Prenda
Judge Otis Wright to hapless troll Gibbs: “If you pledge, don’t hedge!”
Gibbs, while pointing his finger to Prenda, has been choosing his words carefully though, and employing so painfully familiar weaseltalk, managed not to call the real criminals by name.
Judge Otis Wright, tired of the said weaseltalk, issued yet another order yesterday, consolidating five Prenda’s cases for the purpose of the March 11 sanctions hearing, and mandating Gibbs to answer simple questions directly and unambiguously (a skill that this miserable troll is obviously lacking):
Brett Gibbs is hereby ordered to respond to the following questions in a separate brief, to be submitted by March 1, 2013:
- The names and contact information of the “senior members of the law firm that employed Mr. Gibbs in an ‘of counsel’ relationship.” (Gibbs Resp. 2.);
- The names and contact information of the persons who make “strategic decisions . . . whether to file actions, who to sue, and whether to make a certain settlement demand or accept an offer of settlement.” (Gibbs Resp. 2.);
- The names and contact information of the “owners of these copyrights.” (Gibbs Resp. 2.) If these owners are business entities, then provide in addition the names and contact information of the principals of these entities.
- The names and contact information of the principals of AF Holdings LLC and Ingenuity 13 LLC.
I envision Gibbs whining about such a short time given to him to produce answers. Yet, just stop and think for a moment: how long would it take to answer these questions for an honest attorney employed by a reputable law firm that conducts legal and respectable business? Five minutes? Ten?
Additionally, the judge ordered that
The parties may each file a supplemental brief, limited to five pages, addressing the issues raised in the parties briefs submitted on February 19, 2013. These supplemental briefs shall be filed by March 4, 2013.
So, expect more crocodile tears from one side and the sound of a hammer hitting another nail in the coffin of copyright trolling from the other.
Last, but not least, Judge Wright is damn serious about burying Prenda:
Further, Mr. Gibbs is reminded to appear in person at the March 11, 2013 hearing.
I would say it is safe to buy non-refundable tickets to Los Angeles if you want to attend one of the most important hearings in the history of Prenda’s downfall. And, in the meantime, John Steele and Paul Hansmeier will have a lot of uncomfortable talking to do during this weekend in Utah.
In other news
I hope you did not miss Arstechnica’s feature story about Raul, DieTrollDie, Morgan Pietz and yours truly:
- Enraged by abusive lawsuits, anonymous troll slayers fight back by Timothy Lee.
First reaction
Mysterious Anonymous commented:
Gibbs’ response to the request for contact information is filed. Total load of crap, i.e. he doesn’t provide the contact information requested “out of an abundance of caution” and wants to file it under seal.
I called that.
These guys are so pathetic, using public resources to play the blackmail, pay us or else we name and shame game and of course they don’t want anyone to know who they are. I’m sure, given the documented shadiness of everything Steele has touched, Judge Wright considered the possibility that lots of people want a piece of these scumbags, and if he wanted to give Gibbs the option to file under seal, he would have.
It is also clear that Lutz is being set up as the fall guy. Why else would he suddenly become CEO of all of the Steele’s creations? No wonder he had the sense to try fleeing to Mexico, too bad that didn’t work out for him, soon he’s probably going to wish he stayed in spite of the muggings and jail and whatever the hell other trouble he got himself into. I would suspect Lutz is being used as their fake CEO without his knowledge or permission a la Cooper, but since he is still making calls and should be able to use the Internet, there’s no way he doesn’t know. That may explain why he’s calling as Jeff Schultz or whatever, it would be kinda weird for the CEO of a real company to make dunning calls personally.
Nice try guys but with all the dirt Pietz and Ranallo dug up regarding Steele’s ties to these frauds, I somehow doubt he is going to forget about the Alan Cooper thing just because they say Lutz is CEO now. It’s looking like Gibbs really is backed into a corner here, for some reason he is not willing to dox these guys even to save his own ass, but Wright does not seem likely to put up with this crap.
Updates
3/1/2013
Brett Gibbs replied to the Judge Wright’s order (embedded above) in the evening of March 1st, 2013:
- John Steele and Paul Hansmeier were correctly named as the “senior members” of Steele Hansmeier PLLC / Prenda Law / LW Holdings LLC (“Livewire“). Paul Duffy was mentioned as Prenda’s sole principle.
- Gibbs refused to provide their personal addresses and phone numbers in an open document, citing the publicly advertised number and Washington DC’s virtual office instead. Agreed to file the personal information under seal.
- Gibbs claimed that “upon information and belief” both AF Holdings and Ingenuity 13 were organized “under the laws of St. Kitts and Nevis,” provided the address (Springates East, Government Road, Charlestown, Nevis — the address that is a “home” to a shitload of companies).
- Mark Lutz was identified as a CEO of both fake corporations. He lives and works in Las Vegas, his address is not known to Gibbs, only the phone number. Agreed to file the phone number under seal.
- One copyright (“Popular Demand”) was transferred from Heartbreaker Films LLC to AF Holdings, the other two copyrights (“A Peek Behind the Scenes at a Show” and “Five Fan Favorites”) were assigned to Ingenuity 13 directly (it is not clear who was the initial owner: naturally Ingenuity 13 did not produce the smut).
- Neither Alan Cooper nor Salt Marsh has been mentioned at all.
3/4/2013
As directed by Judge Otis Wright, at least one of the parties, Morgan Pietz submitted his last (before the hearings) brief in support of sanctions. At the same time, Cory Doctorow posted his very emotional article on BoingBoing. In my mind these two write-ups are mysteriously connected. Connected by a clear message from the bottom of the heart of every honest individual: “Enough is enough!”
(See also Pietz’s declaration and exhibits that include a diagram of Prenda cobbleweb and wi-fi coverage maps similar to one we posted recently.)
A bit later, Gibbs filed his brief (via counsel). Nothing to comment on here, except the fact that the course on trying to clean himself up by blaming Prenda for all the wrongdoings was unambiguously confirmed:
[…]the Pietz Response relies on guilt by association in attempting to assail Mr. Gibbs for his mere association with, and the alleged activity of, Steele Hansmeier PLLC (“S&H”) and Prenda Law, Inc. (“Prenda”).
Mr. Gibbs no longer has a relationship with Prenda or Livewire Holdings LLC. He is no longer counsel of record for any cases involving Ingenuity and is counsel of record in one case for AF Holdings pending AF Holdings retaining new counsel.
Coverage
- TechDirt: Prenda’s Brett Gibbs Finally Answers Some Questions; No Mention Of Alan Cooper by Mike Masnick.
- On the update 2:
- TechDirt: Prenda Law Showdown Happening Monday: Judge Orders Everyone To Show Up In Court by Mike Masnick.
- ArsTechnica: Angry judge calls porn troll’s bluff, orders entire firm to court by Timothy Lee.
Fight © Trolls 
At some point Gibbs will start pleading the Fifth Amendment. Are we there yet?
You cannot claim the 5th Amendment for someone else; it is a personal privilege against incrimination yourself only. So, in a purely hypothetical situation that has no basis in reality, if an attorney named Brett Gibbs shows up in Court and is put under oath — which usually happens when a Judge orders you to attend — he could claim the 5th as to himself and his own actions, but he cannot claim the 5th to hide any actions by Steele et al., nor can he claim the 5th for a “corporate” entity such as Prenda, AF Holdings, etc… Refusal to answer questions like that under oath could result in contempt proceedings. Court’s even have holding cells for people that refuse to answer and are judged to be in contempt.
Certainly Gibbs can plead the Fifth as to a wide variety of questions, the answers to which might provide a “link in the chain” of evidence that could be used to convict him. See Fisher v. I.R.S., 905 F.2d 645, 649 (2d. Cir. 1990). Pleading the Fifth might not be helpful in Gibbs’ avoiding the imposition of Rule 11 and Local Rule 83-3 sanctions, but his attorneys might advise him that doing so could be of value in defending against possible future criminal charges.
This should be fun. With Wright having done his homework, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to conclude that his intention at this point is to get the rest of Brett’s conspirators in his courtroom and under oath, or just refer this matter to law enforcement after the hearing on the 11th satisfies his suspicions that Gibbs is part of a criminal conspiracy.
Putting all those names and addresses on the public record may be a watershed moment in and of itself. And no, I am not talking about extrajudicial remedies. I mean simply that these people will be exposed to scrutiny by the press, Does and defense lawyers. After Ranallo and Pietz’ assault based on resourceful PI work, any more BS in Gibbs’ disclosures will be torn to shreds and get him in deeper shit with the judge. This could open up the floodgates for more civil suits, attorneys general, etc.
Really looking forward to the 11th, this may turn out to be the most exciting day in the courtroom in copyright trolling history. It’ll be interesting to see how many people turn out, there are thousands and thousand who have an axe to grind with Brett and his masters.
I sure hope stress will speed Gibb’s cancer! Die Gibbs Die!
No matter how we all want Gibbs to disappear as a troll, let’s not stoop on their level.
that was in really bad taste.
If Brett Gibbs and his Prenda (or whatever they call themselves these days) co-conspirators aren’t filling their trousers with liquid fear over this, well, you get the point… On a related note, as we have not heard from @BittorrentBull (John Steele) since his last drunken rant and subsequent twitter account deletion, John Steele is apparently trying to re-write his reputation on a different twitter account: @JohnSteeleAttor and the various Resume/CV websites in the past several days. I read this as him trying to paint himself as “not involved in all that stuff”. No douchebaggery there is there?
If John Steele thinks there is anywhere to hide from his reputation he must be as stupid as he is sociopathic.
If he thinks he is going to have a career outside of trolling for his own shell companies after this he is sorely mistaken. Changing his name would step one, that’s what Terence Jintin/Terence Tsang of ACS:Law did and Prenda is working on a far more spectacular flameout; John may end up living and working where the feds tell him in the not too distant future, maybe he should get started learning to make license plates.
It’s still heartwarming to know that something like fear and a sense of self-preservation can eventually penetrate his arrogance and egotism.
I hope this feeling is very uncomfortable, John, but it’s too little too late. Don’t say we didn’t warn you, over the long haul we’ve been correct every time.
With tongue planted securely in right cheek:
So far we have learned that Guava, LLC recently acquired AF Holdings (and presumably Ingenuity 13) and that Gibbs is In House Counsel for Guava, LLC and Mark Lutz is the principal for AF Holdings (and presumably Ingenuity 13). As In House Counsel, presumably Gibbs did the necessary “due diligence” prior to the acquisition(s) including background checks of the principals, financial analysis,corporate structure, etc., so he should be well equipped for the 3-1 response. To echo SJD; it ought to be a piece of cake.
LOL…. I never that of that Raul, lets hope Judge Wright is think as you do and keep this one in his pocket to be played a little later, I would love to see Gibbs anwser that !
Not sure why they assumed pissing off a judge by trying to have him removed was a good plan of action. Could it really have been a better plan than submitting to discovery? Was this all to buy a precious few weeks of delay so they can squirrel away the money and obscure the Feds?
Wright putting a leash on Prenda by forcing Gibbs (if he replies) to give up names of his cohorts so he can no doubt summon them to the court for the hearing as well.
Did you see what Ranallo and Pietz dug up regarding Steele’s connections to AF and Ingenuity? Discovery is Armageddon for Prenda, when that happens someone will probably go to jail. It will be interesting indeed to see if Gibbs responds with substance, I expect at minimum some emergency motion to file under seal, because as mentioned above they are screwed if some actual information goes in the public record, it will be a feeding frenzy for Does’ attorneys. Although Gibbs’ own instincts for self-preservation may take over and we may get a surprisingly honest disclosure that throws Steele and Hansmeier under the bus; he has his own attorneys now so they may give him better advice than Steele has.
Remember, this is a case that Prenda already voluntarily dismissed and subbed Duffy in for Gibbs (probably an attempt to use Duffy’s eye surgery/can’t fly excuse to delay and avoid hearings). Unfortunately this judge didn’t let them walk away like they have in the past and is continuing to resolve the sanctions and fees issues which are turning into this nightmare for Gibbs.
The real question is why Prenda didn’t dismiss and run before trying to disqualify Wright. Yes, it would have been very suspicious and the next Doe would try for Cooper again, but they already have a reputation in CA courts, so trying to disqualify a judge to avoid simply disclosing plaintiff’s contact information was bound to raise eyebrows. Maybe between the Cooper discover requests and requests to post a bond being granted, Steele realized that without a breakout victory California is a complete write-off, and at the time he figured it was only Brett’s career on the line and Brett won’t be of much use if CA shuts them out. Instead it was a bridge too far and may turn into their last stand.
Yes.. I follow all of these cases very closely. Well aware of what discovery meant/means. It could have potentially gone better for them had they not tried to remove the judge, all of this wrath on the Judge’s part is likely a result of having a motion to remove made, at least in my opinion. The story may have been different if they tried to dismiss the moment discovery was granted to the defendant, rather than piss off the judge who granted the motion in the first place.
Which is why I posed the question – how in the world did they think removal was the best course of action over taking their licks for dismissing after defendants discovery was granted – was it to buy a few extra weeks to obscure trails or empty slush funds, hubris, or something else. Even with all Pietz et all have discovered and disclosed, there’s likely a shitload of backstory we haven’t and likely won’t know, and I find it would be interesting to know answers to some of the questions that would remain even after this hearing on the 11th – curious is all.. the inner workings of the mad men.
Bwahahahahahahaha…I bet Troll Gibbs is sitting on his bed with a teddy bear in his arms rocking back and forth with tears welling up in his eyes waiting for his Saviour Johen Stelle to come and tell Gibbs that he is just having a bad dream and he can go back to sleep now!
You have to love Judge Wright. He saw right through Gibbs initial filing and his ” well I will anwser this question with some mumbo jumbo that doesnt really anwser the questions ” and then laugh about it while I toss back another Shirley Temple.
Gibbs knows the jig is up and he is not going to come out of this unscathed. I think Gibbs and Steele’s play of trying to get Judge Wright off this case stirred up the hornets nest. I would love to see the phone bills between Gibbs and Steele…I bet they have been blowing eachothers phone every 5 minutes planning strarategy to keep this scheme going and to find a way to dig themselves out of this.
I would love to see Judge Wright after the in court apprearance of Mr Gibbs , order Mr Steele, Mr Hansmeier, Mr Duffy, Mr Lutz , Mr Cooper and any/all officers of Ingenuity13 , any/all officers of AF Holdings to appear at another hearing and explain what, how and who issued and decided on action in lawsuits over copyrights with Prenda Law.
I think that would be more than comical as Gibbs, Steele, Hansmeier and Duffy would be tripping over one another with their anwsers and the list of the excuses as to why some officers of these entities can not come to court to anwser questions in person, but yet can be found for any all other functions of these lawsuits ( signing declarations, pleadings etc )
I think Steele would drop from a heart attack if that happened. Now that Judge Wright is on to how much of a sham this is, you have to wonder when other court jurisidications are going to start asking the same questions. I am suprised that the California AG hasnt started an investigation into Steele and Prenda along with the goos folks at the FBI. one would think those agencies may see this as a fraud on the courts and varoius charges like uttering forged documents etc could land them in a cell and orange jumpsuit.. but that may be wishful thinking right now.
I would love to sell this live streamed from court, that would be awesome to watch!
I think Judge Wright is putting together the case against Prenda and is pressuring Gibbs that he better turn against the hydra or face a harsh ruling. It will undermine the complete justice system if some people don’t do some real jail time. I for one wonder what law enforcement does with all those super computers and information gathering technology when there is sooo much easy information to show these mafioso scams for what they are.
In my neck of the woods all the law enforcement time spent ignoring these criminals goes into running speed traps.
Steele said in Forbes he is suing approximately 20,000 people but of course speed traps are of more importance. The mafia was all about extortion from what I remember. I am pretty sure federal laws are being broken here.
Between this, Steele being sued by Alan Cooper in Minnesota, and Merkel’s affidavit implicating Prenda/Alpha Law Firm goon Michael Dugas in unethical behavior (perhaps even fraud!), the Prenda syndicate must be pining for the days when they only had to worry about Yuen and Seyfert. I wonder how the Alan Cooper v Steele, Prenda, AFH, and Ingenuity 13 case will affect this stuff. Presumably, the defendants’ responses were due a week or so ago with answers to interrogatories due soon as well, so that action should be nicely contemporary to Wright’s diligent judgment.
I’m so glad I bought stock in Orville Redenbocker….
Redenbacher. You’d think a stockholder would know that. 😉
*sniffle* You caught me, I just pirated the stock… 😀
Grr I think workpress broke my notifications… testing…
I’m gonna be odd (wo)man out here, but I am not convinced that tomorrow is going to be anything more then Gibbletts vomiting gray nonsense. Didn’t Mark Lutz become CEO of Livewire / LW Holdings / LW Systems – that now own everything? The all mighty and powerful one time fake paralegal / phone harassing puppet of Steele’s? Ya, THAT asshat!
I could be wrong, but does anyone else think that Gibby might just pull the “Mark Lutz owns it all now, he lives under the bridge with the rest of the trolls and no one makes decisions – we ask the Magic 8 Ball and sometimes consult with an Ouugee board. ”
Whatever the case, it’s sure to be good comic relief. They never disappoint when it comes to telling whoppers. To quote one of my favorite clients, “Aesop’s got nothing on his fables!”
You are probably right but that will only incite Judge Wright to order the parties to appear for a later hearing or refer the whole mess to the DOJ.
Raul, Hate to disagree with you here, but I think referring anything to the DOJ or the CA AG is like dropping it down a black hole. There are no political points to be scored over rescuing innocents from trolls, particularly ones accused of accessing porn. Better to go after victimizers of more sympathetic targets, like slumlords.
Judge Wright knows that the only way to police the courts is for the judges to do it themselves. The FBI, attorneys general, and DOJ are all in the Executive Branch of government. Wright knows that he’d look weak if he couldn’t handle little pissants like Gibbs and the Prenda ilk without running to Eric Holder (cough/wheeze)
No, the most likely scenario is that Gibbs will take his lawyers advice and go all Nuremburg–naming the principals, and pleading some combination of “I vas only followink ordahs!” and “You can’t do this to me, I’ve got cancer” and hope for the best. Judge Wright will then demand that all the principals appear, and only Alan Cooper shows up to bolster the ID Theft claims. All the cases get dismissed with prejudice, some order will be entered that no more troll cases can be filed without personal appearances by the company principals, bench warrants will be issued for all principals, and CA will now be dead for Prenda.
Then one day, five years hence, Steele will be arrested at a speed trap, and we get to see him on an episode of “Jail”.
JoseDoe, Fortunatly this is not Steele’s first con and his little Patsy’s ( and Steele) ran out on their bills. This trolling business is but one of his evil plans. There are many other types of victims of his evil ways. He’s involved in so much disgusting $hit – this is just the icing on the cake. There are at least two more likely victims of identity theft. The school / student loan scam. Scores of family law clients that were harmed by some very suspicious conduct. Steele has become such a pain in the a$$ and caused so many people misery for so long (and taken enough money all for himself) that he might be worth locking up.
Not to mention FCT – uniting people, the sharing of information, and some great researching has resulted in the leg work / dot connecting being done in advance for any agency inclined to investigate and prosecute.
And the IRS doesn’t like it when they don’t get their fair share… ;P
I love JOW! Everytime he holds their feet to the fire we all get a little closer to getting some justice.
This could explain what happened to attorney Syfert’s motion for sanctions in the Sunlust Pictures case in FLMD. (Motion was briefed, no hearing set). Maybe Judge Scriven referred the matter to USDOJ and it went into a black hole.
I kinda hate to say this, but I have to agree with JoseDoe on this. I’m hoping for fireworks of apocalyptic proportions, but I don’t really think that’s going to happen. There will be fireworks, for sure, but it’s going to be the garden-variety pissed-off judge fireworks.
Wright probably has little latitude on what he can actually impose in terms of sanctions. My un-educated guess is that Gibbs will be on the hook for a not-unsubstantial dollar amount, but not enough to crush him financially. $10-15K perhaps?
Judge Write will throw a few demeaning jabs at Gibbs, Pietz will argue (eloquently, no doubt) that Gibbs had his hand in actual running of the extortion, blah, blah, blah.
In the end, I think the best we can hope for is that CA is off-limits to the Trolls, and that other Doe defenders have a little more ammunition to use in filings.
One thing that may change this is the outcome of the Allan Cooper v. John Steele lawsuit. If it turns out that Cooper’s identity was used fraudulently, then it seems Prenda is done. Even there, I just get this nagging feeling that things won’t go completely “our way”.
Maybe I’m just a pessimist who’s lost his faith in the judicial system. I’ll admit I can’t wait to see Gibb’s response that’s due today, but my hope of Brett being used as a playtoy by “Bubba” while incarcerated is likely just a pipe dream.
Wow. 2 days to name the names and point the fingers. Judge Wright isn’t messing around.
It’s interesting that the judge wants this information in his hands for a full week before the big March 11 hearing. Could it be he intends to do something with this information prior to the sanctions hearing? Possibly order the big players to appear along with Gibbs?
I would pay WWF pay-per-view prices to see a live stream of this courtroom on the 11th.
My favorite part is [Gibbs, you have to be there for the March 11 hearing.] LOL. I love it. No excuses Gibbs, Judge is calling YOU out in person.
Gibbs’ response to the request for contact information is filed. Total load of crap, e.i. he doesn’t provide the contact information requested “out of an abundance of caution” and wants to file it under seal.
I called that.
These guys are so pathetic, using public resources to play the blackmail, pay us or else we name and shame game and of course they don’t want anyone to know who they are. I’m sure given the documented shadiness of everything Steele has touched, judge Wright considered the possibility that lots of people want a piece of these scumbags, and if he wanted to give Gibbs the option to file under seal he would have.
It is also clear that Lutz is being set up as the fall guy. Why else would he suddenly become CEO of all of Steele’s creations? No wonder he had the sense to try fleeing to Mexico, too bad that didn’t work out for him, soon he’s probably going to wish he stayed in spite of the muggings and jail and whatever the hell other trouble he got himself into. I would suspect Lutz is being used as their fake CEO without his knowledge or permission a la Cooper, but since he is still making calls and should be able to use the Internet, there’s no way he doesn’t know. That may explain why he’s calling as Jeff Schultz or whatever, it would be kinda weird for the CEO of a real company to make dunning calls personally.
Nice try guys but with all the dirt Pietz and Ranallo dug up regarding Steele’s ties to these frauds, I somehow doubt he is going to forget about the Alan Cooper thing just because they say Lutz is CEO now. It’s looking like Gibbs really is backed into a corner here, for some reason he is not willing to dox these guys even to save his own ass, but Wright does not seem likely to put up with this crap.
BTW thanks to the other anonymous troll fighters who kept on top of PACER and put this up as soon as it was available, that wasn’t my doing. This was courtesy of MPHinPgh on Twitter, new troll fighter I haven’t heard from before. People are coming out of the woodwork to put these guys out of business.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t the copyright assigned to AF Films, not AF Holdings? I seem to remember that from one of the filings. Then again, there are so many cases, I might be getting my wires crossed.
One made up company is as good as the next one… especially when the Alan Cooper name is on lots of paper.
The assignment was to AF Holdings, but signed by Alan Cooper of AF Films. Plausible deniability maybe? In any case, I hope the Honorable Judge Wright subpoenas at least Mark Lutz, hopefully Steele, Hansmeier, and Duffy. Funny how Steele and Hansmeier sold their client book to Prenda but carried on like nothing happened. Pretty obvious there is fraud on the courts here, but disentangling it is complicated. These jokers have been actively obfuscating their garbage, most recently via Livewire Holdings which apparently operates computer systems from a UPS Store in Washington DC and has a CEO who is also CEO of two other “companies”. Ridiculous.
And there is still the Cooper v Steele, Prenda, AF Holdings, and Ingenuity 13 case in Hennepin County Minnesota to look forward to. Any updates on that case, SJD? According to the mncourts.gov site, it’s just getting docketed, but responses to Cooper’s complaint should have been submitted by now.
No, I don’t have any updates. Godfread disappeared even from Twitter. Not that he talked to me about this case before beside already public facts (he is a professional lawyer and wouldn’t comment on the ongoing case, even privately). I trust him: admittedly he is young (yet very bright), but he has his heart in the right place, and it is a necessary quality to defeat Steele, because ethics and empathy is Johns’ Achilles’ Heel.
In other news: today IL Appellate court stayed Guava v. Comcast subpoenas temporarily, while the appeal is pending. I’ll write about it tomorrow.
Gibbs statements seem contradictory. Didn’t John Steele, in Florida, just tell a Judge, under oath, that he did not work for the Prenda Law firm. This is turning in to quite a joyous event. MERRY GIBBSMAS EVERYONE!!!!!
Yeah, that seem to create yet another contradiction, just like the one before where Pietz brought up before, would like to see how he answer that in person if questioned on March 11th.
Also noticed how he did not mention anything about the timeline of when Lutz became CEO, or when Livewire is created etc, and made it sound as if those “facts” remained the same all these time, and not just recently “created” to avoid the Cooper problem.
Gibbs:
“If the Court requests the addresses and telephone numbers, I would request that the information be filed under seal.”
Judge Wright:
“Just give me the contact information, you nimrod!”
All judge Wright has to do now is ask to see Alan Cooper and Mark Lutz at the same time and I think we could get somewhere. End of musical CEO game. (game , set, match)
Hey SJD will you be able to write about this today?
“In other news: today IL Appellate court stayed Guava v. Comcast subpoenas temporarily, while the appeal is pending. I’ll write about it tomorrow.”
No, I don’t get all the documents I hoped to get (I planned to write more than just about this news). Yet, you know it already: it is in the sentence: IL Appellate court stayed Guava v. Comcast subpoenas temporarily, while the appeal is pending: there is nothing really more to say about this particular news. I just wanted to publicize it more widely.
Could someone please post a side-by-side comparison of Troll Gibbs’ alleged signatures on the Declaration in Opposition to OSC vs. his Declaration in Response to the Court’s 2/27/13 Order?
Why? They don’t look drastically different to me, but I’m not an expert…
Yeah I don’t see forgery there. My signature looks different every time (A LOT different than the differences between the two in that picture). It’s still a really smooth, flowing signature that doesn’t have abrupt stops, except for the one on the left with the two “t’s” that are not in the one on the right. No big deal there though.
I sort of disagree there. Those two signatures look different. Now, this isn’t DNA or anything, but you’d think someone who professionally makes signatures (e.g, a doctor or a lawyer), they’d be close every time. Those two signatures look remarkably different outside of the “B”. There is much more to fry Gibbs on outside of his signature, though, so this is nitpicking. Can’t wait for the truth to come out!
Pietz’s reply is up on RECAP:
Click to access gov.uscourts.cacd.543744.59.0.pdf
These should show up soon:
Click to access gov.uscourts.cacd.543744.59.1.pdf
Click to access gov.uscourts.cacd.543744.59.2.pdf
Exhibit HH is wunderbar: http://ia701508.us.archive.org/28/items/gov.uscourts.cacd.543744/gov.uscourts.cacd.543744.59.2.pdf
Gibbs reply is up and RECAPed.
Basically seems like a weak response plus Gibbs’ attorneys are basically objecting to everything in Pietz’ previous response. I’m done for the day so someone else will have to read it word for word and report.
Probably the single most noteworthy thing is that Gibbs makes the following declaration:
“I no longer have a relationship with Prenda Law, Inc. or Livewire Holdings, LLC. I am also no longer counsel of record for any cases involving Ingenuity and am only counsel of record in one case for AF Holdings pending AF Holdings retaining new counsel.”
It will be very interesting to see if that holds true and for how long or if Prenda at least keeps mailing out their dunning letters with Gibbs’ name on them; this is a declaration under penalty of perjury so I imagine it could turn out badly for Brett if he tries to slither back into the fold with another slightly different job title just as soon as the hearing is over and then gets caught in a similar situation later.
However, if true and Brett has in fact called it quits, that would be quite a rift in their brotherhood of trolls and may explain the timing and the very existence of the defamation suits as an attempt to take revenge for this development.
And of course, the docket again to make it easy:
http://ia601508.us.archive.org/28/items/gov.uscourts.cacd.543744/gov.uscourts.cacd.543744.docket.html
I always enjoy these back and forth between lawyers, particularly when objections are to a direct quote from a verified third party document as a “miss-characterization of evidence”
Got my “subpoena” for lw systems v Hubbard yesterday. Have read alot and wanted to say thanks. But I do have a question on whether I should go one route or the next.
My subpoena is listing for “hacking” and I have done nothing of the sort. Looked further into it, and I find, that it is fact for hacking a “third party porn” site. I have no clue who the heck this Chris Hubbard is, and am unsure what I should do? Any suggestions?
Thanks
In my non-lawyer opinion, I think you should hold off. If you didn’t do what they’re alleging, I don’t see that you have any action until they file suit against you, and then you answer and file counterclaims if possible. If you want to settle, do it through a lawyer who can protect your interests (especially since the plaintiffs appear to be alleging vaguely). Again, this isn’t legal advice, and I am not a lawyer. If you want legal advice, there is only one way to go — turn to a lawyer who can protect your interests. It sucks to spend money on that, but this is the world we live in.
Click to access gov.uscourts.cacd.543744.66.0.pdf
Judge Wright’s latest order. Short and sweet, and a nuclear bomb.
Monday is going to be a real party.
—-
In light of the parties’ recent representations made in response to the Court’s Order to Show Cause, the Court hereby orders the following:
1) The following persons are hereby ORDERED to appear on March 11, 2013, at 1:30 p.m.:
a) John Steele, of Steele Hansmeier PLLC and/or Livewire Holdings LLC;
b) Paul Hansmeier, of Steele Hansmeier PLLC and/or Livewire Holdings LLC;
c) Paul Duffy, of Prenda Law, Inc.;
d) Angela Van Den Hemel, of Prenda Law, Inc.;
e) Mark Lutz, CEO of AF Holdings LLC and Ingenuity 13 LLC;
f) Alan Cooper, of AF Holdings LLC;
g) Peter Hansemeier of 6881 Forensics, LLC; and
h) Alan Cooper, of 2170 Highway 47 North, Isle, MN 56342.
2) Brett L. Gibbs is hereby ORDERED to serve a copy of this order on the
persons in subparagraphs a–g above by March 7, 2013.
3) Morgan E. Pietz is hereby ORDERED to serve a copy of this order on
the person in subparagraph h above by March 7, 2013.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
March 5, 2013
—-
Today Judge Wright ordered the following:
“In light of the parties’ recent representations made in response to the Court’s
Order to Show Cause, the Court hereby orders the following:
1) The following persons are hereby ORDERED to appear on March 11,
2013, at 1:30 p.m.:
a) John Steele, of Steele Hansmeier PLLC and/or Livewire Holdings
LLC;
b) Paul Hansmeier, of Steele Hansmeier PLLC and/or Livewire
Holdings LLC;
c) Paul Duffy, of Prenda Law, Inc.;
d) Angela Van Den Hemel, of Prenda Law, Inc.;
e) Mark Lutz, CEO of AF Holdings LLC and Ingenuity 13 LLC;
f) Alan Cooper, of AF Holdings LLC;
g) Peter Hansemeier of 6881 Forensics, LLC; and
h) Alan Cooper, of 2170 Highway 47 North, Isle, MN 56342.
2)B ett L. Gibbs is hereby ORDERED to serve a copy of this order on the
persons in subparagraphs a–g above by March 7, 2013.
3) Morgan E. Pietz is hereby ORDERED to serve a copy of this order on
the person in subparagraph h above by March 7, 2013.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
March 5, 2013”
____________________________________
OTIS D. WRIGHT, II
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Order is here http://www.archive.org/download/gov.uscourts.cacd.543744/gov.uscourts.cacd.543744.66.0.pdf
I can see the butthurt from users a-g already. “I don’t have the money to travel”, “I have a court date elsewhere!”, “I don’t belong to that company that you named”, “I have a head transplant scheduled”, “My dog is sick”, “All the flights are full.”, “My rental car wouldn’t start.” Dollars to donuts, of the 7 trolls named, at most, three will show up, and John Steele has the least chance of all.
Here’s my question: what are the ranges of sanctions can Judge Wright impose on a) someone not there, and b) someone who is there? If he determines that there was a fraud upon the court, does that mean a different suit, or can he send them to the slammer immediately?
Forgot the most obvious dodge:
Gibbs: “But Judge! I tried to serve them, but I couldn’t find them by the 7th!” I rate that as a 70-30 chance he’ll pull this excuse. Then the Judge jails him, and Gibbsie then whines “But Your Honor, I can’t serve them from jail!” Round and round we go.
I doubt anybody will fail to show. Whoever is not there is going to portrayed by the others as Dr. Evil, the criminal mastermind who brilliantly duped the others into implementing his dastardly plan. Or do you think they will band together honorably?
And a word of advice to Mr. Lutz, if he’s watching: Wear a tie.
Well I am going to hold off until next week to do much of anything. See if legal reprocussions are brought down upon any of the folks listed, or rather what happens in general.
And I believe in my endless reading I posted this in the wrong section. My apologies