Thanks again for everything. Is it cool to return if I have further questions?
Of course it is cool to ask questions, many people in similar situations read this site, and help each other. As for me, I do my best, but in addition to willingness to help one should have time, and I don’t have much recently. Plus, I’m not always possess the right answer: I’m not a lawyer, just a slightly more educated on these issues, that’s it. So everyone, firstly, please forgive me for ignoring many questions, and secondly, if you know the answer to a question or have an opinion, please share it!