tagged w/ Copyright trolls
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The epic story of the one of the most notorious bittorrent/anti-piracy lawyers, John Steele, continues to get stranger by the day. Way back in Nov. of last year, John Steele filed a change of address form with the Chicago courts which stated that he was moving to Miami. After filing the form he was seen on Fightcopyrighttrolls claiming that he had retired from his firm and was spending his free time blogging.
His desire to retire is totally understandable, as it must have been absurdly difficult responding to the multiple phone calls and letters that he paid someone else to handle. I might be confused about the process, but I do know Mr. Steele was forced to show up to court to address issues related to netting several thousand defendants together in one $350 filing.
To be clear, I don't have an issue with IP rights holders seeking reasonable fees for their property, however Mr. Steele's sole motivation has been to maximize profits and to take money from anyone willing to hand it over. I've got plenty of evidence to support that argument and would even be comfortable with Mr. Steele trying to sue me in open court for libel. There are ethical requirements for being a lawyer, but Mr. Steele and the firm he "sold" Steele Hansmeier to don't seem interested in adhering to them.
One obvious problem is the fact that Mr. Steele still claims he sold his firm to Paul Duffy and Prenda Law Inc. It sounds perfectly reasonable to sell a firm if you move out of state, however Mr. Steele recently went back to work in the exact same suite as Prenda. Check out the change of address here:http://familylawlifeline.com/archives/549
The new address listed is the exact same address that is listed under Paul Duffy's name is several Prenda filings. An associate even commented on that specific blog post to ask what is going on and the comments were deleted within a few hours. The address change is important for several reasons. For one, Mr. Steele notified the court that he was moving to Miami Florida so he should not be practicing law at his old Chicago firm. The sale of Steele Hansmeier to Prenda was supposedly because Steele left the state. That argument falls apart the second Steele moves his divorce firm into the same suite. Steele claimed that he left the state to retire, however the address he listed as his new address is the exact same one as Prenda's Miami office. Plus, Prenda requests that all the settlement checks get sent to the new address of Prenda in Miami/John Steele's retirement address. But Mr. Steele would like you to believe he has nothing to do with Prenda. The other problem has to do with the nature of the sale.
Rule 1.17 of the Illinios Rules of Professional conduct(Lawyer code of ethics) states that there are certain requirements for selling a firm. As far as I can tell Steele doesn't meet most of them. He is still alive, still practicing law in Illinios(in the exact same suite that the firm he sold his old firm to works in), he didn't merely retire from his old firm(e-mail evidence can prove he was still responding to Prenda complaints after his supposed retirement. Plus his partner, Paul Hansmeier and/or his brother are still helping Prenda in the exact same capacity they used to help Steele), he wasn't elected to the government, etc.
It's pretty easy to see why Steele would want to try to conceal his connection to Prenda. His name is toxic and any google search can show you how corrupt he is. Equally so, a google search can show one the pathetic legal antics of Prenda.
Besides all the afortmentioned problems, Prenda's contact form on wefightpiracy.com is broken and copied from the source code of ScotJphotography.com(probably a friend of his "old" partner Paul Hansmeier). There is no recipient address in the source code so it is impossible for anyone to contact Prenda from their website. I told them about that too, and was ignored. I sincerely hope that Prenda, Steele, and company are called out for their behavior in court sometime soon. Otherwise, completely innocent(I've personally talked to many of them) people will continue to be cheated out of their money by a group of greedy and unethical "lawyers"The epic story of the one of the most notorious bittorrent/anti-piracy lawyers, John... more
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Just posting this as some advice for anyone who is currently being threatened by John Steele. John just moved to Miami, and(personal opinion) I have a feeling the former family man is running around spending his time and money on hookers and cocaine. Just my opinion, don't take it seriously or John might sue me. Anyway to the important point, a couple months ago I posted an article that showed a letter from Mr. Steele's office. The letter had dates on it that were off by several years, and also included several obvious factual errors. Even got TechDirt to plug the story(http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110408/03285313826/mass-infringement-lawyer-never-mind-facts-just-pay-up.shtml) The recipient of that letter said no to settling over 8 months ago. John's team decided the best plan of action was to keep changing his deadline and keep pretending like the recipient is not responding. John and his entire team are a bunch of cowards, liars, and absolute douchebags that should be disbarred. Again, just my opinion. But since I am a fair person, I will be e-mailing this to him(he has a Current account) to request an official explanation as to why he keeps engaging in such unethical behavior. Hopefully he responds, unless he is busy snorting coke off a hooker's assJust posting this as some advice for anyone who is currently being threatened by John... more
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Looks like order has finally been restored to the universe, and the extortion schemes of copyright trolls will soon cease to exist. A suit filed by, (take a wild guess cause he's probably suing everyone) on behalf of Desperate to Sound Legit, Inc. came to a screeching halt after a surprise friend of the court filing by the Big Man upstairs.
In the introduction to his filing, He began by expressing confusion as to how sex had become a product. It’s a process: sweaty, stinky, and slimy at times, but a process no less. See, a long time ago, He realized that mankind would instantly defecate themselves if reproduction was handled by splitting. Imagine sitting at the breakfast table, when suddenly your little brother slowly tears apart into two equally annoying little brothers. The shock would be too traumatizing, so He came up with two kinda ugly or unbelievably hot, depending on preference, parts that could fit together for a quick exchange of info. He even made them easily concealable so people could maintain their dignity. Imagine the look on his face when he saw /b
Thus God stated that the process of sex is his and therefor the trolls can’t sue over it. They counter-argued that the works represent a creative process that involves the images of specific models. He took credit for that as well, reminding the court, that he does some “fine work.” He emphasized that despite popular belief, the hotness to intelligence ratio doesn’t exist, it’s actually treating someone like a whore that makes them think they are one. “Treat a whore like a celebrity and well.....didn’t any of you read that book I wrote?”
He concluded by stating that: “Sex is fun. You’re welcome. But it’s just a natural and preferably private process. I can see the possibility that I made it too much fun and I made some of you too good looking. Sorry about that. But if you want to get naked and freaky on your own time, do it for free. You’re sure as hell not doing my work while getting plowed by five guys in the back of an ice cream truck. That firefighter, teacher, or doctor that just got another pre-settlement letter from the likes of John Steele, I support what they do with their lives. I’ve given you minds capable of curing cancer and all these trolls do is worry about counting cash. If money actually means something, why do you think I didn’t bother inventing it in the first place?”Looks like order has finally been restored to the universe, and the extortion schemes... more
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(Digiprotect, a German Copyright Trolling company,admitted to intentionally uploading copyrighted material to Bittorrent in order to catch(entrap) infringers, so a frame job is a real possibility
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090831/0250256053.shtml)
Hard Drive Productions, the owners of Amatuer Allure, is currently a client of copyright troll John Steele. The company is using his services to attempt to demand thousands of dollars out of unsuspecting internet users for allegedly downloading one of their movies via Bittorrent. Since the company is supposedly taking a stand against porn piracy, I was shocked to come across a link on their main website that guides people to free adult content.
The link, screen captured in the included image, is still live at the time of this post. However, for some reason, there does not appear to be a direct link to the site on the company's page. Rather, I had to check the files on the server to find it
Highlights from the page(in case it goes down):
Sinpub Free Porn link in the lower left corner has been manually reset to redirect back to the Amateur Allure's adult link exchange. Sinpub recently changed its name to Wankerhut and contains streaming videos that max out at a length of 7 min 30 sec
The Free Bukkake tube link used to go to xget. Xget suddenly changed from being an adult content site that allowed one to watch and download free streaming content to a site that apparently points to checkdent.com. So it went from providing free full length videos, to a site about dentists
The Free B Amateurs link appears to be for an incomplete website. The page is filled with listings for "Test url blah blah blah"
The Free porn videos link towards the middle of the page links to sex2ube, which is a video sharing website that allows people to upload and download entire movies. Not sure why a company involved in copyright trolling would want to direct people to a video sharing site.
Lastly, the All Amateur Blog link is still active and contains a massive list of free full length video sites at the bottom.
If one follows any of the "friendly links" on the All Amateur Blog link one can find an endless supply of free full length streaming, though potentially copyrighted, adult content. I am attempting to determine why a company involved with the likes of copyright troll John Steele maintains an "adult link exchange". Isn't the whole point of the copyright troll's campaign to destroy the free porn market? Or is he merely interested in calling up random companies, offering his services for free, and then blackmailing as many people as humanly possible?
Hopefully this article doesn't get killed by Mr. Steele's clients(it would be the 4th to be flagged to death) because I sincerely believe the link in the image is something both the judge and jury for Mr. Steele's case would find to be very intriguing.(Digiprotect, a German Copyright Trolling company,admitted to intentionally uploading... more
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The following article remains under review by Current. It has been under review since 2/13:
Attn: Porn Fans. You can help stop Copyright Troll John Steele's "blackmail" campaign by canceling memberships and boycotting products from his clients(Amateur Allure, Light Speed Girls, FTV Girls, etc)
The article highlighted concerns that Attorney John Steele of Steele law.com using software he paid to create in order to produce evidence for his Bittorrent lawsuits could result in an extreme conflict of interest that may result in inaccurate spreadsheets being produced so that Mr. Steele could make a return on his $250k investment. The article pointed out how Mr. Steele does not charge for his services and relies on, according to him, 100% accurate evidence being produced by his agents(employees) in order to make a profit. Mr. Steele maintains 1-800-DIVORCE and business law firms in order to make additional money.
The cached version of the mobile phone version of the Current article is still available. What disturbs me is Google's apparent complacency in what may very well be a carefully orchestrated scam.
Mr. Steele has been sending out settlement letters to unsuspecting internet users over the last several months demanding sums of cash for allegedly downloading copyrighted pornography. In his letter, he explains how he is willing to sue the parents of Bittorrent users, inexperienced computers users who do not know how to secure a wireless network, business owners who use free wi-fi as a means to draw crowds to their stores, and even individuals who download mislabeled internet files(try to download a PBS video and end up with porn? Mr. Steele will sue you in a heartbeat).
Mr. Steele's willingness to sue anyone who unintentionally downloads a copyrighted file may lead to a flood of frivolous lawsuits. Mr. Steele's willingness to exploit a sense of shame associated with pornography may signify a new low in moral standards for attorneys(gay, but still in the closet? if you download gay porn better watch out since Mr. Steele might out you).
I used to think that the internet was the ideal forum for free speech, however it seems as though business interests still supersede common decency. My article which called for the verification of evidence against alleged pirates as well as basic decency being utilized during the investigation process remains under review by Current and can no longer be viewed in Google's cache(mobile version still available).
Unfortunately, this appears to be how the world works now. Attorneys and big corporations team up to screw over the little guy. All the while, the news media sits idly by, letting corruption happen until the public outcry becomes too large to ignore. I've seen very disturbing and hateful material out on the web. Nothing I said was worthy of censorship, unless one considers calling for a boycott of companies absurdly dangerous. I intend to keep looking, and hope to eventually find, a free speech haven on the webThe following article remains under review by Current. It has been under review since... more
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