Submitted via IRC for Bytram
Porn trolling mastermind Paul Hansmeier gets 14 years in prison
A federal judge in Minneapolis has sentenced Paul Hansmeier to 14 years in prison for an elaborate fraud scheme that involved uploading pornographic videos to file-sharing networks and then threatening to sue people who downloaded them.
"It is almost incalculable how much your abuse of trust has harmed the administration of justice," said Judge Joan Ericksen at a Friday sentencing hearing.
We've been covering the antics of Hansmeier and his business partner John Steele for many years. Way back in 2012, we started reporting on a law firm called Prenda Law that was filing lawsuits against people for sharing pornographic films online. Prenda wasn't the only law firm filing these kinds of lawsuits, but Prenda came up with a novel way of ginning up more business: uploading the films itself, including some that were produced by Prenda associates.
A key part of the firm's strategy was to seek settlements of a few thousand dollars. The demanded sums were small enough that it cost less to settle the lawsuits than fight them. Prosecutors say that the men made more than $6 million from copyright settlements between 2010 and 2013.
Over time, judges became increasingly skeptical of Prenda's tactics. In one case, a judge threw out one Prenda-related lawsuit after it became clear that no one in the courtroom could explain exactly who the supposed plaintiff—an entity called Sunlust pictures—actually was. She described the lawsuit as an "attempted fraud on the Court."
As judges around the country dug into Prenda-related cases, they found more and more examples of apparent fraud. In another case, Steele and Hansmeier were accused of forging the name Alan Cooper, a man who served as a caretaker for one of Steele's properties. Cooper said he hadn't been consulted before being listed as the CEO of two Prenda-linked shell companies.
As the extent of the alleged fraud became apparent, judges began referring the pair to federal prosecutors. In 2016, the two men were arrested and charged with federal fraud, perjury, and money laundering.
Related Stories
Judge rejects motion to protect Prenda lawyer Hansmeier from further prosecution:
Paul Hansmeier, who is serving a 14-year prison sentence for filing sham copyright infringement lawsuits and extorting money from victims, has lost an attempt to enforce copyrights from prison. In a ruling Monday, a federal judge rejected Hansmeier's request to prevent the government from enforcing mail-wire fraud and money laundering laws against him. Hansmeier wanted an injunction so that he could file copyright lawsuits without facing new charges.
Hansmeier, who is also appealing his conviction despite having pleaded guilty, will be familiar to Ars readers as one of the principals behind the notorious "copyright troll" firm Prenda Law. He was sentenced in June 2019 "for an elaborate fraud scheme that involved uploading pornographic videos to file-sharing networks and then threatening to sue people who downloaded them," as our reporting at the time said. Prenda Law's strategy involved seeking settlements of a few thousand dollars from each victim.
[...] Last week, Hansmeier filed a motion in US District Court for the District of Minnesota saying he wants to "hire an undercover investigator to protect his copyrights against Internet piracy and bring claims under the Copyright Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act against people who trespass on his computers to infringe his works."
(Score: 4, Insightful) by BenJeremy on Tuesday June 18 2019, @11:28AM (5 children)
Masterminds can only really claim the title if they stay out of jail and make lots of money.
(Score: 5, Touché) by takyon on Tuesday June 18 2019, @11:29AM (2 children)
But you don't usually hear about those ones.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by inertnet on Tuesday June 18 2019, @12:44PM
1 be a mastermind
2 ?????
3 make lots of money
4 stay out of jail
5 profit!
I'm not sure about this order.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 18 2019, @01:35PM
There are no masterminds.
Either:
- you get to know one, and thus he's not a true master mind; *or*
- the masterminds are undetectable, thus have no effect on the world; like they don't exist at all
(grin)
(Score: 2) by coolgopher on Tuesday June 18 2019, @11:50PM (1 child)
I think we've all wanted to tell this guy to go fuck himself, and now to everyone's satisfaction (well, probably not his), he has finally shafted himself!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 19 2019, @01:41AM
Wait till he meets his cell mates.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 18 2019, @11:52AM
More like exposing the Hollywood accounting 2019 business model:
1. Produce shitty film.
2. Collect art grants if available. Porn optional if no grants found.
3. Put everything into salaries. Ideally, your own.
2. Leak to Mega and friends. Link via Google and Facebook.
3. Sue everyone for damages.
4. Profit!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 18 2019, @01:00PM (3 children)
n/t
(Score: 1) by Mer on Tuesday June 18 2019, @01:33PM (1 child)
1. Flimsy proofs and investigations. Yes they don't hold in court, yes settling to avoid the legal fees and processes is a problem of the judiciary system people usually have to put up with. On the scale he was working though, it's harming a lot of people, both the ones involved in the piracy cases and others because it's a burden on the justice system taking resources off of more legitimate cases.
2. Setting up the honeypot yourself should count as automatically granting a license to all downloaders. (same as attacks on youtube ripping sites trying to argue that streaming isn't downloading)
Shut up!, he explained.
(Score: 3, Funny) by DannyB on Tuesday June 18 2019, @01:47PM
Let's not forget . . .
3. Cut and run if challenged by a defendant who would be happy for you to begin litigation in court.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 5, Informative) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Tuesday June 18 2019, @02:58PM
In the more pure sense of the word from the fishing term [wikipedia.org] from which it was appropriated: putting out a bait on a line and then maintaining momentum to keep the bait moving and cover area to seeing if anything will bite on it and then bring it in. (As opposed to dropping the bait by in a trap and coming back later or by casting it to a particular spot and reeling it in from that spot). People think "trolling" originated with an ugly or repulsive creature when the actual origin of troll is just to wander about - which might still have a common etymology, come to that. See this in Wikipedia [wikipedia.org]; I find the "trolling for newbies" usage persuasive. It would also have a link to "patent troll" in that fashion - acquire your patent bait and wait to see if anything strikes on it then bring it in.
This sig for rent.
(Score: 2) by Mykl on Wednesday June 19 2019, @12:09AM
Then we could get to enjoy a whole new type of porn he produces while in jail!