Prenda
Is Prenda calling it quits or cooking a new fraud?
Table of individual Prenda cases
In the Forbes’ article, John Steele bragged that “he files 20 lawsuits a month, and would like to increase this to 300.”
Those of us, who know this miserable individual, did not believe a single word. Moreover, I speculated that the blizzard of individual lawsuits was the last grand bluff, last attempt to extort ransom payments before abandoning the sinking ship. Steele also bizarrely stated that individual lawsuits brought more money to him than the mass ones. Any rational person understands that this is an absolute hogwash. While filing all these cases is feasible (though costly), maintaining them is way beyond Prenda’s capacity, even if Prenda manages to triple the number of underemployed scumbag lawyers — like Jacques Nazaire from Georgia, or Jonathan Tappan from Michigan. As I had predicted, in most cases defendants were not even served:
Sure Steele and his goons still can make an effort and heave a couple of summons, but what about all of the currently named cases that rot in dockets all over the country? What will they do with this load? What is going to happen when it comes to depositions?
Prenda can’t even organize the complaints on its site, listing unrelated Duffy’s cases together with extortion lawsuits. In another occasion, an individually named defendant has not been dismissed from the underlying mass lawsuit. And this is just the tip of the iceberg: these guys absolutely, positively cannot manage the load they announced.
Copyright Clerk was close: he noted that Prenda dismissed 34 lawsuits filed on behalf of Sunlust Pictures, all during December. Yet we thought that it was caused by the courtroom fiasco, and Sunlust’s principals tried to mitigate the effects of unwanted publicity. Or maybe because DieTrollDie uncovered and reported a fraud committed by a Virginia troll Timothy Anderson in connection with Sunlust lawsuits. So, Sunlust dismissals were at least explainable.
Then one of the most controversial lawsuits, Hard Drive Productions v Does 1-1,495, was inexplicably killed. Then some commenters started mentioning dismissals, taking place here and there without apparent reason. Finally, it became clear that something big is going on.
Prenda did not file new federal lawsuits since November (except for one occasion when Nashville’s Sam Trenchi initiated a couple of AF Holdings cases, as if another Alan Cooper was magically found; and another one — when a mortgage fraudster Daniel Ruggiero filed a dead-on-arrival Guava case in Pennsylvania).
I compiled a table of Prenda’s individual cases — both those, in which defendants were named, and those with John Doe as a defendant. I started with the list found on Prenda’s website, but there are more to be added.
I randomly checked different lawsuits, and it seems like Prenda indeed has been killing nearly all of its cases filed on behalf of the following plaintiffs:
- Sunlust Pictures
- Openmind Solutions
- Millenium TGA
- Boy Racer
- First Time Videos
- CP Productions
(A couple of cases is still alive because the entry of defaults.)
Interestingly, the following “plaintiffs” were spared, and their cases are still active:
- AF Holdings
- Ingenuity 13
- Quad International
AF Holdings and Ingenuity 13 are offshore (and possibly even outright fake) corporations that are in the center of “Coopergate” — allegation that Steele and his gang forged the signature of their purported CEO Alan Cooper, using identity of a man (real Alan Cooper) against his will or even knowledge.
I know almost nothing about Quad International, but definitely, it makes sense to investigate this “corporation”: the majority of undertakings by Steele and Hansmeier are tainted with fraud, so there is a viable chance to unearth another scandal.
I cannot read crooked minds, and undeniably, we don’t have enough information to speculate about both why all these sudden dismissals are taking place, and why the most suspicious “plaintiffs” were spared at this time. I hope that Prenda’s impudent fraudulent activities have finally caught attention of law enforcement, and the crooks are on the run. I will be happy to find out readers’ opinions.
I did not want to spend all my weekend checking every lawsuit, and I hope for help with filling out this table.
Two questions of the day
- Is it wise to settle with Prenda today?
- Was it ever?
Fight © Trolls 
Is this all just in regards to federal cases, or does it look like they are chopping down their civil, state cases too? The table appears to only be federal cases.
No, there are a couple of state cases listed there (note that I mostly went through the named part of the table): look at the state column: sometimes it lists county. Majority of state cases are filed on behalf of Lightspeed. Unfortunately, it is not easy to check the status of state cases. I know about one Lighspeed case in CA that was inexplicably dismissed by Gibbs in December.
Love the picture! I wonder who will be the first rat to turn stool pigeon and bust this wide open? It will likely be one of the local counsels Prenda fails to take care of and faces various charges. If Prenda does not take care of the old clients, they will likely get sued by a real attorney representing the old Plaintiffs. Once it starts, the melt-down will not stop.
DTD 🙂
I have been seeing these dismissals as well, and more often than not, there really is NO explanation for these. In the past I have been one to think that Steele has something up his sleeve, but if he did, he and his staff would still be in Illinois with their sleeves rolled up following up on these lawsuits. Why is Steele in Las Vegas, and why is Mark Lutz in Mexico? If they were still friends, they should both be in Illinois working their tails off on these lawsuits. So quite frankly, I really don’t know either.
I would enjoy any speculating, Rob. I assume you have lots of correspondence with the Prenda’s “network” whether settling or shielding, so just from going about your day to day work I would expect you to have insight into whatever is going on over there.
Even if they have no intention of making additional effort to litigate these, they can at least send threatening letters to the defendants as long as the cases stay open. That has always resolved itself by judges getting tired of junk on the docket and dismissing for failure to prosecute. If Prenda is falling apart and just giving up, actually dismissing the case requires at least a little work, possibly paying a few bucks to the local counsel, etc. vs. doing nothing and spending nothing. So why spend the effort when they have bigger problems if it’s come to that? I doubt it is just to avoid the embarrassment of having judges dismiss the cases, that has never stopped Prenda before and to an outside observer, voluntarily bailing on these doesn’t look good. So what is the strategic benefit?
Could it be that Prenda is proactively severing ties with local counsels for some reason (maybe there are contractual obligations with the locals that cost money)? It would be interesting to see if the jurisdictions where cases are being shut down have AF and Ingenuity cases or if these are local counsels that only had cases for Prenda’s old clients.
I suppose another possibility is Prenda is trying to avoid some liability they are exposed to, but if that were the case there are other pressing issues the community has uncovered (like Prenda not being in good standing with the State of Illinois, using unlicensed “investigators,” etc.), so if they were trying to clean up their act I would expect to see much more than this, although the APLG thing suggests another rebirth was planned. But if they are afraid of the liability from cases built upon fraud, well it’s probably too late once they’ve actually been filed.
Whatever is going on, I’m sure when we find out it’s going to be big news whether it’s bad news for Does or Prenda. The recent developments in the Alan Cooper mystery and their Florida Sunlust case meltdown have emboldened everyone here, many of us are basically dancing on Prenda’s grave already (myself included). But seeing as we are now into the third year of Steele’s operation, I don’t think we should count out his lack of scruples or the justice system’s tolerance for him.
Considering Prenda’s rapt attention to detail, and delicate care for rule of law, I wouldn’t be surprised if Does keep getting scare letters even if they’re not attached to an open case. As long as they have a name & address, they can easily keep sending letters saying “pay us or we’ll sue you, dirty pirate!”
It may be illegal … it may just be frowned upon … but who cares? By the time anybody calls them on it, they’ll be gone and working under False Corporate Entity 3.0.
Their ship’s sinking, and they’ll be grabbing at any low-hanging fruit they can on the way out. Just get the word out: don’t pay the bastards off. Wipe your ass with their threats and send em right back.
Instead of, or in addition to, a dismissed-lawsuit list, let’s have an Other-Shoe-Waiting-To-Drop list (all conduct is alleged until proven or admitted):
1. Identity theft of Alan Cooper / enforcement of discovery order (Judge Wright, CDCA)
2. Contact with Does in violation of CO court order
3. Perjury by Lutz (11/27 hearing) (Judge Scriven, MDFL)
4. Perjury by Webber/Weber (opposition to sanctions) (Judge Scriven, MDFL)
5. Identity theft of Weisinger (opposition to sanctions) (Judge Scriven, MDFL)
6. Subornation of perjury by Steele (opposition to sanctions) (Judge Scriven, MDFL)
7. Interstate flight by Lutz
What do federal judges do when they learn of criminal conduct by parties, witnesses and/or attorneys? Do they invite the FBI into chambers? Do they make written referrals to the local US Attorney?
8. Alleged collusion with defendants (fraud on the court) in 3 Guava cases
9. Robocalls in violation of state and federal laws
Here’s another possibility. This is the latest in the ongoing saga of Charle’s Carreon, nothing to do with copyright trolling but a great example of a lawyer’s douchbaggery getting him in trouble. One of the problems Carreon now faces for threatening lawsuits he never intended to file is possible exposure to a lawsuit from Walgreens for exposing them to data preservation requirements during the course of his BS lawsuits.
This could be an interesting angle for either a class action from Does or a suit by ISPs against Prenda. In Prenda’s case, since they did actually seem to sort of prosecute their lawsuits, if not very well, there may not be a pure frivolity argument. But if AF, Ingenuity, etc. turn out to be fraudulent corporations that Prenda is in bed with, and bringing fraudulent lawsuits on their behalf has caused businesses and individuals to spend money on data retention as a result of their threats…
Probably a tough angle for Does because individuals would have to prove they actually spent time and money complying with Prenda’s demands, and let’s get real, basically nobody would have done that. But the ISPs… Oh boy… If it turns out Prenda’s clients are the product of John Steele committing identity theft… And the ISPs have wasted their time and money preserving records for these cases… They may want a big piece of Prenda.
I received a demand letter from Timothy Anderson in November giving me 15 days to call and settle for a case that happened back in February 2012 concerning AF Holdings. I didn’t contact him and still have not heard anything. No phone calls or letters. I can’t find any info if my case was dismissed or not. I am a little worried because this letter was AF Holdings vs. George. I have searched everywhere for help, I’m hoping Coopergate is why I haven’t heard anything.
I’m a little biased, but I have a feeling operations are slowly bleeding to death. With all these issues exploding, it’s tough to imagine Prenda or any companies involved with them want to open themselves up to additional problems. They can’t continue their extortion business model if no companies are willing to utilize their “services,” and if they’re not lepers already they sure are moving there fast.
This is looking like the end. Dismissing the ‘legit’ plaintiffs’ cases is one thing, as the transition to vertically-integrated, offshore dummy plaintiffs was a strategic move. It’s hard to be sure whether or not John decided to sever ties with his old porn-company plaintiffs to save the hassle, but it looks like he’s unable to get new (non-made-up) clients at this point. Sunlust was one of the latest ‘real’ companies to become a Prenda client, first case in March ’12 as far as I can tell, and look where it got them, who in their right mind would sign on for that kind of treatment? But with Prenda also dismissing their shell-company cases, things look dire indeed.
Aside from their latest legal problems, let’s get real here, successful businesses expand. When mass-Doe cases were profitable there were filings almost every day, certainly several days a week. When they moved to handfuls of Does per case, filings came in regular batches, maybe a couple times a week or at least a few times a month. Now we see very few filings even when all the troll groups are taken together, and the latest batches are clueless wannabes who seem to think the legal landscape is the same as it was in 2010. Just a few months ago John was bragging about his goal of suing EVERY Doe, 300 named cases per month capacity, and hiring lawyers as fast as he could. In December there were more dismissals than filings and lawyers are falling on themselves to distance themselves from Prenda. If this strategy was bringing in money hand-over-fist there would be MORE filings every month, count on it! Fewer filings means Prenda is FAILING!
That said, Prenda is already several iterations in to John’s attempts to reinvent his scam. There have been lulls before; after the pathetic robocalling and informal discovery fiascos, there was enough of a lull to make it seem like that was it for Prenda, then we got the couple-hundred single and named Doe cases bluff and the Guava and Oaxaca cases. So there is probably something newer and more pathetic in the works, but with Prenda having apparently real and serious legal problems, perhaps criminal ones, they may not get very far into the next phase. One possibility I have been curious about, is if Prenda had to scare up some investors to afford their individual/named case push, and if the failure of that plan and inability to deliver for the moneymen is putting additional pressure on John and causing panic among the fraudsters.
A couple of loose ends I’ve been curious about, does anyone know what happened to the Bill of Discovery cases and Prenda’s claimed transition to state cases? A year ago everyone was gnashing their teeth about BoD abuse, and I don’t remember reading about any court decisions that would have put a stop to that, so why does it seem to have stopped? Did the trolls just lose the ability to scare anyone into settling when they didn’t even have a lawsuit filed? Or did ISP pushback put the brakes on it? And what about the state cases? They were supposed to be John’s secret weapon to keep the community from watching him, but except for a few in AZ and IL, that doesn’t seem to have gone anywhere. Were the state courts too slow and unaccommodating and inconvenient to deal with (like no decent ECF allowing a lawyer to troll the whole country without coming out from under his bridge)? Or does it all come back to Prenda losing the fear-factor and just not being able to scare up enough settlements to go on?
I think at this point, the best thing John could hope for would be to turn Prenda into a low-profile, less legally-aggressive entity like CEG TEK. Perhaps that is what they are trying to achieve with the change to Anti Piracy Law Group, but at this point John has made himself out as such a clown that they will probably never be able to earn any legitimacy, certainly the circus in Scriven’s court in FL will be hard to live down. It will be amusing if it turns out that, in retrospect, Ira Siegel was the smart troll. After helping to run mass-Doe cases into the ground in the CA courts, he basically disappeared but CEG has likely been able to extort a decent stream of money with their small settlement demands, lower-key threats and never actually suing anyone.
Ingenuity13 and AF Holdings both appear to be obvious overseas entities. I wonder what the deal with Quad is? They appear to be a legitimate business. Maybe they haven’t gotten the memo about their ship sinking.
Well Quad is kind of new. I think they started with Prenda around Octoberish or so. So maybe they signed a contract that has a certain amount of time on it and in the traditional style of Prenda, they say “they’ll take care of everything” and Quad just isn’t paying attention.
Yes, Quad is new to trolling as recorded on RFC: They’ve filed 55 cases since mid-October 2012-twenty plus cases a month!
Quad is under the umbrella of a moderately sized porn enterprise with several operations. A longer account will take some time to write. One part of the story is that they are connected to the 21Sextury porn studio.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/21Sextury
As often in other cases, the name of the business is vague and general enough so that it shares the “Quad International” name with at least two substantial companies that have nothing to do with porn. I expect trolls like that, since searches can mistakenly go to a different company entirely.
I’m darned sure that this troll Quad International here is a porn company, not doing freight forwarding or HR consulting. More later, maybe tomorrow.
From what I remember of the Quad suits, they were all for videos from a company called Score. I haven’t looked into exactly what that is yet.
Good info – Thank you. Yes, all the Quad suits that I have seen are “dba The Score Group” which can be found at scoregroup.com. More info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Score_Group
This is why it’s strange to me that they are lumped together with AF Holdings and Ingenuity 13, but as a previous poster said they are probably locked into some kind of a contract and/or oblivious to what else has gone on with this bunch of clowns.
Subscribed
[ 1 ] 62 Quad International, Inc. corporate name
[ 2 ] 69 Quad Int’l., Incorporated corporate name
[ 3 ] 3 Quad Int’l., Incorporated d.b.a The SCORE Group. corporate name
It would be nice if they actually spelled their name the same way each time.
Quad dba Score holds 3 copyrights looks to be for video.
The first batch looks to be for their print stuff… to meh about it to look at the middle batch.
Still worried about my AF holdings case!
Could it be as simple as Duffy is done? That would have some pretty substantial short term effects on the racket.
He was a principal in name only, but he’d be hard to replace. Steele doesn’t want his name attached to it, so where are they going to find another lawyer to be their fall guy? It’s not something you can just advertise on craigslist.
I think Duffy felt a little heat the last several months, and maybe he realized it’s not worth it?
Putting my vote with @ Donald Duck’s theory re Duffy. That would also possibly explain why Prenda was allowed to lapse into “bad standing.” in Illinois.
The simplest explanation is often (but not always) the correct one.
I’m backing off my bet siding with @Donald Duck 🙂 None of Duffy’s AF Holdings and Quad Intl cases appear to have been dismissed without prejudice as of yet. If he was exiting, ALL of his cases would be in the shut down process. Like all the other trolls, all the AF, Ingenuity, and Quad cases are still open. Besides that, there are just the two Lightspeed cases in SDIL (Shashek and Smith) and a handful of state level cases still open. Same is true for Guava (which = Lightspeed).
In sum, Duffy’s dismissal pattern is the same as the other local trolls. Again, if he was on the way out, I think he’d be shutting down or transferring all the cases where he’s the lead attorney. Thoughts?
“Prenda did not file new federal lawsuits since November (except for one occasion when a cheerful idiot Sam Trenchi initiated a couple of AF Holdings cases, as if another Alan Cooper was magically found).”
SJD. This individual named Guava case was filed by Ruggiero in early December (I also saw it in PACER before I setup RECAP…sorry no docket 😦 ), so you might want to edit your above statement in the main post to reflect this. That said, I really don’t think there is anything else that they filed since December 🙂 The main point still holds though: they haven’t collectively filed many new cases since November!
http://www.rfcexpress.com/lawsuits/other-statutory-actions/pennsylvania-eastern-district-court/129588/guava-llc-v-tony-ly/summary/
Thanks! Updated.
Looks like someone else archived the short docket on the Guava vs Ly case in PAED.
http://ia701508.us.archive.org/3/items/gov.uscourts.paed.470703/gov.uscourts.paed.470703.docket.html
I guess this could also be added to the Prenda Case list as still open?
https://fightcopyrighttrolls.com/discussions/steele-hansmeier/prenda-cases/
I feel like a jackass suggesting more work for you, as if you don’t already do enough 😀
lol this case has the same “jurisdiction is proper b/c defendant committed copyright infringement”…..even after we have pointed out this retarded crap they still go on not proofreading their complaints.
Not to mention that item 10 refers to computer systems “accessible in Massachusetts” instead of Pennsylvania. The court system is simply broken for it to be subject to such levels of abuse..
I feel like we’re going to soon get some bad news on one of these cases. The only time “bit torrent bull” comes out of hiding is usually when some judge fell for his scam. He’s so transparent.
It’s becoming rarer and rarer but I wouldn’t be shocked in the next few days to see an update on a case that’s went Prenda’s way.
Doesn’t one of the Guava cases have a court date relatively soon?
I think one of the guava cases has a court date coming up soon.
received settlement call for guava in NH today, attorney wouldnt give his name
Keep a record of the calls, or record them if possible. The refusal of a solicitor to identify themselves may itself be a Federal (or state) infraction.
I wonder how many Does were already on FCC Do-Not-Call lists? Then complaints to the FCC and the states might lead to an action against this tactic. Without a successful court verdict, trolls could not call themselves debt collectors. Even so, they would be obligated as callers to ID themselves.
So my case was one of the cases that was dismissed at the end last year. Today, I was served the summons for it. Do I need to do anything with the summons now that the case has been dismissed?
I don’t think you should do anything. This is either criminal negligence, or outright malice — official paper is supposed to create more fear that the crooks expect to leverage in their subsequent harassing calls. An I bet they will continue contacting you. Since dismissal was without prejudice, in theory they can file a new lawsuit, yet of course it won’t happen (especially that you are lucky to live where you live: you are in much better situation than people from many other states). It is official that Prenda “reduces their operations,” while if they see a low-hanging fruit, they will definitely pick it. Don’t be that fruit. Just hang up on them if they call.
For the public good, it would be nice if the judge’s chambers are notified, or you file a Bar complaint, but then you are risking to be a target of John’s irrational vindictiveness. Not that he can inflict a real harm, but still it takes a lot of nerves to live through such a predatory action.
If you afraid that it was some kind of error in the other direction (i.e. the lawsuit was not actually dismissed and can be somehow reinstated), you shouldn’t worry about the duty to reply: you have a perfectly good cause not to. I’m saying this just to explore all the options, no matter how improbable they are: the likelihood of this event is virtually zero.
This is my layman’s perspective. To gain a piece of mind, you should contact a lawyer (you know who).
Pardon my ignorance, but which state is so well off? Florida? Seems like no one there is willing to run these cases. Just curious!
If the author did not specify his whereabouts, I can’t do it without his consent. In addition, he is not just a casual observer, and revealing as little information as possible is critical. We already witnessed how someone revealed too much in this blog comments and was hit by a lawsuit.
But Florida is rapidly improving, yes 🙂
I don’t think that Steele can be redone into a contributing member of the society: I rarely advocate incarceration, but he needs to be locked.
My mistake. I realize how that could be a problem.
“Since dismissal was without prejudice, in theory they can file a new lawsuit…”
SJD, regardless of the state lived in, this person may very well be off the hook, depending on circumstances. See if this makes sense:
1. Most of the recently dismissed Sunlust, First Time Videos, Openminded Solutions, Millenium TGA, etc. cases were against named individuals. Think dismissal # 2.
2. Many of those names from the cases above came from previous mass-Doe cases from other jurisdictions that were also previously dismissed (ie Asshole Plaintiff vs Does 1-XXX). Think Dismissal # 1.
3. If the person who just received the summons was a named and dismissed individual whose name came from a previously dismissed Asshole Plaintiff vs Does 1-XXX case for the same matter (ie he or she was one of the Does 1-XXX), then in that scenario, this person would have received two dismissals for the same matter!
Note this is not legal advice and may not be fact. I’m just stating a likely scenario that could very well have this poster off the hook regardless of where he or she lives 🙂
You are right. I’m reading too much of the legal stuff, so the lawyer’s fins apparently started to grow: I’m started being obsessed with articulating each and every possible course of events, no matter how unlikely it is. Did not happen before.
It’s like if I asked by a stranger on the street “how to get to the Sunde Avenue”? — and instead of simply pointing to the bus stop and saying the bus number, I start laying down his options if bus drivers are on strike today (and the probability of this even is arguably non-zero). Sounds crazy?
“Sounds crazy?”
Not at all 😀 You are knee deep in this stuff and have seen and heard the worst of the worst. Sometimes, anticipating the worst (especially when it comes to Steele and Co.) and hoping for the best mitigates some potential disappointment. In my opinion, your rational cynicism coupled with your disdain for trolls is what gives you the edge to not only fight the fight, but to BE A LEADER IN THE FIGHT!
Compared to you, DTD, TAC, Raul and others, I’m relatively new to this, but I’m slowly becoming more knowledgeable in this scam and feel I have the ability to contribute from time to time now that I’ve largely overcome my initial fear of trolls and my anger and disgust with the phenomenon is sometimes tempered with some of that ever-important rationality. I was here “taking” from the community last year when I first found myself in this mess, but now I’m in a state of mind where I can analyze and give back a little in return every now and then. That’s a good feeling 🙂
See, we all have something in common. We’ve been targeted by trolls in one way or another at some point in our lives, and as a community via this site, we can come together to voice our fears, anger, thoughts, intel, and info. That’s the beauty of it. We can say whatever we want (for the most part), and we can chime in to the debates and discussions with the intent of helping out and watching out for fellow Does!
Anyway, back to point. If that individual was summoned AFTER being dismissed twice from two actions for the same exact matter (ie the action at hand and a previous mass Doe case), then that person should be extremely happy, and we can be collectively happy for him or her 🙂 Hell. Someone in CT was also recently served THE DAY AFTER the judge dismissed the case and was a full week after the troll (Ruggiero) filed notice of dismissal.
Big picture. Is this a new tactic? Serving process on a dismissed matter to pressure the scared and less informed? God, I despise these fuckers! I’d be a hypocrite if I use the word hate as that’s one of the two words we don’t allow in the home in front of the kids: “hate” and “stupid”. Swears are negotiable 😉 Try going a day without saying the word “stupid” – it’s extremely difficult 😀
What’s the docket look like and the process servers affidavit of service? If that process server is saying they served you on (insert date here) but that’s not what happened, either defective service or if they claim in their affidavit to have actually seen you grab the crap off your porch (ding dong ditch…a summons) on a day when, well, you didn’t, then said process server has a perjury problem. If they’re serving summons for a case that doesn’t even exist (dismissed), fuck, I’d go with…I don’t know because I have never heard of an attorney stupid enough to do that. It’s gotta be a criminal offense though and grounds for disbarment. It can’t be vexatious litigation because…well, that’d require an actual case. Plain old harassment I guess….fuck, Ruggiero is a real dipshit if he’s doing this now.
I got hit with a Quad International, inc. v. Does 1-6 subpoena
is this legit or are these guy’s just pulling strings
Is Troll Gibbs abandoning the sinking Prenda (ahem, “Anti-Piracy Law Group”) ship? http://ia600605.us.archive.org/12/items/gov.uscourts.cand.254879/gov.uscourts.cand.254879.37.0.pdf
Raul, I can’t seem to find it. Do you have the link to the Nguyen transcript with Judge Scriven?
It is linked from and embedded to this post.
Yeah, I was hoping to get the “official” internet archive version, but I couldn’t find it on the docket. I did use that link though.
I believe there is no “official” version in Pacer yet: it is a common practice when courts keep transcripts in cold cellars until they mature. The one I embedded a “leaked” copy.
The funny part is, I don’t think he’s abandoning ship. I think it’s a ploy. The suit was filed under PRENDA Law right? Well, they obviously need to stop using Prenda, so they’re moving into the Anti-Piracy Law Group by using Duffy with the new label. Once Gibbs is free, I’m sure we’ll be seeing him starting new ‘cases’ under the Anti-Piracy Law Group label instead of the Prenda tag.
I agree that I doubt Gibbs is abandoning ship. I mean I hope he is, and it would make sense that he would but… he shoulda left a long time ago.
This is probably another delay tactic. Make it look like the plaintiff is switching law firms so they have an excuse when they don’t post the bond… same old tactics.
Gibbs’s wedding is in April. I believe that his hysteria if largely derived from this fact. And it is quite possible that he really runs away to save a thing that is much more important for normal people. Does Brett belong to “normal people”? It’s a good question.
If you have not seen my tweet, it is simply hilarious: Duffy lists his email as padugffy@antipiracylawgroup.com But, but… who controls that domain name? Try it (don’t worry, your IP adddress will not be logged, I promise 🙂 ): http://antipiracylawgroup.com
I can see the wheels turning in DTD’s head. “Ploting a firing solution on tubes 1 and 2!! FIRE!!!!!!!!”
LMFAO
Oh man…..
Doh!
So Paul Duffy put a bad email address in an official court filing… Does that inch toward perjury?
I had forgotten about that; too, too funny.
I don’t think Gibbs is leaving either. I think this is a defensive measure because the judge is not allowing the case to be dismissed cleanly. While it sounds like the judge can’t stop a dismissal per se, he’s not just letting them cut and run but will resolve the outstanding discovery/sanctions/fees issues. That makes this a super-high stakes game for Prenda—if this costs them money and sanctions any Doe Defender, and especially Pietz and Ranallo, will use the same strategy to inflict damage in every Prenda CA case. This may well be Prenda’s Waterloo in CA and replacing Gibbs with Duffy (who is a closer proxy to Steele) is simply a matter of having the adults take over now that this case is really important and they have no choice but to appear.
It is an interesting tell of how far they trust Gibbs though. Obviously not far enough to let him do the talking at the next hearing. Gibbs has a track record of making a complete mess of things when he does talk to the judge, but for some reason that hasn’t been enough to kick him off the payroll yet. I wonder if Duffy is going to actually fly out to CA to appear or if they think they have some super-clever scheme to weasel out before it comes to that.
Well, you have to consider that Duffy is going to need emergency surgery on his other eye three hours before whatever the court hearing is. So that means he’s going to have to have Steele take his place.
On reflection, Gibbs maybe only exiting the AFH and Ingenuity 13 lawsuit as it is more than likely he will be called, at some point, to give testimony as to his verification of Alan Cooper’s signature.
Well looks like they’ll have to find a new name again… This last changeover was sad enough with Prenda getting caught out with Alan Cooper and Sunlust debacle, but this is pathetic. I assume they used the same computer experts that handle BitTorrent tracking for domain registration.
I would love to get another tirade from Steele over this. That guy must be fuming between Scriven, Cooper, Merkel, Wright and this. What a failure.
I wonder where their 300 lawsuits a month have been for January and most of December. The last filing for AF was 12/12/2012 and Ingenuity was 11/7/2012. Cases from that wave are constantly being voluntarily and involuntarily dismissed.