I mentioned IO Group v. Somoza case a couple of times. That’s the case where Sperlein and his New Jersey proxies (who are currently being investigated for fraud) sued a guy who is in extremely dire financial situation and who has serious health problems. In addition, the guy said that he did not even live at the address at the time of the alleged infringement.

This case is finally over. The document says that “the parties reached a confidential settlement agreement.” We will never know if any money was involved, and I want to believe that it wasn’t. First, Carlos does not have assets to pay any large amount, and second, last week the judge on this case noticed that this lawsuit was improperly filed, so the haste in closing is suspicious. In any case, I’m glad that it is over for Carlos, and wish him all the best.

Sperlein, with the help from proxies, filed 4 suits vs. individuals in different states:

• IO Group v. Somoza.
• IO Group v. John Doe. Dismissed — I wrote about it earlier.
• IO Group v. Anthony Uy. Dismissed after defendant’s attorney Stewart Kellar filed a short and precise reply to accusations. Dropping cases when more or less serious opposition emerges is nothing new: we witness many trolls use this tactics. Remember: opposition means a danger of litigation, which trolls have no intention to start, and which is rather impossible to win given the quality of the “evidence” in p2p lawsuits.
• IO Group v. Almeida. This is the only case that is still alive, and IO Group is represented by Marc Randazza. I don’t know what is going on this case. I strongly believe that Antonio Almeida did not do what he was accused of doing: he was out of the country, and his laptop was broken (with a very solid proof). Unlike Somoza, Antonio probably has some assets, which proves that copyright trolls care about money, not justice. I hope that Antonio will stay strong, so the trolls will retreat under the bridge and let him live his life, which they impudently trespassed.