Prenda
Lightspeed v. Doe news. Early Halloween scare: Unusually lame demand letter
- Lightspeed Media v. John Doe: a quick follow up Q & A
- Attorney’s opinion: Lightspeed’s claim is a farce
- Lightspeed Media Corporation v. John Doe: a quick Q & A
Yes, even if you are a victim of this extortion plot, you still can enjoy this circus if you dedicate some time to learning why you should be intrigued, pissed off, amused, entertained… — you name it: anything but scared.
Thanks to a Prenda/Lightspeed’s extortion target who shared this letter with me. To be honest, I expected a better job from the “mega troll.” The main difference from copyright cases, where insane statutory damages apply, Computer Fraud and Abuse Act lacks such a provision, so given the absence of the $150,000 boogieman, the following attempts to scare recipients into paying are extremely weak, the threats are hollow, and the entire letter is simply unimpressive, good only for… (you’ll find out at the end):
This letter cites an old 2000 lawsuit for the preposition that widened the applicability of CFAA to cover non-protected computers (i.e. virtually any business) and equating Internet access with the interstate activity. Yet this demand letter is conveniently shy to mention that the cited precedent did not lower the $5,000 threshold of the actual damage that plaintiff is supposed to suffer in order for this law to become applicable. Therefore, the threat is hollow: even the Kafka disciples reunion would be unable to stretch their collective wild imagination to claim that a single Doe has damaged Lightspeed’s obscene business for more than $5,000 a year by simply accessing its member-only area, given the $40 unlimited access monthly fee.
The “spoliation of evidence” piece is especially laughable: Prenda always argues that Does are not parties to their lawsuits and have no standing to challenge the subpoenas yet the “formal notice” demanding to not delete or modify any files undeniably implies the opposite. You cannot have a cake and eat it too, scammers!
OK, I do not want to repeat all the points of insanity this father of all frivolous lawsuits managed to amass, please read the previous posts on the subject (linked above) if you have not read them yet.
Conclusion
The right way to use such a document was hinted by a community member (CTVic) long time ago:
You know what impresses me the most about their demand letters? The paper quality. 25% cotton bond with a beautiful watermark … it’s so soft to the touch, and doesn’t cause any abrasions or release any ink when I wipe my ass with it.
(Thanks to Raul who shared his thoughts about this document.)
Fight © Trolls 
This entire lawsuit/mess is a textbook as to the venality, overreaching and fraud on the judicial system with regard to troll lawsuits that any sane judge should order an AG investigation into. Great job SJD!
If you are a Doe who receives such a letter and are inclined to consult an attorney ask him or her about this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mail_and_wire_fraud It may be applicable to this lawsuit.
Thanks SJD if i receive a letter i will share it with the rest the people so we can all have a another laugh. I really liked the ending though that was nicely done.
Sigh… are they even trying anymore? Or are they praying that people haven’t heard of google?
Once upon a time they could scare people, now they can’t scare a puppy because people and Judges are getting educated on this scam.
Maybe they are hoping to bore us to death so we stop telling people what liars they are….
My favorite part is the second paragraph… “my clients monitoring service provider.” Doesn’t the fact that they are same person make their evidence completely invalid?
This demand letter is signed by Joseph Perea.
Here is the info about the only attorney named “Joseph Perea” licensed to practice law in Florida according to the Florida Bar attorney search page. Note: it not the same as the info on the “Prenda Law, Inc.” Letterhead or the http://wefightpiracy.com/ Prenda Law, Inc webpage.
Also, I did not find any Illinois barred attorney named “Joseph Perea”.
from http://www.floridabar.org/names.nsf/MESearchDK?OpenForm :
Member in Good Standing Eligible to practice in Florida
ID Number: – 47782
Address: Joseph Perea, P.A.
9100 S Dadeland Blvd Ste 1500
Miami, Florida 331567816
United States
Phone: 305.9346215
Fax: 888.2294968
E-Mail: perealaw@gmail.com
vCard:
County: Miami-Dade
Circuit: 11
Admitted: 12/14/2007
Sections: Young Lawyers Division
10-Year Discipline History None
Hmmm…
Does anyone have info on any of the other attorneys associated with “Prenda Law, Inc”?
Sasha, please read this article, including what’s written between the lines. The entire Prenda conspiracy stinks, and they are actually investigated by the Florida Bar. Unfortunately, and you know it better than me, to be sanctioned by a Bar you have to commit a murder. Anything lesser, and they close their eyes, not understanding the unspeakable harm they inflict to reputation of the legal profession by their inaction. Talk to Graham if you want to learn more details: he is a very good guy, he has his heart in the right place, and it’s obvious he knows much more than he wants to publicly say.
Paul Andrew Duffy – Illinois attorney. Not licensed in Florida.
IL Bar attorney search: http://www.iardc.org/lawyersearch.asp
LAWYER SEARCH: ATTORNEY’S REGISTRATION AND PUBLIC DISCIPLINARY RECORD
ARDC Individual Attorney Record of Public Registration and Public Disciplinary and Disability Information as of June 7, 2012 at 9:00:00 AM:
Full Licensed Name: Paul Andrew Duffy
Full Former name(s): None
Date of Admission as Lawyer
by Illinois Supreme Court: November 5, 1992
Registered Business Address: Prenda Law Inc.
161 N. Clark St. Suite 3200
Chicago, IL 60601-3247
Registered Business Phone: (312) 880-9160
Illinois Registration Status: Active and authorized to practice law – Last Registered Year: 2012
Malpractice Insurance:
(Current as of date of registration;
consult attorney for further information) In annual registration, attorney reported that he/she has malpractice coverage.
Public Record of Discipline
and Pending Proceedings: None
I love this blog, the posts are so comical 🙂 Looking forward to being apart of a class action lawsuit, perhaps in 2013?
Sittin here at Starbucks, enjoying the free WIFI (not hacking into Steve Douchebags skanky and quite crappy websites), and then I came across this quote:
“You know what impresses me the most about their demand letters? The paper quality. 25% cotton bond with a beautiful watermark … it’s so soft to the touch, and doesn’t cause any abrasions or release any ink when I wipe my ass with it.”
LOL. I think the other patrons thought I was nuts when I bust out laughing after reading that. I wonder just how lucrative the extortion has been for them in the past. It must have been very lucrative otherwise they would not be doing it. Nigerian scammers scam because they get enough takers to make it worthwhile, otherwise they would resort to open water piracy like the Somalians have. But the scam days are not as robust as they used to be thanks to people like Raul and SJD, who are obviously quite hated by the trolls, but who are champions and heros to the rest of us.
These trolls will not – cannot go away. This is what they do and the niche they have carved out for themselves. It is their way they survive. Reality suggests they will not fade off into the night. So, the question is what will they come up with next? There must be some new angle they are concocting. Are they opening and operating porn sharing forums or in cahoots and possible owners of downloading/uploading sites such as depositfiles, filesonic etc to not only get the money from subscribers but also then to snare them into these copyright suits?????? I think Filesonic is a big tip-off. From what I understand of the owners of Filesonic (what I read on the internet), I would be very concerned. I think much greater attention should be paid to who owns these sites and what partnerships they may have. would not be surprised to discover that a file uploading service is also sharing (for a fee) their subscribers download activity with the trolls. Seems to me that would be a criminal act, and one that would get some lawyers into Fed troubles. One thing is for certain: They are working out a new angle to the age old art of scam.
Dear Omally and Lightspeed. You two clowns may have a lot more money than me but at least I dont have to wake up each morning in your skin. That is beyond nightmarish to me.
“The illegal hacking activities are in violation of multiple federal and state laws”
Ummmm last I checked the lawsuit has barely gotten past the discovery stage. Nobody has been found to be in violation or convicted of anything.
This letter provides for a private right of action, inter alia, toilet paper, bird cage liner, fire starter, and a good laugh.
Here’s a website headed by Matthew Chan that helps people receiving extortion letters:
http://www.extortionletterinfo.com/prenda-law-lawsuits-continuation-of-steele-hansmeier-lawsuits/
Here is a lightspeed password hacking case that has actually been filed. Any thoughts??
hxxp://wefightpiracy.com/userfiles/Complaint-Filed%20(Sekora).pdf
[sjd — I redacted the URL: Prenda most likely logs IP addresses; you can access this document via proxy: click here]
Oh, Steve is going after a neighbor. Should be interesting to see how that goes, if the guy doesn’t roll over he might have fun papering Steve’s neighborhood with fliers recounting Steve’s exploits, talk to local press, etc. If Prenda has already been in contact with this Doe they don’t mention it in the complaint, nothing about the guy incriminating himself, denying culpability, etc. and it has a bunch of boilerplate hypotheticals in case he had unsecured Wi-Fi.
Also note that the complaint claims Lightspeed “retained” Arcadia Data Security Consultants, but does not mention that Lightspeed Media and Arcadia have the same owner, I wonder if that is disclosed in other filings…
http://www.superiorcourt.maricopa.gov/docket/CivilCourtCases/caseSearchResults.asp?lastName=&FirstName=&bName=Lightspeed
Don’t see any other filings on the docket, but it looks like documents are not available online there. In any case, bringing up their oversight to disclose the conflict of interest will probably be first thing on the list for the defense.
As a matter of fact it may be disclosed in an exhibit, like it was in the mothership case. Yet reading this declaration one realizes that the “software” in question is most likely a one-line SQL or RegEx statement.
Is he going after a Systems Architect? How stupid is that?
There is a very unpleasant surprise awaiting trolls and bros in this particular case 🙂 Can’t tell more at the moment. Stay intrigued.
Still attempting to get commenting privileges at gfy.com so as to let Jones’ “friends” know of his greedy shenanigans but no luck as of yet.
Careful over there. There was a poster, gideongallery, who is continually challenging copyright issues on that board. One of Steele’s clients outed the guy to the board, posted his home address, other posters began google bombing his employer, and they contacted his employer.
I am pretty sure the posts have been deleted.
Thanks for the heads up.
Another “Smegma Law” settlement letter for your amusement. 😉
Click to access parody_ltr21.pdf
DTD 🙂
Thanks for the laugh – although t’was more reality than parody!!! 😀
they didn’t even have the “settle or we will sue for $150,000” part. just “you did something wrong and you should pay us or we can sue you for some money”
Beautiful, isn’t it? They’re not even trying to claim statutory damages for copyright infringement. They’re apparently threatening to sue people under the “I point, you pay” clause of Article 7, chapter 218 of the Eat Shit & Die law. The jury’s still out on who does the paying and who eats the shit.
I have a feeling that if this case ever made it to court, the plaintiff’s opening arguments would look a little like this:
(wear earphones if yer at work)
When times get tough, the dogs will eat the other dogs to survive. That is simply what is going on with all of this.
Their demand letters don’t degrade or yellow easily, either. Mine’s framed and mounted above the desk in my home office; since I’m one of the “first round” of Copyright Troll Victims, it’s starting to put on a little age. I’m definitely impressed at how little it’s discolored since I put it on display. Except for the crinkly brown streak right down the middle of the first page … but that’s not exactly the fault of the paper manufacturer.
Hey, kids, I’m back! Took a vacation.
If you receive one of these letters, file a restraining order. The trolls are then on the hook to fight the order or go away. 100% chance they will go away. If you receive another letter, send it to the court and petition that the trolls are in violation of the order.
That’s just the start….
Welcome Back!
I trust you had a great time and could ignore trolls. Last time I got away was when I was still in furious mode with trolls so, accordingly (embarrassed to say), Turks & Caicos ranks in SJD’s Top Views By Country since February of this year (put me down for Anguilla as well with its limited internet access though). The notion here is do not give the troll your hard earned money, take a vacation instead. Hopefully for my next vacation SJD will not be pinged so much but when she is I think it will amuse her.
wasn’t there a motion hearing in 0683 yesterday? (One of the hearings that would never be scheduled). Any updates through the grapevine?
I would like to have some info on this as well.. Anyone??
Click to access gov.uscourts.cod.132446.18.0.pdf
Excellent read about a guy in CO named Fantalis going after Malibu Media for a 1 mil counterclaim. This guy read my mind. But depending on his occupation, the 1 mil mark may or may not be just. In my case, a fair and just amount would be closer to 2 mil, taking career damage and retirement impacts and character defamation into account. Add attorney fees and court costs and the counterclaim suit will more likely look like 2.25 mil. Oh, I already know the plan for them……we have no assets, lol, yeah you do.