Prenda
Lightspeed Media Corporation v. John Doe: a quick Q & A
Disclaimer: This post in a way constitutes legal advice but is being submitted for discussion purposes only.
I wanted to write my first post and try to keep it simple about the case entitled Lightspeed Media Corporation v. John Doe currently pending in the Circuit Court of the Twentieth Judicial Circuit, St. Clair County, Illinois (complaint is embedded below). Don’t let the title deceive you : this is not a lawsuit against a single malicious hacker, but a mere fishing expedition, which has a sole goal to obtain contact information of 6,500 Internet users and start extortion racket. Naming one person and burying hundreds, and (like in this case) thousands, of subscribers in a complaint is one of the new sleazy tactics employed by trolls in order to deceive both courts and public.
Who is Lightspeed Media Corporation?
Pornographer Steve JonesLightspeed Media Corporation (LMC) is a pornography enterprise located in Phoenix, Arizona. It is owned by Steve Jones, a former computer consultant who, along with his wife,
…publishes photos and videos of youthful models, and has long used terms such as “barely legal” and “barely 18″ in its marketing. Users pay between $30 and $40 a month, depending on how many sites they want to access.”
(According to Wall Street Journal.)
Today Steve Jones charges (NSFW link) either $34.95 or $39.95.
Who is LMC’s troll?
Former judge Michael O’MalleyLMC is being represented by an attorney affiliated¹ with Prenda Law by the name of Michael O’ Malley, who until August 2010 was a judge in the court where this lawsuit is pending. Undoubtedly he is on friendly terms with the judge who has been assigned to this case in what American Tort Reform Foundation has identified as being in the top list of “judicial hellholes” in the USA.
Who is LMC’s Forensic Computer Expert?
Quick answer: Steve Jones. According to the complaint at paragraph 14,
Plaintiff retained Arcadia Data Security Consultants, LLC (“Arcadia”) to identify IP addresses associated with hackers that use hacked passwords and the Internet to access Plaintiff’s private website and content.
[to do this] Arcadia used forensic software named Trader Hacker and Intruder Evidence Finder 2.0 (T.H.I.E.F.) to detect hacking, unauthorized access, and password sharing activity on Plaintiff’s websites.
Arcadia‘s address is the same address for LMC. Arcadia’s sole member is Steve Jones (likewise Matthew P. Collins is the Organizer of Arcadia and Attorney of Record for LMC).
Furthermore, guess who owns, markets and likely commissioned the creation of the forensic software? Yup, Steve Jones (www.arcadiasecurity.com ²). So a more accurate statement of paragraph 14 would be “Plaintiff’s principal, Steve Jones, retained Steve Jones to use Steve Jones’s forensic software to identify…”. No reports, investigations or testimony would be admissible in an honest court because they would be found to have been issued or given by a “biased expert” or one who has a financial interest in the outcome of the lawsuit.
What is the Amount of Money Involved In This Lawsuit?
LMC is claiming damages in excess of $100,000 plus attorney’s fees and costs. Back to reality, Buffy the Pirate Hunter (a.k.a. John Steele) has threatened to sue individuals and if that is the case then, in my opinion, LMC’s damages would be the cost of a lost monthly membership ($34.95 – $39.95) if a case actually went to trial.
What of Earth is Going on With Count I of the Complaint?
LMC’s troll is bringing lawsuit in a state court based upon a federal statute known as the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) on the ground that John Doe and his 6,500 co-conspirators used hacked passwords to access his websites (how this could happen to a former computer consultant who has been working in online porno business since 1999 is beyond me). On its face it looks a little scary but I do not believe the troll has pleaded a claim that would survive a motion to dismiss. This is because to make such a case the troll has to prove that his client sustained “damage” or “loss” of at least $5,000 which I think is not realistic.
The CFAA states that “damage” means any impairment to the integrity or availability of data, a program, a system, or information and “loss” means any reasonable cost to any victim, including the cost of responding to an offense, conducting a damage assessment, and restoring the data, program, system, or information to its condition prior to the offense, and any revenue lost, cost incurred, or other consequential damages incurred because of interruption of service. In plain English and within the context of this lawsuit it means that the Troll has to show that LMC spent at least $5,000 to repair and/or re-secure his websites. The complaint claims it can reach this amount “in the form of actual damages, statutory damages, and reputational injury” but there are no statutory damages contained in the CFAA and as to reputational injuries to a pornographer that uses models/actresses who are barely 18… good luck with that.
What About the state claims of conversion, unjust enrichment, breach of contract and civil Conspiracy?
The simpler ones (conversion and unjust enrichment) are arguably valid but the damages are small ($34.95 – $39.95). The other two causes of action (breach of Contract and civil conspiracy), in my opinion, are laughable under the circumstances of this lawsuit.
I will keep an eye on these cases and, if the need arises, write a post about personal jurisdiction and removal under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. In the meantime, do not feed the trolls.
Thanks to On2ndthought for unearthing some interesting facts presented in this post.
Notes
A resource and discussion page dedicated to Lightspeed “hacking” cases.
4/16/2012: A follow-up post: Attorney’s opinion: Lightspeed’s claim is a farce.
5/5/2012: Another follow-up post by Raul: Lightspeed Media Corporation v. John Doe: a quick follow-up Q & A.
Here is an interesting blog post about St. Clair county and its public servants.
¹ Pay attention to the address where deposition is set to take place: this is the official Prenda Law headquarters (a.k.a Troll Central).
² Initially I linked to www.arcadiasecurity.com, but it was brought to my attention that Steve Jones redirects to a Google image search for “gay love”. Is this how a mature individual behaves? You decide. Update: now it redirects to the Facebook main page; also, Steve Jones’s name is not listed in the domain name registration anymore: don’t worry, we have plenty of screenshots.
Fight © Trolls 
Why do these slime always wear goatees and why do they always surround themselves with young girls “barely legal”?
(Oops, that term is copyrighted by someone. Probably so is “girls.” Probably they should be investigated, too.)
Uploaded a Comcast’s motion 3/19 (thanks to kzw!)
Here is an interesting blog post about St. Clair county and its public servants.
Here’s an article that shows the connection between former Judge Michael OMalley & his new career as troll attorney with the firm of Carey, Danis and Lowe:
http://www.madisonrecord.com/news/226994-omalley-presided-over-st.-clairs-vioxx-litigation-dozens-of-cases-brought-by-lawyers-hell-work-for
Yes, there is a couple of articles about O’Malley, some linked from the judicial hellholes article about St. Clair county (linked in the article above).
The link between St. Clair county corrupticon and Lightspeed is Paul Duffy, Steele did not know anyone from that hole before, at least to comfortably launch this scam.
BTW since the Verizon motion that has a bizarre bit about Steve Jones’s death happened to be genuine, it’s likely that the information about O’Malley withdrawing from this case is most likely correct as well. So the question is: who is Lightspeed’s attorney on the record? If it’s Duffy, it would be double bizarre. A ghost of Duffy representing a ghost of Jones. Why the former is a ghost? Later: stay intrigued.
A ghost of Duffy? Fluffy ethereal Duffy huffy about being full of troll stuffy.
I am a little lost of what the new events are in this case….. What was the “hearing” regarding today?
The Case Participants List shows the following Plantiff Attorney Names:
HOERNER, KEVIN T ATY PLAINTIFF Party ACTIVE 03/02/2012
LIGHTSPEED MEDIA CORPORATION PLAINTIFF Party ACTIVE 12/14/2011
O MALLEY, MICHAEL J ATY PLAINTIFF Party UNKNOWN
Appears that Kevin T. Horner might be working with Michael OMalley’s or his replacement. Here’s some info on Hoener from his firms websie:
Kevin T. Hoerner
Kevin T. Hoerner was born in East St. Louis, Illinois, and is a life-long resident of St. Clair County. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1984 and earned his law degree from the St. Louis University School of Law in 1987.
Licensed to practice law in both Illinois and Missouri, Kevin limits his practice to civil litigation, although he concentrates in personal injury, death and medical malpractice cases. His recent practice includes class action litigation, serving as local counsel in St. Clair County and the District Court for the Southern District of Illinois for Monsanto Company and Emerson Electric Company. Kevin also serves as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Illinois with the Department of Transportation and the Department of Conservation, an Assistant State’s Attorney for St. Clair County and legal counsel for Stookey Township.
As a member of the Illinois State Bar Association, Kevin has served on the General Practice Section Council and Tort Law Section Council, and is currently a member of the Railroad Law Section of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. He is also a member of the American Bar Association, the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, the St. Clair County Bar Association and the East St. Louis Bar Association.
Becker, Paulson, Hoerner & Thompson, P.C.
Attorneys At Law
5111 West Main Street
Belleville, Illinois 62226
Telephone: (618) 235-0020
or (618) 271-1600
Fax: (618) 235-8558
Also found this info that Kevin T. Hoerner is running for office this coming November:
CANDIDATE FOR THE OFFICE OF
St. Clair County Precinct Committeeman, Stookey 4
CANDIDATE PARTY
Democratic
ELECTION
November 6, 2012 Illinois General Election
Lets help his election bid by connecting his name to this porn lawsuit.
A Democrat working for the porn industry, with its high regard for women, is like a Republican championing atheism. Out of step with the party, just a little?
So, who runs against him? I’m sure the opposing party(ies) would appreciate a link to this site. Any volunteers to research and notify?
If he’s running as a democrat, I think tipping this site off might help: http://www.stclaircountyrepublicans.com/
“Porners Vote 4 Hoerner”
The Republicans have not yet announced their opposing candidates for the election yet. The link says to check back as it gets closer to the Nov 6th election date. Here’s the link that you can check back to:
http://www.evoter.com/il/precinct-committeeman-office/page-10/candidates?
PS: Found this also-Kevin T. Hoerner is 50 yrs of age & his, brother or son, Garrett P. Hoerner, who is 40 yrs. of age is also an attorney & works @ the same law firm-Becker, Paulson, Hoerner & Thompson, P.C. He also is a canidate in the upcoming November election:
Garrett P. Hoerner Candidate 2012 Illinois General Election
CANDIDATE
Garrett P. Hoerner
CANDIDATE FOR THE OFFICE OF
St. Clair County Precinct Committeeman, Stookey 9
CANDIDATE PARTY
Democratic
ELECTION
November 6, 2012 Illinois General Election
Assuming the site(s) in question can be logged into using a url, for example username:password@site.com, couldn’t anyone simply click on a link on a forum, email, webpage, etc and access things behind a paywall without any intention of wrongdoing?
Regardless, Isn’t it somewhat common for password sites and porn site owners to work together to provide what amounts to a trial login?
In the Comcast MTQ dated 3-19-12- page 5 of 5 entitled Certificate of Service verifies that Kevin T. Hoerner has replaced Michael OMalley as the troll attorney:
Looks like the have filed against some does in this password hacking case
hxxp://wefightpiracy.com/userfiles/Complaint-Filed%20(Sekora).pdf
Any thoughts?
[sjd — I redacted the URL: Prenda most likely logs IP addresses; you can access this document via proxy: click here]
I’m sort of speechless after reading that complaint. They really thought of everything. I did not really think it would go this far but it seems to have begun. My son a USMC military police officer has been targeted & now I am truly worried. He did NOT have anything to do with their website at all. He has so much going on right now he does not wish to discuss this any further. I will respect that but will continue to monitor this thing as the pissed off mother I am. Thanks for that post. I hope my son never gets named in this crap.
This is meager attempt to spread FUD, nothing more and nothing less. Arizona is the logical place to start Prenda’s summer campaign of harassment.
Yep. Same hogwash. Puppet attorney on this case does not even have a website. requesting statutory damages citing the law that does not include statutory damages: these lawyers are classy, the cream of legal elite. If an amateur like myself can list at least a dozen of problems reading this complaint, just imagine what a treasure trove it is for a professional. I mean as a free food for a countersuit, delivered by trolls on a plate.
Actually this Puppet attorney filed another LMC complaint on 5-31 against World Timber, Inc.,(cv2012-053230). I cannot tell from the Maricopa County website whether it is a troll lawsuit or Steve purchased a poorly made chest of drawers where he keeps his bunched up panties.
http://www.superiorcourt.maricopa.gov/docket/CivilCourtCases/caseSearchResults.asp?lastName=&FirstName=&bName=lightspeed
A quick search reveals that Puppet attorney hales from CO and only fairly recently transplanted to AZ. Why?
Forgot to mention, be on high alert status for troll fuckery on this blog or that of DTD (Trolls pretending to be Does). Also FUD news would not be complete without a comment or two from the Lord Voldemort (or the Rodney Dangerfield?) of the trolls.
It looks like the fuckery has already begun.
The only thing added is that he actually used password protection to attempt to secure his website. The rest of it is still the same bogus case with the same semi-truck sized holes in it.
Anyone know the valitidty/strength of ProxyPass that’s mentioned? I’d also be very curious to see just how many different IPs supposedly gained access with each hacked password. If it’s only a couple (which after a couple quick logins from different IPs, I’d imagine any website owner with any brains would lock down), that would calculate to 2000-3000 passwords hacked…I dont think there’s enough people in the world who care about his site to devote that much time to hacking it.
Proxy Pass is antique, by no means “the industry standard” for website security. The industry standard, at least in the porn industry sector, is Strongbox. Proxy Pass is as standard as Lightspeed’s websites are: not.
I should add, ProxyPass doesn’t even show up in a search of Ynot.com, the adult website online community of record. What a cheapskate on top of everything else, Jones must be.
One last note, from the Strongbox website (http://www.bettercgi.com/strongbox/):
“The average site that doesn’t use proper security software like the Strongbox security system seems to be losing about 1 GB per day this way. [Popular sites lose more — as much as 6 GB a month.] By eliminating this theft of service, the Strongbox security system will pay for itself the first month you use it.”
Follow this: in an entire day, according to Strongbox statistics, the average weakly protected, reasonably popular website — not losers like Lightspeed’s — loses 1 GB of content per day. One GB of content with a reasonably fast connection and server occupies one pornsite server port for maybe two-five minutes. A very, very slight loss, hardly approaching $50 maximum, let alone $5000. But wait, Lightspeed uses ProxyPass, the “industry standard,” so it must lose even less per day.
In fact, Strongbox tells us precisely what 1 GB lost per month is worth, the price of Strongbox: $159 with a 30-day support contract or $199 with a longer-term service contract. Or you can lease it for $35 a month. Now you have an idea how specious is Prenda’s claim that Lightspeed lost more than $5,000 from a hacker disseminating passwords (as if that could be proven), thus invoking CFAA. It’s a load of crap. Unless of course they permitted that hacker and his/her army of scavengers to pillage their server for … let’s see … almost three years. Hell, the statute of limitation would already have expired for the first commissions of the alleged crime!
Oops, I miscalculated. I should have written, “$5 a day maximum,” not $50, for the loss associated with an average theft of 1 GB each day. Must keep this in perspective.
Given the age of Jones, his content and his alleged security measures he should rename his site “Jurassic Park Jerk Off”.
One further correction, in my third paragraph, I said “1 GB lost per month” when indeed, I meant “1 GB lost per day for a month,” or 30 GB of content. It doesn’t matter, it all works out the same: $159 or $199 (price of Strongbox, with or without a warrantee, the amount Strongbox says an operator loses a month — not per person, in total! Were everyone in the world hitting on Lightspeed as much as the most popular sites — highly unlikely, let’s subpoena its receipts — the lost in a day might go as high as $900, which is a bit different but still less than five figures.
However, Lightspeed isn’t claiming that a Doe caused it to lose merely $900 before it discovered the open door, or even $1000 or $2000. Lightspeed is claiming that an individual cost it over $5000 in losses, which suggests (exactly the opposite of what Lightspeed alleges in its complaint) that _Lightspeed,_ not the Doe was the negligent party, and perhaps deliberately so: that it left its hole unpatched and allowed its vulnerability to be advertised over a lengthy period of time in order to (a) entrap Does and/or (b) get more business.
In fact, by simply changing “Defendant” to “Plaintiff” and “Internet connection” to servers in a clause of the Complaint, we have an accurate statement of Lightspeed’s major negligence in this case: “Had Plaintiff taken reasonable care in securing access to his servers, or monitoring the unidentified third-party individual’s use of his servers, such hacking as those [sic] described above would not have occurred by use of Plaintiff’s servers.”
Brilliant. Will use the last paragraph if publish a post about this case (and I will)
As and For a First Affirmative Defense:
Plaintiff’s principle, Steve Jones, is a decrepit douche-bag
As and For a Second Affirmative Defense:
Plaintiff’s claims are barred,in whole or in part,by its failure to mitigate its damages
You’re welcome. Although I would have an expert double-check my calculations before proceeding further. It would be interesting to have insight to BetterCGI’s method of calculating losses and costs, but clearly, as vendor of the currently most popular security software, It has access to the records of many of its clients including real industry leaders, not pretenders trying to hype their sales and their losses. Also, because it is No.1 in sales based (so far as I can tell) on effectiveness rather than pricing, it has no motive to understate its price or overstate the losses that porn operators experience as a result of not using Strongbox or using such poor performers as Proxy Pass. BetterCGI’s might be the most accurate figures available short of subpoenaing the porn operators’ books — making sure to first tell them that any prior doctoring of their books will be viewed as “spoilation of evidence” (and perjurious fraud). So figure $159-$199 a month as a reasonable range.
Here’s the takeaway: if you simply turn the lawsuits on their heads, they provide a suitable strategy for taking the fight to the porn operators, who will rue the day they fell prey to Prenda et al’s bullshit.
I don’t understand why they want to risk a trial using their CFAA charge and risk setting a precedent. I don’t see how they can prove the $5000 threshold for damages. If they fail to do that then their whole campaign completely falls apart…
Was the statement about the defendant actually disseminating materials in the original complaint? If not, maybe this will be how they try to prove the $5000 damages, although I don’t know how they’d prove something like that. Maybe Steve has another super-high-tech company all set up that he’ll retain himself to “prove” that too.
Any other examples of these being filed that aren’t being hosted by Prenda? Given that it was filed weeks ago, I’m surprised it’s the only one that has popped up. Somethng smells fishy.
I find it kind of ironic that in paragraphs 40 and 41 they complain of causing the plaintiff reputational harm and that the defendant violates the fundamental principles of good conscience, when the act of just filing this lawsuit fits the same description.
Since my son is a target of this crap I have made it my mission to find out all I can about these cases. I just want to say to all the people that post to this great blog thanks for being so smart & well informed. This site has really helped me get very riled up about this BS. I wish a news network would do an investigative story about what is going on. I’d love to see CNN stick a mike in Stevie’s face and pepper him down with questions. I wish everyone knew about these trashy trolls.
more than likely this particular defendant contacted the troll and said something to “incriminate” himself. maybe along the lines of “i did it but i should only have to pay the cost of membership” or sumjunk so they think they have a slam dunk to set a precedent with. i really really hope he gets a lawyer. a good IP lawyer should be able to take him to the cleaners and at a minimum get lawyers fees back. i would really like to see a lawyer familiar with this case offer to take it for him on some sort of contingent basis.
No, not this guy. He has absolutely nothing to do with the smut the criminal named Steve Jones tries to allege. You’ll learn more after an official answer to complaint is filed. Stay intrigued.
sounds juicy…wouldn’t that be something if the first person they decided to file suit against was the absolute wrong person to do so LOL
I hope that’s exactly what’s happening.
lol i did not realize what he did for a living, what kindof retard would sue a tech expert on this flimsy of a case??
It would be nice if this victim set up a Lightspeed Legal Defense Fund so we could contribute to the cause. I would suggest the site domain be http://www.wefightpredatorypricks.com
What are the chances that the one guy he files suit with (and is this a password hacking suit – seems a bit early for that) is the worst person to go after. Seems to me there is a lot more going on than meets the eye. This is the Sekora guy you are talking about right??
Yes it is and I am sure the clever trolls at Prenda believe they have found the perfect patsy for their first publicized Lightspeed lawsuit.
Interesting that Lightspeed;s AZ troll, Steven Goodhue, became admitted to the AZ bar on 4-23 of this year about one month before filing the lawsuits. http://www.azbar.org/FindALawyer?name=goodhue&keyword=#&&U46R2jJnzV6bQ4GzhA0hHy1KzwnQ5sLC161wJoxXnRY=
I’ve been trying to find more details on the guy that got named in AZ: Holy *Jesus*.
If I was part of Trolls Inc, I wouldn’t know who to worry about more: The Systems Architect who’s got a giant background in tech who specialized in cloud web hosting (web hosting in general?) for PhoenixNAP (A Large DataCenter in Phoenix) who seems pretty intelligent…. *or* his brother: The ex-CIA Project Director (are you ever ex?) who specialized in and still specializes in corporate strategy and espionage, now turned private corporate strategist for what looks to be a decent list of Fortune 500 companies who *IS* a genius (Bachelors in Physics at 18). Don’t believe me?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Socrates
http://www.michaelsekora.com/
http://keynotespeakers.com/speaker_detail.php?speakerid=4320 <–Watch the video.
Before you ask, I did my homework. They have the same father. All of this is public info if you look hard enough.
HAHAHA, I thought the earlier posts were funny. Then I noticed an update on this thread when I was about to sign off. So glad I read this post. Made my day.
x-cia + systems architect. Tell me they have a family member who’s a lawyer too!
> Tell me they have a family member who’s a lawyer too!
Regardless of that he hired a VERY good lawyer.
i thought they atleast did a preliminary background search on people b4 they harassed them. i assumed this because they have found people’s work and other personal stuff to expidite their harrassment. this just looks like pure negligence on the end of the lawyers.
also, though these claims seem completely weak when thought of in legal terms, you have to wounder what they, the plaintiff, have to have on people to actually start pushing forward on these cases. any lawyer has to realize that on their face they are going to fail so i am really curious what else they have.
I hope beyond hope that they go past initial discovery and actually argue the case. this will set the standard on defending these cases and i hope that by the end a defendant owns steve-o’s house.
I hope too, but keep in mind that this is not a federal court but an allegedly corrupt Maricopa court, and looking at the St. Clair court rulings, we know what happens when common sense and good will clashes with corruption. A judge who denied ISPs flawless motions should have been immediately suspended and investigated. But it almost never happens…
Can you imagine the cleaning bill this techie would have to pay after he got Steve’s house? He’d probably have to have the entire inside and outside fumigated, followed by sandblasting 1-2mm of surface off everything, then a complete scrub down with bleach, hydrochloric acid, and then bleach again.
Would *you* live there with any less cleaning? though it is a nice house. Would make a great HQ for TBD and oh how ironic that would be!
I would not overstate the “corruption” of the courts in Maricopa County. Nor the political leanings. Phoenix, Arizona’s largest city and its capital, is after all run by a Democratic mayor. Also, judges generally tend not to be corrupt in the sense that typical elected officials are. Once in office, they usually retain their posts because of limited election opposition and/or tenure granted them on appointment. I would err on the side of prudence and assume that a defendant’s case well made will work in Maricopa County as it would work in jurisdictions of less impeachable reputations.
Ok, I grant Maricopa court a benefit of doubt 🙂
Look at his new position on LinkedIn
Executive Director
TBD
June 2012 – Present (1 month)
Non-Profit Internet Rights Group. We’re Coming, Stay Intrigued.
Oh…This is going to be good.
TBD? “Too Be Determined” or “Trolls Be Damned” or…. . Color me very intrigued.
SJD you have been using “Stay Intrigued.” for the past week referencing something coming too :P. Coincidence? I think not! Oh you, keeping us all in anticipation…
Well, thanks to people digging, the character of the defendant and the stupidity of the trolls’ choice is already apparent. There are some minor pieces of information that I promised not to disclose prematurely, interesting pieces, but probably not overly surprising. I hope to be released from the oath soon and make a post summarizing this case.
Incredible info. The people that post here simply amaze me with their smarts & resourcefulness. I am simply the mother of a USMC military police officer who has been targeted by these trolls. To that end I am keeping up with all that is happening just in case it gets taken to the next level with him. Perhaps they picked this guy because they think it easier to prove hacking against a smart IT guy like him. My son certainly has no hacking knowledge but this guy might. It’s just a theory.
http://keynotespeakers.com/video.php?video=http://video2.keynotespeakers.com/video/s/sekora_michael_0110.swf&speakerid=4320
Yes, watch the video, it is highly recommended. So this isn’t the defendant, it’s his brother, but if this guy was your brother he would be the first person you called for advice on anything, and you’d definitely want his intelligence background for taking down an extortion ring. Listen to this guy present and think about John Steele mixing up “your” and “you’re,” Brett Langdon Gibbs filing copyright infringement suits for works with no copyright registration, and Steve Lightspeed bragging on GFY about doing drugs and throwing a party with the ill-gotten gains from his extortion racket.
This could be really awesome, but IMO Lightspeed will drop this case as soon Steve and Buffy catch up on this thread. If we’re lucky maybe this guy is pissed enough and/or has deep enough pockets to go fully on the offensive just for lulz, but I’m not going to get my hopes up. We know the Trolls are cowards who run from a fight and this looks like some deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep stuff Steve stepped in. With these guys’ resumes I don’t even think it’s hyperbole to talk about him owning Steve’s house *if* he decides the pissant is even worth the trouble.
Look at some of the titles of his speeches/topics, including the one on the last bullet 🙂 You think this guy will be advising his family member’s attorney on how to gain significant competitive advantage? (wink wink nod nod)
http://keynotespeakers.com/speaker_detail.php?speakerid=4320 (posted by RandomDoer several posts back)
Why did they choose a member of this Sekora clan to go after, especially when they already should have the bulk of the 6500+ Illinois 11-L-0683 contact info for does across the country? I mean, they should already have so many to choose from, especially “easier” targets, right? Prenda either has a smoking gun for this individual suit that we don’t know about (trying to play devil’s advocate) OR they just blindly targeted a resident with an IP linked to Maricopa (Steve L’s county) and got extremely unlucky for lack of homework. If it turns out to be the latter rather than the former, will any new doe (or future prospective porn plaintiff/client for that matter) in future cases ever take Prenda and their affiliates seriously again, especially if this can be legally spun into a well-publicized legal blunder on Prenda’s part?
Again, if (emphasis on if) this turns out to be the latter, would there also be any legal way to make sure Prenda’s other current clients/plaintiffs are aware of the choices they make ( or choices of their affiliates)??? You know, breed distrust from within? Does anyone think Steve L is happy about this particular legal move as the background of this particular “target” unfolds? Or are they still simply/blissfully unaware?
It would be helpful if the conversation shifted from a discussion of personalities to one of policies (although I admit, it’s difficult to fight the temptation to diss Steele and Prenda, and Jones and Lightspeed as despicable opportunists who distort the law for their own gain).
Computer laws to get passed by essentially ignorant legislatures must paint with a broad; they must be dramatic. CFAA is dramatic, in that it levies stiff penalties for interfering with someone’s use of a computer — that “someone” being a large corporation or national agency, in the minds of the law’s authors. Denial of Service attacks were a big issue when this law was being discussed in Congress. So was identity theft based on stolen data (neither of which the CFAA has curtailed).
The defendant’s crime, however, in common-sense terms constitutes shoplifting. He allegedly entered a place of commerce and took an item. He didn’t hold up the shop owner with a gun nor did he wreak damage. The fact that a password allegedly was used to enter could constitute breaking and entering, but if in fact the shop owner knowingly left the shop door open perhaps with the intent of collecting insurance when someone entered and did damage or stole something of great value, then it’s doubtful even that definition applies. CFAA, unfortunately, does not deal in such nuances. It was a panic reaction to a “burning issue,” the type of legal fallacy in which Congress and state legislatures frequently indulge. It painted so broadly that it didn’t accomplish it’s original intention and gave legal pirates like Steele the tool he needed for a sophisticate shake-down racket.
Except that its application in the instant case is unlikely to work, for reasons already discussed. He knows it, one hopes that Jones now knows it — that his counsel informed him completely — and unfortunately, his accused knows it. It’s unfortunate that porn enters into the picture, because it’s a distraction from could be a very useful legal sharpening of CFAA to do what it’s supposed to and not what it’s not.
As history is often a great predicter of the future let us look back at how the Dynamic Duo of Steele and Jones worked the BitTorrent angle.
On 9-2-10 in ILND Steele files Lightspeed v. Does 1-100 (10-cv-5604) in which he loses a severance motion to a Doe, pisses off the magistrate judge and obtains a single recorded settlement http://ia700503.us.archive.org/14/items/gov.uscourts.ilnd.247137/gov.uscourts.ilnd.247137.docket.html
Now armed with Doe info Steele files 2 more lawsuits in January of 2011 (11-cv-209 and 11-cv-385) again in the ILND. As each of these is against a single Doe I assume each settle. http://ia600409.us.archive.org/29/items/gov.uscourts.ilnd.251387/gov.uscourts.ilnd.251387.docket.html and http://ia600405.us.archive.org/21/items/gov.uscourts.ilnd.251600/gov.uscourts.ilnd.251600.docket.html
Out of the original 100 Does Steele locates 9 who presumably reside in the CAND where he has Gibbs file a lawsuit against them. This lawsuit results in a single recorded settlement. http://ia600604.us.archive.org/20/items/gov.uscourts.cand.240506/gov.uscourts.cand.240506.docket.html
So for all that work and harassment Steel and Jones gross $14,000 (4 settlements of $3,500 each) minus filing fees of $1,400 for a net of $12,600. If the “No Agena” show is accurate Jones walked away with 10% or $1,260 for his efforts after I am sure he was promised hundreds of thousands. That is a very crappy result IMHO.
Send Steve a gift from poopsenders.com
Steele and Jones are trying to force me to commit suicide by virtue of my impatience with their idiocy, I believe.
In AZ Maricopa County Superior Court in the case of LMC v. World Timber (Case Number: CV2012-053230) local Prenda Troll is pleading a respondeat superiour cause of action http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Respondeat+superior This theory makes an employer liable for the torts of an employee if committed “in the scope of their employment”. So in other words if you work in accounting and you over bill a client because your boss tells you to do so the company could be on the hook. But in this case it is incredible to claim that it was part of an employee’s job to hack porn websites. It is akin to suing the U.S. Postal Service over an employee who goes “postal” and shoots up an office; it just makes no sense and is unforeseeable. I hope World Timber hires a decent attorney who moves for summary judgement and sanctions immediately on this bullshit legal claim. I just cannot believe the audacity.
Evil, twisted genius. These guys really do waste their talents on small-change con games. They should be working on Wall Street.
They are going after deep pockets hoping for settlements that I am sure are much larger than the ones the Does receive. But do not be too surprised if they win in Maricopa County as that county is so corrupt it’s not even funny. The county beurocrats are old school Las Vegas types and share the same corrupt values that the worst of the worst share in Chicago. No doubt the troll community is tapping heavily into that there. Outside of the brutal heat in Phoenix, the other main reason I will not live there is simply because of how corrupt it is. I have family that worked for the Sheriffs Dept. there. Corruption is just daily business and no business does well there without some payoffs. You can bet the troll pack has some officials there on retainer. I would not expect a favorable outcome in Maricopa County. The fact that there are a plethora of porn sites working and operating out of Maricopa County, quite visibly by the way, in a State that makes porn production illegal is quite telling. You do not see that happening in any of the other Arizona Counties, especially Pima County which has the next largest population (Tucson). If Maricopa County was legit in the slightest way they would shut down the porn producers there like Lightspeed, CP Productions, J Capri, etc and so on….the list is very very long. In fact it is “the” place to operate out of any more. Sorta funny considering it is illegal. You just need to pay off the right folk and you are good to go.
This will be interesting news to the local press, I’m sure, and to Maricopa County’s large and ardent Mormon population. Steele’s presence attracts unwanted attention wherever he goes.
Some initial/early defendant motions may get denied, but if it ever went to trial, it’s still decided by a jury, whose makeup will be indicative of the success or failures of of the attorneys during selection. How would a jury react to a plaintiff whose business is supposedly illegal to begin in the state where the suit/trial would take place?. On top of that, how will damages of >=$5K be proven as defined by the CFAA? There’s still significant holes in the case that will be decided by a jury regardless of who the judge happens to be. Which lawyer, Sekora’s or Goodhue, will do a better job during jury selection and actual litigation? Place your bets…
I think you have the MO spot on (adding to it as well)
1) Pick county/state district with shady political reputation, and
2) Target does in those counties who likely have $$ based on cursory background check, and/or
3) Doe who is IT/technologically literate (it would be hard to convince a jury that someone such as a systems architect left his/her wifi open –> kill open wifi defense)
4) ask for bigger settlement that that of “typical” doe
That MO also creates problems for the plaintiff
1) defendant who has $$ has resources to fight with decent lawyer and is likely to do so once named
2) technological background will help against the arcadia angle –> put Steve L against a real IT pro
3) higher potential for countersuit, especially given that being named in a CFAA suit will likely hurt an IT professional’s reputation
Sekora seems to fit the MO/profile above. Problem is, on further digging, it seems as though they fingered someone who has resources and connections that can do the digging and acquire convincing data to potentially reframe the whole thing as an elaborate extortion ring..Seems as if they dug a little deeper in this particular instance,, they would have realized the POTENTIAL for a disaster against their business model.
Thoughts?
You can spend your nervous energy in better ways, for example by writing to local politicians, Congress Members, and/or journalists about the scale and scope of the problem, than by armchair lawyering. Much of what is being related here is hearsay and speculation, rumor-mongering, and prognostication. (If I was paranoid, I would worry it might be sorties by the plaintiffs to see what is really known — but I’m not an they aren’t.)
It’s good to get together as interested parties to share experiences and build camaraderie, but this type of anxious anticipation is only good for casinos and stock traders. Don’t let it get obsessive. You need a clear mind entering into these situations, one not already exhausted by playing an infinitely-variable legalistic chess game in your head.
Although I do agree with everything you say, I’m not concerned about a little bit more emotions and speculations, and even encourage that. This site occupies a distinct niche, a hollow space between lawyers and laymen; between cold facts and emotions; between yellow press and neutral, fact based reporting. One of my mottoes here is “emotionally biased, factually correct.” On one hand, unfounded speculations maybe harmful for a newcomer, yet I believe in the power of the free mind flow, and that only free, unrestricted mind flow can conceive genuinely novel ideas.
Initially I wanted to create a place for Does to converge and help each other, and to raise awareness in general, but a new, unforeseen feature emerged: a raw knowledge base, an admittedly not enriched ore for those who are capable of mining for ideas to process that ore and build their weapons. Take the EFF subpoena defense list — a cream of lawyers who fight trolls. Out of 101 attorneys listed there, 27 have reached me one way or another, and I’m in close correspondence with 10 of them. Even those who never talked to me directly, watch these discussions attentively. And we do supply ideas to them, which makes me quite happy, since they are the people who facilitate the actual change on the legal front.
So, my point is: let thousand of flowers flourish, “armchair lawyers,” poets, clear logical minds — everyone helps.
Cool beans. My only caution to witnesses watching from the back of the courtroom is that you can go crazy trying to figure out all of the imponderables. Not even IBM’s Watson could do it. Relax.
When I received my subpeona notice from Comcast I wrote several organizations. The US Chamber of Commerce Association, the Congressman for Steve Jone’s district, who has an office 1/10th of a mile from the Jones residence. The US Attorney General, the IL Attorney General and the Arizona Family Initiative or something like that. I took a break beause I was becoming consumed with endless “What if” scenarios. Now I am sitting back and watching Trolls implode. I have already decided that if I ever receive an “extortion letter” (my deadline has past about two weeks ago) I will most likely 1. Ignore the demands, and 2. Notify a media outlet to investigate (maybe I can have my voice disguised and my face pixellated while Scott Pelley interviews me)
I could not agree more with your perspective SOD. I think that if one is committed to follow a set path then that person might need reinforcement every once and again so as to not waffle. You know, when that sword is dangling precariously over your head by a thread, it can tend to make one a tad bit nervous.
Trying to understand what’s meant by “pornography is illegal in AZ” — a bold challenge to the US Constitution’s First Amendment — I read around. Here’s from a press release by Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery, released March 13, 2012. I’m not sure what provoked his release, but it could have been playing to the local blue noses who are plentiful in the Mormon and evangelical Southwest. The American Family Council subsequently republished this release and added the somber warning that “it’s watching.” If you think trading Prenda in for the AFC is a bargain, think again. These people will cost us plenty in terms of civil liberties, if given the necessary leverage to impose their will. Be very careful playing with this fire.
That notwithstanding, the good County Attorney would be a useful witness in certain cases. When you make the statements he does, you have a lot of explaining to do regarding the existence of Lightspeed and its ilk that Prenda’s lawsuit will only make more public and more urgent. In fact, someone should be opening a dialogue with Montgomery right now to see where he stands on these issues. Not hostile, not argumentative, not even with a point of view: just informational. That would be worthwhile. Maybe before Steele gets to him, although Montgomery may want to keep Steele a flyswatter’s length away. Bad juju for a public official.
PS As a sidebar, the whole issue of California’s porn industry moving to AZ is pretty bogus. Why would they do that? CA has an almost affectionate relationship with “The Valley.” No one’s chasing it to the desert where (I checked today) it’s going to be pushing 123º F next week. (That’s not a typo, that’s a death sentence for a lot of people. Welcome to Climate Change.) This is all election-year pimping, but just the same it’s fair to ask: how do all these guys operate in the County if it’s prostitution and they’re felons just waiting to be convicted?
==================================================
MARICOPA COUNTY ATTORNEY
Bill Montgomery
301 West Jefferson Street, Phoenix, AZ 85003
(602) 506-3411 • TDD (602) 506-4352 • FAX (602) 506-8102
http://www.maricopacountyattorney.org/
NEWS RELEASE
Media Contact: Jerry Cobb, Public Information Officer •
(602) 506-3170 (office) • (602) 400-5664 (cell) • cobbj@mcao.maricopa.gov
COUNTY ATTORNEY COMMENTS ON POSSIBLE MOVE OF
CALIFORNIA PORNOGRAPHIC FILM PRODUCTION TO ARIZONA
PHOENIX, AZ (March 13, 2012) – In light of recent reports of the possibility of individuals engaged in the production of pornography moving to Arizona from California, the Maricopa County Attorney issued the following statement:
Under Arizona law, anyone paid to appear in a pornographic movie may be guilty of the crime of prostitution, which carries mandatory jail time as well as the possibility of other penalties. Furthermore, anyone involved in other aspects of producing pornographic movies, including soliciting individuals to appear, collecting a fee from the monies received by individuals solicited to appear by virtue of an agent relationship, transporting individuals from California to Arizona for the purpose of appearing in a pornographic movie, and/or establishing a venue for the filming and/or production of pornographic movies may be guilty of committing one or several felonies in the state of Arizona. Accordingly, Arizona law precludes the establishment of a “pornography industry” to any degree such as that present in California.
BACKGROUND:
NOTE: claims that porn is being produced in Arizona now simply mean that people may be currently violating these same statutes and are also subject to prosecution.
§ 13-3201. Enticement of persons for purpose of prostitution; classification
A person who knowingly entices any other person into a house of prostitution, or elsewhere, for the purpose of prostitution with another person, is guilty of a class 6 felony.
§ 13-3203. Procuring or placing persons in house of prostitution; classification
A person who knowingly receives money or other valuable thing, for, or on account of, procuring or placing in a house of prostitution, or elsewhere, any person for the purpose of prostitution is guilty of a class 5 felony.
§ 13-3204. Receiving earnings of prostitute; classification
A person who knowingly receives money or other valuable thing from the earnings of a person engaged in prostitution, is guilty of a class 5 felony.
§ 13-3208. Keeping or residing in house of prostitution; employment in prostitution; classification
A. A person who knowingly is an employee at a house of prostitution or prostitution enterprise is guilty of a class 1 misdemeanor. B. A person who knowingly operates or maintains a house of prostitution or prostitution enterprise is guilty of a class 5 felony.
§ 13-3209. Pandering; definitions; methods; classification
A person is guilty of a class 5 felony who knowingly: 1. Places any person in the charge or custody of any other person for purposes of prostitution. 2. Places any person in a house of prostitution with the intent that such person lead a life of prostitution. 3. Compels, induces or encourages any person to reside with that person, or with any other person, for the purpose of prostitution. 4. Compels, induces or encourages any person to lead a life of prostitution.
§ 13-3210. Transporting persons for purpose of prostitution or other immoral purpose; classification; venue A person knowingly transporting by any means of conveyance, through or across this state, any other person for the purposes of prostitution or concubinage, or for any other immoral purposes, is guilty of a class 5 felony. The prosecution of such person may be in any county in which such person is apprehended.
§ 13-3211. Definitions
1. “Employee” means a person who conducts lawful or unlawful business for another person under a master- servant relationship or as an independent contractor and who is compensated by wages, commissions, tips or other valuable consideration. 2. “House of prostitution” means any building, structure or place that is used for the purpose of prostitution or lewdness or where acts of prostitution occur.
3. “Operate and maintain” means to organize, design, perpetuate or control. Operate and maintain includes providing financial support by paying utilities, rent, maintenance costs or advertising costs, supervising activities or work schedules, and directing or furthering the aims of the enterprise. …
5. “Prostitution” means engaging in or agreeing or offering to engage in sexual conduct under a fee arrangement with any person for money or any other valuable consideration. 6. “Prostitution enterprise” means any corporation, partnership, association or other legal entity or any group of individuals associated in fact although not a legal entity engaged in providing prostitution services.
###
Lots of “may be’s” in that News Release. And a couple good federal cases on whether producing porn is constitutionally protected. I wouldn’t wait for Lightspeed to be put behind bars anytime soon. Whether this would be persuasive before a jury, especially one drawn from Maricopa County, is another question entirely. Again, why play armchair attorney? Let the legal beagles duke it out, then see how the respective camps are arrayed. I’m with the defendant, personally, but then I tend to see things objectively.You can never tell about human emotions.
Lastly, regarding sentences for crimes in AZ of prostitution and pandering, this summary statement appears in the AZ Superpages.com (“Let your fingers do the walking”!):
What is a Class 5 Felony? *
A Class 5 Felony is a lesser felony offense in that it does not carry as severe a penalty as a Class 1 Felony. The Class 5 felony is more serious than a Class 6 felony and its jail terms are:
• presumptive 18 months
• a minimum of nine months and a maximum of 24 months.
• Mitigating circumstances can lower the presumptive term to six months, and aggravated circumstances can raise it to 30 months.
Class 5 Felony and Repeat Offenders
A category one repeat offender (someone who is convicted of two felony offenses that were not committed at the same time but are not historical prior felony convictions) will face
• a presumptive 18 month sentence
• a minimum of nine months and a maximum of 24 months
• Mitigating circumstances can lower the term to six months, while aggravated circumstances can raise it to 30 months.
A category two repeat offender is someone who is convicted of three or more felony’s that were not committed at the same time, but are either consolidated for the purpose of the trial or are not considered historical prior convictions. The Class 5 felony penalties for a category two repeat offender are:
• presumptive jail term of 27 months
• a minimum of 18 months, and a maximum of 36 months
• Mitigating circumstances can reduce the term to 12 months, while aggravated circumstances can raise it to three years plus 9 months.
A category three repeat offender is someone who is at least 18 years old or has been tried as an adult and has been convicted of a felony with two or more historical prior felony convictions.
The Class 5 felony penalties are:
• presumptive jail term of five years
• minimum of four years, and a maximum of six years
• Mitigating circumstances can reduce the term to three years, while aggravated circumstances can increase it to seven years plus 6 months.
Class 5 Felony and Dangerous Offenses
Adults or children charged as adults for dangerous Class 5 felony offenses will be sentenced to a minimum of two years and a maximum of four years. Dangerous offenders with one or more prior felony involving dangerous offense will be sentenced to a minimum of four years and a maximum of six years. Dangerous offenders with two or more historical prior felonies involving dangerous offenses will be sentenced to a minimum of four years plus 6 months, to a maximum of eight years.
For all category offenders, the restitution and fines for a Class 5 felony are defined in Arizona as only “less than $150,000”.
* The laws and penalties regarding felony classes and offenses vary for each state, however Arizona law presents a fair and clear representation of penal law, and is used in this article to offer a basic understanding of the Class 5 felony. The information contained in this article should not be construed as legal advice, and those accused of a Class 5 felony should seek legal counsel immediately.
I’m sure the decision to do this in Maricopa county was motivated by the simple fact that Steve lives there. It’s possible this confers some home-court advantage if he indeed has corruption on his side, but probably has more to do with the reality of needing to be present. Steve wants to take his new scam beyond threats, and is a full partner with Arcadia Data Security Consultants as the ‘investigators.’ If he wants a show trial for PR value, it makes sense to do it locally if he needs to testify, show up for settlement conferences, etc. The filings in Wong v. HDP strongly implied that the Plaintiff had to be there, meaning Paul Pilcher had to fly to CA to capitulate and have a judgement entered against him because of John Steele and Brett Langdon Gibbs’ blundering. Not a huge journey for a one-time event but I’m sure he was not happy and if Steve wants to take this case all the way he doesn’t want it across the country.
Following from that, the number of Does in Steve’s local jurisdiction may have been limited due to a much lower population density than large urban areas say on the East or West coasts.
I can see them preferring a technical defendant as it is much harder for him to claim ignorance, they can argue that he had the knowledge necessary to do the deed, even to cover his tracks if they can’t find anything, and the fact that the guy has a solid career may have made them think he would pay out to protect his reputation. Being an adult male, and not elderly, also puts him in a good basic demographic as this is not the type you would dismiss as a porn consumer out of hand.
Beyond that there hasn’t been a clear pattern to Prenda’s single-Doe/named-Doe choices, in fact they have been quite bad, worse than we would have done I’m sure. We naturally assumed they would go after people who admitted guilt and told them to shove it, said they can’t afford to pay, ignored them, whatever. But, in the most documented cases thus far, this does not appear to be the case. Neither the Wong or Abrahams complaints filed by Prenda, or the countersuits filed against HDP by Yuen, suggest that Wong or Abrahams incriminated themselves. There is a case in CAED where the account holder ratted on his roomate who was then named, but I don’t know if they have actively pursued that case. It could be that as a result of this site or Does’ instinctive ability to smell a scam, they simple don’t get enough people to incriminate themselves. It should also be noted that in choosing both Wong and Abrahams they selected targets where the alleged infringement occurred before copyright registration had taken place, which is the stupidest possible mistake in the context of these cases as it means the Trolls cannot ask for statutory damages, cannot recover attorney fees and arguably shouldn’t have filed the cases in the first place. If they are capable of that basic blunder, what mistake is too stupid for them?
Do not underestimate the role ego plays for guys like this. There are certainly brilliant, calculating villains, but John Steele and Steve Jones are not them. Randazza is probably the best candidate in the Copyright Trolling Universe, although he is certainly full of himself. But John Steele and Steve Jones indulge in stupidity like plotting their scam on publicly-readable bulletin boards, gloat and threaten people on internet forums, pursue copyright cases where there are no copyrights, use ‘investigative’ firms run by themselves or their families, telegraph their intentions so we are already ahead of their latest attempts to generate FUD, etc. etc. So these guys are foolish to begin with, and they are also coming off a year of easy money, with courts that began by taking their arguments at face value and defendants who were completely uninformed. Consider that a year ago when I got caught up in this mess, *every* MTQ filed was an event worth getting excited about, and John Steele would show up every time one was filed to heckle us about how pointless it was and how he would just make the Doe settle for more money after it failed. Now courts are shutting Doe cases down before discovery and I regularly see dockets with a 10% MTQ rate.
It appears that, now that they need to fight and not just threaten, they are falling apart.
What do you mean by [Steve] is a full partner with Arcadia Data Security Consultants as the ‘investigators.’ ? There is a term for the situation when both partners happen to be the same individual: “masturbation.”
Sorry, I meant ‘partner’ metaphorically, referring to his close relationship with Steele in the genesis of this scam. He was with Buffy from the beginning, perhaps even the instigator. He is the only plaintiff so far using the CFAA angle in mass-Doe cases, and has his own ‘investigation’ firm to work that angle. I’m sure he’s still working with Steele (especially since Buffy’s all-too-infrequent-now drunken rants all but confirm it), but it looks like he’s trying to build a self-sufficient, independent extortion ring of his own.
All the other plaintiffs likely just signed an agreement and get checks but have no other involvement (with the exception of Paul Pilcher who had to deal with some extra hassles when Hard Drive Productions, Inc. got sued). With the exception of Liberty Media, which actually seems to do this to make a point more than money, Steve Jones is the plaintiff who has the most personal involvement and the most to gain monetarily, so he is probably going to try harder than the rest.
I made an error: it’s only going to be 112ºF in Phoenix next week, on the 23rd. I transposed date and temperature. My apologies. Only half so many people will die.
I am sure these softcore porn purveyors in Maricopa county skirt the laws as follows: Lightspeed had a bunch of girls just running around naked. No actual boy/girl sex except for that one Tawnee Stone porn vid but I am not sure who produced it and where or even if any of the two actors were paid to perform. If it was Lightspeed who produced and if Tawnee was paid then he has violated the protitution law. But other than that, girls bouncing around naked even if they are paid might skirt the prostitution thing because of the lack of sexual activity, unless that in itself, and girl-girl touching is considered sexual activity. Maybe it is and maybe it is not. The deeper pockets ultimately decide that. As far as husband/wife teams such as CP Productions goes, there is no prostitution as they are married or are a couple. Maybe one could argue that the revenue they receive through selling their content via the internet constitutes payment for both and therefore prostituion. Again, the deeper pockets prevail there too. As far as CM is concerened she has done all solo things but is not a sexual act on yourself a sexual act indeed? Same scenario then as CP. In all these cases, the technicalities can twist either way, and ultimately it is someone who is getting backroom bennies that decides, not any of us, and I can assure you that there are a lot of backroom bennies going on in Maricopa. My guess is since none of them have been busted yet that they have carved on their safe niche.
The plaintiffs are in the business of putting the defendents on the embarrasement spot. I say turn the tables and make it as difficult and as hard for them as possible. Uncovering juicy little tidbits here and there can be the tipping point for courtroom decisions, especially where Jury’s are concerned.
Phoenix can get up to 120 deg F and I predict they break that this year. If the electric grid were to falter there would be a mass exodus not seen since Moses. Those that would remain would begin to die off. It is an artificial place to live and not a sustainable place. There is not a single thing about that city I like other than the fact I do not live there.
Now, regarding the Illinois case versus the Miami case, does anyone know offhand what the breakdown of the number of does is???? Is it 6500 does total split between the two cases or is there 6500 in the Illinois case and xxx number in the Miami case? Or, are these cases both the same (shared IP’s)?
Arizona legislators and organizations like the Arizona Family Council, Center for Arizona Policy, the Goldwater Institute, the Alliance Defense Fund, and others are all obligated to demand that Arizona strengthen, and enforce OSHA laws immediately and send Big Pornography packing. Here’s some people to contact:
US Senator John McCain (R)
US Senator Jon Kyl (R)
Rick Renzi (R) – Arizona’s 1st Congressional District
Trent Franks (R) – Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District
John Shadegg (R) – Arizona’s 3rd Congressional District
Ed Pastor (D) – Arizona’s 4th Congressional District
Harry Mitchell (D) – Arizona’s 5th Congressional District
Jeffrey Flake (R) – Arizona’s 6th Congressional District
Raul Grijalva (D) – Arizona’s 7th Congressional District
Gabrielle Giffords (D) – Arizona’s 8th Congressional Distri
Here’s a couple interesting articles about poprn in Arizona:
http://www.azpolicypages.com/marriage-family/arizona-pornography-and-obscenity-laws/
http://www.kpho.com/story/17148750/porn-industry-would-break-az-law-montgomery-claims
To which you might add the most prominent Democratic candidates, Ron Barber who just won a special election to fill recovering Rep. Giffords’ seat and who will have to run again in the newly created Congressional District 2; and former Surgeon-General Richard Carmona, running as a Democrat to fill the US Senate seat being vacated by the resignation of Republican Sen. Kyl. They might have positions, too.
Carmona is widely expected to be challenged for the US Senate seat by Rep. Jeff Flake who is fighting a very ugly primary campaign with two Republican challengers. In this situation, Flake, once considered a shoo-in for the Republican nomination, should be worthy of a strong position on the pornography issue.
I am part of the Illinois case and my profession is rather high profile. In other words, if I get named in a suit then there is an instant reputation/professional destruction issue. It does not even have to progress. I just need to show up publically and my job/career is over. But I am not going to settle this issue at all. If they file suit against me they better hope they win because the lawyer I will invest heavily into will be the sort that goes for 7 figures against the trolls and plaintiff. They can whine they do not have the resources and will file bankrupcy all they want. I will be collecting liens against their properties and holdings and at some point down the road the band will get paid. I would not mind one bit having liens against Steve’s properties as well as Omally’s. So go ahead bozos, name me and come after me, While you are going after a few thousand I will be going after my retirement. Losing a battle in order to win a war is not a poor decision. Besides, who cares what happens as long as the pile of money is big in the end, right. For a million dollar win I would be willing to ditch my career.
CNBC’s “AMERICAN GREED”
About the Show
American Greed unveils incredible true cases of scams, schemes & the stories of people who will do anything for money!!
Do you have a story of American Greed? Let us know!
CONTACT US
http://www.cnbc.com/id/41235608/
Excerpt from a Lightspeed Interview:
“Lightspeed had to move his family once already in Arizona when one of his neighbors found out how he makes a living and word got around the neighborhood. Lightspeed doesn’t think they’ll have to move again, though, because they now live in a part of Phoenix where houses are far apart and he doesn’t know his neighbors. His children, he indicated, are too young to know about the family business, though he plans to clue them in when they’re older. His wife, Shannon, runs the business from a guesthouse in their backyard where his children reside.”
PS: Keep in mind that this quote was made a few years ago prior to Lightspeed Media Corp filing any porn lawsuits, which now made 6500 Doe’s aware of where he lives & probably brought & will continue to bring unwanted publicity & attention to his new neighbors & neighborhood.
Maybe someone could write all his neighbors and tell them how he makes his money now.
Ynow, if LS and his attorneys know (and they do) how techie their target is in Phoenix, and they have not moved to dismiss, then they must feel they have a chance at winning. Do you think Steve is trying to use this as a do or die move? If he wins it then he has a pretty good precedent to follow, but if he loses then it might spell the end for his case. Any thoughts?? just curious. By the way, just how safe are our IP’s here?
> how safe are our IP’s here?
Privacy policy.
LOL, I juxtaposed my bogus email and my screen name in the last post. Wonder if the trolls are stupid enough to actually send something to it? Any bets?
Now that the cat is out of the bag and the die must be set, I think Adam wrote this equation when he was 15 or something:
parasitism=troll=hapless douchebag=bullshit legal claims/evidence=class action lawsuit=-criminal investigations
any news on what’s happening with the lawsuits in Maricopa Co, Az., especially given that they were initiated about a month ago? The Co court website shows no new activity on either case since the initial complaint filings.
DO NOT PAY ANYTHING, DO NOT TAKE HIS CALLS, DO NOT PAY THIS FAILED PORNOGRAPHER TURNED CON MAN. ASK YOUR GOD TO DAM STEVE JONES TO HELL.
Possible reason why Steven Goodhue has turned to copyright trolling in AZ?
http://starpas.azcc.gov/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=wsbroker1/names-detail.p?name-id=L10313738&type=CORPORATION
Click to access 94TH_AND_SHEA_SAL.pdf
http://www.brewaz.com/content/index_story_free.php?story_id=8194
I cannot truly tell from the bare bones docket but this looks like either an action to get at the directors and officers liability insurance or to otherwise recoup corporate assets/monies
http://www.superiorcourt.maricopa.gov/docket/CivilCourtCases/caseInfo.asp?caseNumber=CV2011-008331
Klieg lights are just warming up for the “Troll Goodhue Financial Circus”, next stop CO. Get your tickets and popcorn early as I am going to do a little historical research soon.
It looks like the judge (Alfred Fenzel) assigned to both of the recent cases filed in Maricopa County, AZ by Troll Goodhue is considered a family court judge
http://judgepedia.org/index.php/Alfred_Fenzel
And here is his resume/bio from the Maricopa County Court website: http://www.superiorcourt.maricopa.gov/JudicialBiographies/Judges/judicialBio.asp?jdgID=22&jdgUSID=124
Isn’t it odd that a state family court judge will be presiding over a case by a porn purveyor plaintiff that centers around a federal statute?
Note the key contraditions:
state–>federal
family court –> computer fraud and porn
Why would a judge with a background primarily in family/juvenile court be given cases like these?
More importantly, I think his mind will be made up as to the outcome before the parties even enter the courtroom.
I have to respectfully disagree, note that the judge spent over a decade as an Assistant District Attorney. He is going to recognize a quasi-criminal scam from the get go. Be cautiously optimistic.
If his education even remotely reflects his personal beliefs, do you see a Catholic judge siding with a plaintiff who does porn with young women who look like teen girls?
From the link above: J.D., 1974, Catholic University of America
If he’s truly a “good catholic” and remembers his days as an ADA, it’s hard to see him sympathize with a pornographer who lives and does business in his community who also chose to monitor alleged intrusion over 1 year vs stopping it upon detection.
His undergrad education is also from a Christian institution (http://www.iona.edu/about/history.cfm) in addition to his JD
Having worked in the IT for years and managed networks of all sizes I just can’t understand that anyone with even a bit of IT experience would leave an ‘open door’ for over a year. Why were the compromised accounts not deleted and paying customers granted new accounts? It is a rather easy thing to automate even if it had to be done on a wholesale basis for all system accounts.
I’ve personally seen many cases of institutions informing a large group of users subject to a compromise that their login credentials have been suspended until the accounts were validated.
That is just good business practice.
If LMC runs such a loose ship, I would be very weary to provide them any sort of personal information, let alone any sort of payment information. It is obvious that their security practices are lacking. You can’t have your cake and eat it to.
Another point to publicly present to all the current paying customers. Cancel your credit cards, change your name and RUN from LMC. They obviously have no privacy and security policy’s in place.
there is no way that all of these ip’s are for the same password. no one can be THAT negligent with their security. i would fear being a lmc customer just because if anyone these cases actually go to discovery then the original owner of the “hacked” password will be saught out and contacted, and at a minimum will be forced to give a deposition as to weather they freely gave out their pass or not. hell i bet many of those legit customers will fight to keep their names away from these cases.
i just wish i knew how many “hackers” corresponded to each breached pass. proxypass if it is any good at all will lock it after a maximum of 25 intrusions. that means that they had ATLEAST 260 breached accounts, that will be 260 of their legit customers that will get subpoena’d, and i would be shocked if their were not repeats of the same legit customer in that list of 260 breached accounts, as most “hackings” are a result of phishing by malware and other trojan based softwares. this would lead to LMC actually having a REAL negligence case against their paying customers as opposed to the fake one they claim to have against the intruders.
Anonymous from June 26, 2012 at 9:17 am:
Excellent reply post on your part with a very good point. LMC has potentially opened up a liability/negligence suit against themselves by their paying customers if it can be shown that they allowed hacked activity to occur on credentials that they paid for.
This is why they will never name any of the Does who were 1 of <25+ "intruders" to use a single set of "hacked" credentials. All :"legit" paying customers will have a field day if Prenda/LMC is stupid enough to proceed as such.
Most “owners” of hacked passwords — boards , torrent lists, etc. — are located overseas. The owners of these websites long ago discovered that Europe’s strong privacy laws — like nothing we know about in America, a legacy of Europe’s experience with the Nazis and the Soviets — make prosecution of petty cases like Lightspeed nearly impossible. Why is Pirate Bay still functioning as Europe’s busiest torrent board after a decade of controversy and being closed, then reopened every three years or so? As a Swedish friend exclaimed to me when I asked that question, “Hey this is Sweden. File-sharing is what we do here. We even have a Pirate Party in the parliament.” Sweden isn’t the most extreme European example, either. And don’t even think of going after Chinese or Indian sharers. It’s unlikely that the plaintiffs can get pin down password sharers overseas, where most of them operate, let alone get user information from them.
i think you miss understood the June 26, 2012 at 9:17 am post… the actuall account holders are (i doubt) porn-pass posting websites, but what was meant by “original owners” were the people who initially set up the account. lightspeed’s paying customer base.
and also what was meant by the negligence comment was that LSM has a VALID negligence claim against the original account holders if the accounts were “stolen” via undetected malware on the actual paying customers computer. because the actuall owners do infact have a contractual obligation to protect their passwords. so if they are subpoena’d it could really hurt LSM because if their paying customer base found out they might get subpoena’d if their pw is hacked or worse LSM might sue PAYING CUSTOMERS for negligence (i would not put it past them) then everyone who is paying for their crap will jump ship and he will truely go broke.
Yes, but you assume that Case aka Lightspeed has many paying customers. I would be he has not. I would wager that the chances of him losing many paying customers is therefore slim. He’s not a stupid man, just an impetuous one, a little too ego-driven for his own good. He wouldn’t take the risk of losing a thriving business if he had one. Like others here, we’re guessing he hasn’t and that this extortion racket is his business.
As with spam, if Case gets a 10% rate of settlements for his legal investment, which has been effectively nil — Prenda pays him! — he’s in gravy. If no one settles, however, and if his legal costs — or rather, Prenda’s costs — start to escalate, as they must, then Case’s Extortion, Inc., will prove as unsuccessful as was his Lightspeed “Is She Really 18?” Media Corporation. That’s when you will have to watch out for his ego and his tendency to randomly inflict damage .
Ah hell, I wrote “Case” again when I mean “Jones,” Steve Jones. Poor Steve Case’s only fault was his inability to run AOL. Jones is the individual who might go off half-cocked and shoot himself in the gonads.
I really think it is time to bring Focus on the Family into the mix. I’m quite confident they would have a very vocal stance on this matter. What with all the Catholic, Mormon LDS and right wing conservatives in AZ it would make for some interesting publicity.
Further, since Steve has had to move one other time to “protect” his family I wonder what his new neighbors, the PTA and possible HOA would think of his business ventures bringing to their community. Anyone want to join for a letter spreading campaign to illuminate these deeds to the neighbors? Seems that turnabout is fair play. Preying on folks who would want to settle rather than have the neighbors suspect them of looking at pretty young girls. Seems like poetic justice to me!!
Maybe just post some signs around the neighborhood like one would do for a lost puppy! I seem to recall getting a letter for the PD when a released sex offender moved into my neighborhood and they were required to notify all in the area. And it was a rather large area they contacted. Would this sort of behavior qualify as a sex crime that the Phoenix PD would need to notify everyone of?
I’m ‘just sayin’
More than a few AZ pornographers who are Prenda clients are producing and operating in residential neighborhoods. Very easy to figure out if you are bored on a rainy day.
It just blows my mind that an individual that wants to set up his smut operation in a nice quiet little community in Phoenix, someone that wants to protect his kids from his activities and one that is even quoted in the WSJ that he has installed blocking software on his kids computers to prevent them from accessing the very material he is producing, may not be the most stable individual. Going further down the rabbit hole it only gets more bizarre.
Now, my logical and reasonable hat is on, I apologize but its just the kind of thoughts any half sane citizen has. Being a certified Information Security professional I know I have a deeper understanding of the controls and mechanisms that can be installed to protect information and privacy, than your average Joe User. Not saying this to be arrogant but to qualify the next point. Mr. Jones comes from an IT background. He didn’t just decide to quite working at 7 Eleven one day and open a porn business, right? Any large scale IT operation that works on the Internet today is remiss if they don’t have appropriate firewalls, intrusion detection/prevention devices and multi-level security in place. It is rather easy for these devices to see say for example that a valid user account is being accessed simultaneously from 50 different IP address from all over the place and then send an alert in the most basic case. Most would be configured to alert and then deny those connections. Who is asleep at the wheel here? Negligence is definitely an issue as LMC has a duty to protect its customer data and they have obviously failed and so legitimate customers should be bringing a class action suit against them.
Yes, these devices and their maintenance and operation require money, but from looking at Mr. Jones financials this does not seem to be an issue. For example, he spends $40K for stunt planes at a Las Vegas show and then goes on to host a $50K sand volleyball event at a local AZ bar. I hardly see that he would have any issue securing his systems. After all, he is only making money while his sites are up and functioning.
Victims should become very enraged and working together, like the Occupy movement, bring this to a stop!
You guys got set up from the start. The passwords where place on forums and the porn sites where left open on purpose to gather IP logs to pull off this scam.
“You guys got set up from the start. The passwords where place on forums and the porn sites where left open on purpose to gather IP logs to pull off this scam.”
If it’s proven that Jones/LMC purposefully placed credentials that belong to paying customers, or even worse, credentials that he/LMC created specifically to post on the internet that never belonged to any paying customer, then the CFAA claim goes away because the plaintiff purposefully enabled the breach of his/their own systems! If this is proven as part of plaintiff’s scam, then paying customers and those who accidentally clicked on links (provided by Jones/LMC) of the format u:p@website with no intent to log in to LMC’s sites will have a field day with countersuits. If this can be shown, it will bring down LMC and Prenda while discouraging other porn trolls who think of pulling similar shit.
A lot has changed in a year. People have become educated and thus empowered to fight (thanks to SJD, DTD, Raul, eff.org etc). This particular scam was envisioned well over a year ago when many more were afraid and caving into the settlements, and I don’t think they banked on Does holding ground and fighting. So Con Buster, I hope you’re actually correct. If things happened as you say, it will eventually come out and be proven while leading to LMC and Prenda’s downfall. I think there’s even a post somewhere on gfy where Jones himself even hinted at this.
All in due time. The last thing you want to do is shoot your load prematurely….so to speak. If I am not mistaken, the Sakora outcome will be a decisive moment. Anyone know when that showdown begins?? The anticipation is absolutely agonizing. I mean I have been agonizing over this for months now and I have not even received a single phone call or settlement letter. Hell, I dont need to pay a dime…….I have been tortured enough.
To quote Buffalo Springfield from more innocent times (or so we thought),
“Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you’re always afraid
You step out of line, the man come and take you away.”
You have to agree, when there’s sh*t going down like Citizens United, drone attacks anywhere the Pentagon can point them, the President about to sign a trade pact that eliminates most laws pertaining to overseas corporations operating in America, and a 1%-er — a hedge-fund vulture, no less — contending to be our President, this troll stuff shrinks into the background.
…Unless it’s you whom these chiselers have decided to make their next patsy. I feel for you, PeckerHead, honest I do. All things in their time.
I would agree that the probabilty that Jones himself seeded password trading sites (which are total bullshit sites anyway) with U:P@website logins to simply get people to get to his site using these pre-established credentials. OK, so, he logs the IP and in the case of Doe 1 is able to show materials that were downloaded. Ok, so his magical home-brew software is ALL-that. Well then it better hope for his own asses sake that it recorded the U:P for each Doe because you can bet that info will be required in court and a disclosure of the “real” person to whom that belongs to. A real living person and not a ficticious one. Better yet, how about a full disclosure of all passes produced through his site.
One thing is certain and that is although he may not have thought to cover all his tracks back then, you can bet he is scrambling right now to cover his tracks, and so the more we dig into these password sites to look for passes to his site and the more we dig into his software, which he created and owns and which he seems now to be separating himself from in name, the better. I do not believe we should be only trying to shut his case down. I believe he has committed a crime. Seriously, if he intentionally lays a trap so that he can file lawsuits against people later?????? I may not be the smartest legal person in the world but that sorta reeks of willful fraud. If he and his goonie lawyers have collected a single dime from a single Doe at this point then the matter is done.
The probability that Jones is clear of any wrongdoing, including negligence in securing his sites with even the barest of security measures is quite low. His only hope is that a Doe does not take him to task in court. The potential size of this case (6500 Does) is enormous. It is enormous in so many ways it is not even funny. I hope Sakora goes the distance in his ass. In fact, I would propose we set up a “thank you fund” for him if he reams him like he has never been dreamed before. I dont mean just having the case go away. I mean having his ass carted off to that place were you damn well better not drop your soap. Maybe then these scumbags will get a clue that if they want to use porn as a scam to threaten people they better understand that it could cost them more than the porn itself (lol).
I know everyone here thinks these scams are being shut down and this copyright troll bullshit is on its last legs. I can assure you that is not the case. I hope you listen to what I am saying. The troll business is merely evolving and their behaviors and methods will improve. They will improve witht he backing and support of other industries as well as the federal government itself. I know, I have heard it all before…….”you dont know what you are talking about, bla bla bla” Well, you are wrong, I do know what the hell I am talking about and if all anyone does is just try to make their own little piece of this nightmare go away then the whole of it never will.
I think Adam might understand this. If he does then he might need our collective support and help, and it would behoove tens of thousands to not back away from that. You either stand for something or you fall for everything. Nice words, but either they actually mean something or they don’t.
Are you that guy who has been reading these posts and just praying this whole thing goes away so you don’t have to inform your family what you are involved with. I was, and it took me about 2 minutes to realize that the only approach was to just come out with it, lay it out, and keep informed and to relay that information, not only to those close to me but even to my employer as well, who has been apprised of this scenario. In fact, my employer was aware something was afoot many months ago when I had talked to our IP person about how my computer was taken over so badly by a virus attack that I had no idea what to do (witnesses). It was so bad, and I had tried everything to regain control of the computer. finally I was able to get it back enough to do a full wipe back to factory default. I managed to save some files but lost a lot. It just so happens that the time frame that this was going on happens to coincide with when my IP is alleged to have been used to enter that website. I think in my case it is quite clear what had happened. I was hacked and my IP used to do things. Which makes me nervous about other bizzare shit popping up. I will never hand over my computer willingly but it is a simple matter I believe to show a return to factory default and when, and this occured long before I ever heard of LMC or this case.
So, you Does who are lurking in the shadows, hoping it will vanish. Stop lurking. Talk to your family about it, and prepare for a defense. Prepare for a fight. You will feel better and will know you have done the right thing. Even if you did click those seeded links. Is that a crime? Is it a crime to click a link? If it is a crime to click a link then all of us in our society live with one foot in the grave. Maybe there are instances where clicking a link is a crime, but are not the bigger criminals the ones that put the link there in the first place? And what if you never meant to click that link but it happened accidentally. Waht if someone sends you a link in an email that has what looks like a legit name to it and so you click on it thinking one thing is going to happen but something else happens, and that something else takes you to a place where it could be stated that you just committed a crime. Does living in the digital age mean that we are all just one click away from ruining our lives forever. If the answer is yes then our society has gone down the wrong road and it needs to be corrected. And I hope Adam is one of those that will try.
Here are websites for those who want to tip the press:
Phoenix Business Journal (main business paper in Phoenix)
http://www.bizjournals.com/email/web-view/ODE5MTIwMDE?ana=e_phx_rdup&m=phoenix
Arizona Capitol Times (specialized, highly respected political news report)
http://azcapitoltimes.com/
Phoenix New Times (alternative weekly, superb investigative reporting)
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/
Arizona Republic (mainstream, the journal of record)
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/
Computerworld (national, not local; features more human-interest stories these days)
http://www.computerworld.com/
Ars Technica (Conde Nast’s excellent online journal, very hip to this issue)
http://www.arstechnica.com/
The Register (UK bad-boy of technical journalism, a global force to be reckoned with)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/
(The broadcast media in AZ have a middling reputation. They’re rip-and-read or right-wing talk.)
You would be unwise to simply drop everything and go pound on a paper’s doors. You will waste your time, possibly reveal what should remain confidential information, and get a bad reputation especially if you are arguing your own case to the press.
Rather, work with Jane and/or other authorities in this field to ensure you (a) don’t sound stupid, thereby putting the knock on all Does; (b) get your facts right (see a); (c) have a point to make, don’t just call people names; and (d) be effective, efficient, and do more good, no harm. Once you’ve got it together, you can help make a difference as a source the press turns to for advice. Also, by cultivating journalists who will do the job for you. That’s the best way to succeed.
The “press” is not predictable. It goes on the weirdest tangents — frequently. Reporters can be imprinted with false ideas, quite easily. Important issues can be reduced to issue-killing sound bytes. The press will frequently turn on individuals who tip them off but in so doing disturb publishers’ sense of propriety and their membership in privileged communities.
If you can recruit a journalist to the cause who’s honest, above board, determined, with a sizable regard for justice, not naive — who knows the score and can tell the difference between right and wrong, and who’s on which side — that’s a big plus for everyone. Press and public opinion counts with all judges, but especially local judges who are elected. Good reporting is worth a truckload of PR flackery: It can turn up facts that might otherwise go unknown; reveal patterns of abuse invisible to individuals; identify heroes and villains; play the White Knight; and tip the scales of justice in favor of … justice.
On the St. Clair Civil Court Records case participants page for this case it has Paul Duffy listed as an ATY FOR DEFEND. This must be a typo right?
Should I have heard something from somebody on 11-L-683 (Lightspeed) by now?
I still haven’t heard anything either in the 683 case. Every day, I keep expecting to get an extortion letter or robocall, but still nothing. It’s now been almost 6 weeks since they supposedly released my information.
Forget about the London Olympics, Troll Goodhue just filed affidavits of service in his two AZ LMC lawsuits. Bullshit/Bullying v. Brains/Bravery. Stay tuned and don’t even think about changing this channel.
Not sure what that means in legal speak, are they in public record somewhere we can read what they say.
http://www.law.com/jsp/lawtechnologynews/PubArticleLTN.jsp?id=1202536567298&slreturn=1
Interesting read regarding $5K loss under the CFAA.
Some interesting quotes from that link
“But a “loss” under CFAA is not what lawyers generally understand to be damage or damages, each of which has a different meaning under CFAA. For example, stolen intellectual property, regardless of its value, does not count toward the $5,000 loss. Privacy invasions and personally identifiable information, regardless of how valuable, also do not constitute losses under CFAA.
Instead, a loss must be a cost. It must be a reasonable cost to the victim to investigate, respond, or remedy the damage the violation caused to the data or computer, unless the case involves an interruption of service, which is relatively rare.”
AND
“The lawyer also should retain a licensed computer forensics firm, which should do two things. First, it should secure the computers so the evidence will not be tainted. Securing the computers includes preventing anyone else from using the computer to investigate on his own. Second, the computer forensics firm should conduct a thorough investigation and perform the work necessary to respond to and remediate the problem. The computer forensics firm actually has to perform the work. Speculation about work that likely will be required in the future will be insufficient to constitute a loss.”
This seems to go against the idea of the plaintiff being his own forensics firm.
Excellent post! I don’t see how LMC even in the wildest stretches of the imagination meet any of these requirements. Even if you could convince a jury that the illegal access of a questionably valid account, is worth $40 / month, that works out to $480 / year so even after 10 years of illegal access that is still less than $5000 per individual over that 10 year period.
Of course we don’t know the hourly charges for the Arcadia security firm that just happens to residing at the same address as LMC with joint agents. I mean that is a big mansion and it is conceivable that two businesses operate from there and have no knowledge of the other, only through their “professional relationship” (no pun intended). 😉
It’s obvious he is going to have to lie through his teeth before the judge on just about everything. A savvy palintiffs attorney will call him out on those lies and hopefully get him nailed for lying his ass off. It will be quite interesting to learn of the outcomes of these cases. But does anyone know when these cases actually get heard before the judge?
He doesn’t want to go to court, He just wants you to send him money.
A very good illustration of this can be found in the CAED where Prenda has a plaintiff who has essentially admitted liability and Prenda is afraid to move forward with the damages stage (for obvious reasons, there are none). This is one of their website’s marquee lawsuits by the way.
Normally I would link to the lawsuit but am on the IPad as my ISP lies about their repair appointments.
Yknow, I just had my doctor ram his finger up my ass today. If I am going to give anyone anything, it will look a whole lot like what was done to me today.
You think a finger up the ass is bad, my doctor is recommending this http://www.steadyhealth.com/Hemorrhoidectomy_Recovery___how_long_will_it_take__t85720.html Almost as bad as trolls
Awwww, I kinda feel sorry for a certain pornographer who is getting ignored over at gfy.com where he once ruled so…………
Happy 70th Birthday Steve Lightspeed!
Shall we meet over at the Renegrade Grill and hoist a few brewskis to the genius of your most recent litigation blitzkrieg?
Trust me, make sure, absolutely sure they give you an enema before that surgery. Because if they forget then even your ancestors will feel your pain. Just a heads-up.
Thanks for the head-up, dreading it.
Raul.. Wrong end….
Ok, so apparently the Illinois Supreme court took a bit of a dump on the lightspeed shenanigans, but I have learned to be very cautious through reading these events. Does anyone have any real insight into what this means now, and will the quashing of the subpoenas only be for those ISP’s that objected. I do not want to disclose who my ISP is as that would narrow things down a bit as to whom I might possibly be. Or is this a blanket quashing of all subpoenas that were issued to all ISP’s for personal info? Seeing as how my ISP has probably already handed over my info, what could this entail for me??? Any thoughts???
Make sure all of you write the Westboro Baptist Church and get Steve on their prayer list. Maybe they can stop by and drop off a bible for him to read.
http://www.godhatesfags.com/contact.html
Not even funny to involve those hate mongers on either side of this issue.
Great idea! Email sent.
Why do that? Why involve religious extremists in the mix? Why create a situation that portrays Steve Jones as a victim of zealotry instead of the asshole that he is? What a lame thing to do.
Agree. There is no need for blind hatred. It’s a dead end. It’s what crooks want.
Remember what Norwegian prime minister Jens Stoltenberg said after the massacre last year:
Think about it.
FYI: I uploaded a motion to dismiss in LS v. World Timbers case (provided by TBD) – linked from the Lightspeed page.
CASE#11-L-0683 IS CLOSED & REMOVED TO FEDERAL COURT!!!!!
ST. CLAIR COUNTY COURT RECORD SEARCH (Civil)
CASE DETAIL
Case Number: 11-L-0683
Filing Date: 12/14/2011
Next / Last Court Appearance: FRI, JULY 20, 2012 AT 10:00 AM IN ROOM 401
Case: LIGHTSPEED VS JOHN DOE
Judge: HON. ROBERT P. LECHIEN
Case Type: LAW OVER – OTHER (L)
Case Status: Closed
============================================================================
REGISTER OF ACTIONS
08/10/2012 CLS:REMOVED TO FEDERAL COURT ADMINISTRATION csam
08/10/2012 DOC:NOTICE OF REMOVAL ADMINISTRATION csam
08/10/2012 DOC:NOTICE OF FILING ADMINISTRATION csam
08/08/2012 ASM:COPIES ATY FOR DEFEND BOZARTH TROY A
08/07/2012 SUM:SUMMONS ISSUED DEFENDANT COMCAST CABLE HOLDINGS LLC
08/07/2012 SUM:SUMMONS ISSUED DEFENDANT SMITH ANTHONY
08/07/2012 SUM:SUMMONS ISSUED DEFENDANT SBC INTERNET SERVICES INC DBA
08/03/2012 DOC:FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT ATY PLAINTIFF HOERNER KEVIN T
08/03/2012 MOT:MOTION FOR LEAVE ATY PLAINTIFF HOERNER KEVIN T
This article was re-printed (without a credit) from http://www.zdnet.com/hacker-hater-meet-the-star-client-of-porns-most-prolific-copyright-lawyer-7000002703/
“Currently, Lightspeed (run by Steve “Lightspeed” Jones) is the star client of the nation’s “most prolific porn copyright trolls” – Prenda Law’s John Steele.” Yeaahh, the information is a bit aged but tomato…to-ma-toe…shit well, it doesn’t sound right unless spoken.
In principle, congrats Steve Jones! You’ve gained the attention of a REAL hacking community that has the REAL capability to fuck your world up. On top of that, you’ve pissed off both AT&T and Comcast as well as as the brothers Sekora. May God have mercy on your soul, Steve Jones.
Steve Jones is the Steve jobs of 90’s applesause spooge shots. He’s pathetic.
Client of mine was just served with Summons and Complaint today. There is some history going back to early January when I had the pleasure of speaking with “Mark Lutz.” Can’t give a lot of details b/c I don’t want to tip my hand to the trolls, but let me say “this is going to be fun.” I want to try this case, I need to try this case, I will try this case, unless they pay us damages. I am going to make them rue the day they filed this case (exact same complaint as other ones posted here). This site is a Godsend for any attorney representing clients…my recommendation and what I told Mark Lutz – your claims are bullshit, which awarded me with “you’re a funny guy”. I think I just found out why God made me a trial attorney – to hammer sleazeball porn king trolls and those who deign to represent them….I will post more after my answer/motion to dismiss/counterclaim/motion for change of judge/motion to remove to federal court/motion to produce “expert forensic software engineer for deposition”etc. have been filed…
Please keep us in the loop and check back, much going on behind the scenes.
Thanks! “This site is a Godsend for any attorney representing clients…” — statements like this keep me going.
Please let me know if I can provide any help (coordination, announcements etc.) I reached solid 5K pageviews a day (up to 8), and, albeit not huge, this kind of relative visibility can and should be efficiently utilized.
I will try to keep you in the loop and thank you for the offer. My client has given me the go ahead to file a counterclaim so I may not remove this case to federal court as I initially was contemplating. I have so much more freedom in State Court for discovery that it will be more fun to litigate it here. No restrictions on number of deps, time limits on deps – I can see a dep of Steve Jones lasting days if not weeks when I ask every question on simply the documentation he has to prove the “hacking” along with how his software works, how it was programmed, what the code means.
Any thoughts anyone can provide on what discovery (documents, software programs, client lists, personal assets, questions to ask, etc.) to request from the trolls would be nice as I am not an expert on IP law, but I can confidently say I know my way around litigation and the courtroom…I wish everyone would file a counterclaim and then file their Motion to Dismiss. There are easily claims for abuse of process, malicious prosecution, and any other cause of action that fits your particular fact pattern. I have a great one as my client was at work when he allegedly “hacked” their website from his house computer miles away…I told “Mark Lutz” to make sure he filed suit against the right defendant and they didn’t…of course. Also from the documentation they are using in the IL case against Comcast, etc., there is great evidence on the IP addresses – turns out same IP was used multiple times before they allege my guy hacked his way in…pretty piss poor security if you can’t exclude one IP address from accessing your website, unless you don’t want to secure the site and just want to “identify these thieves and provide the information necessary to sue the thieves in civil court.” (Steve Jones declaration filed 8/9/12). Guess what Steve you got your wish, now welcome to my domain…maniacal laugh (as my kids like to say).
Be sure to check out this discussion https://fightcopyrighttrolls.com/discussions/steele-hansmeier/guava-llc-v-skyler-case-il-cook-county-12-l-7363/ as I (and others) believe it is a disguised HUGE state LMC lawsuit. Also get in touch with Adam Sekora’s attorney in AZ as to discovery whose info can be located at the top of this discussion https://fightcopyrighttrolls.com/discussions/lightspeed-password-hacking-cases/
the top item i would ask for in discovery is the name and address and email of every owner of the passwords that were alledgedly “hacked” so you can depose them as to wether they freely distributed the password or not. imagine what it will do to his buisness when all this actuall customers receive material witness subpoena’s.
As far as the claim that THIEF v2.0 (where’s v1.0 and all the versions in between?) cost $250,000, it’s total bullshit just like Steele’s claim that his software cost a quarter of a million too…what are the odds of that happening? I don’t believe in coincidences, especially ones that smell like a conspiracy to commit extortion, wire fraud, mail fraud, fraud upon the court, and a whole buttload of other crimes, most falling under the RICO statute.
From what I’ve read, and even based on Jones’ own admission, it’s just IP filtering software. Based on my level of knowledge, which admittedly is outdated and somewhat foggy given that I quit playing with Linux and coding when I changed my major from CS to finance, I’ll give you a breakdown of what I believe his “software” to be. The only way conceivable way for that to work would be that the “software” takes Apache logs or ProxyPass logs and filters out IPs, usernames, dates, and times, and whatever else he wants. It’s also an educated guess, but the software is likely command-line and uses a switch or switches which supplies arguments to the “software” (as in “./thief -u Imanasshole.txt -o “Victims1.txt”). The “imanasshole.txt” file would be a list of compromised usernames and the “Victims1.txt” would be the output, or list of victims, whatever word you wanna use. I doubt the software, if you can call a PERL or Python script using Regex statements “software” (no one in the software development community does) and no way in hell it cost $250,000 to develop. I could write a program in C that does the same thing in a few hours if I just went start to finish, and I haven’t coded in C or any other language in over 10 years. If it’s real-time, then it’s a little more complicated but there’s open source software out there that does it.
I find it VERY hard to believe that Jones couldn’t stop this for 11 months since the newer versions of ProxyPass will ban IP addresses after so many failed login attempts and the Apache plugin also recognizes proxies (which password crackers use to get around the failed login attempt bans) and bans those. The newer versions of ProxyPass also have a CAPTCHA interface if the admin so chooses, but CAPTCHA is easy to crack given the right tools (just read a whitepaper published by some academics on it). The software is supposed to stop these brute force attacks Jones is bitching about, but it didn’t because he’s either too incompetent to configure his own website(s) OR, and I believe and always will believe, that he deliberately allowed this to happen. He leaked the passwords. He fucked with the configuration of his server so IPs wouldn’t be banned after numerous failed login attempts as long as they were attempting to login using the leaked usernames.
If I was in your shoes, I’d go after Jones’ software first, then hit him on every single communication that doesn’t have attorney-client privilege attached to it. Probably a list of personal assets, bank account balances and transactions to see what’s going in and out. As I stated below, his software is crap, cannot possibly cost $250k unless Jones wrote it himself and assigned that value to it. He stated it costs $500/month to operate it…right, I’d hit him on that one too. His site’s security is shit so he’s practically opening the door, so ask him how many failed login attempts it takes for an IP to be banned. Oh boy, I could sit around all day and think about shit to ask him. Mind you, Steele would almost certainly tell Jones to not even open his mouth during the depo. “State your name” quickly followed by “My client isn’t gonna answer that.”
Mark Lutz is, to put it kindly, an idiot. Apparently he has a degree in finance from Arizona State, graduated in 2001. If he was actually competent, he’d be working in some area of finance or at least have relevant work experience, yet according to his LinkedIn profile he does not. Rather, he is now a paralegal whose job is to call people and scare the shit out of them. The man has no ethics, no moral compass, and no respect for anyone. He allegedly misrepresented himself as an attorney once during an extortion call which is a big fucking deal since he’s a paralegal. There’s an outstanding bench warrant for “Mark Colins Lutz” in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. Not sure if this is the same Mark Lutz who works for Prenda.
I also wanted to say thank you to the posters who have provided this information. As I posted in the Lightspeed hacking thread, I intend to take all of the information from this page to my attorney to dismiss the summons and complaint we recieved.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2012
Lightspeed Media For Sale
From Steve Lightspeed:
The time is finally here. After 13 years, with my security company, other interests, and new projects dominating my time, I’m ready to sell Lightspeed Media. Domains, content, trademarks, copyrights, traffic, completely automated custom cms/member/affiliate/traffic management software, and much much more. Seriously interested buyers only.
Assuming you are Lightspeed, how do you plan to market LMC with your lawsuits scattered across the landscape like German Tiger Tanks after the Battle of Stalingrad?
If I buy Lightspeed, would that absolve me of any responsibility as an ALLEGED CO-CONSPIRATOR. Now would that be the MOTHER OF ALL SETTLEMENTS or what 😀 😀