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"gewg_" writes:

from the it's-all-over-except-for-punishing-the-wicked dept.

El Reg reports [theregister.co.uk]

One of the key players in Prenda Law, a troll group that seeded smutty films [theregister.co.uk] onto file-sharing networks and then harassed the downloaders for payment, has been told he must sell his house and possessions to cover his creditors' bills.

In 2013 the civil courts found [theregister.co.uk] that Paul Hansmeier and two associates had set up Prenda Law with the intent of using copyright enforcement law to trawl pornography downloaders and make them pay for films the company had put online themselves.

The judge in that case delivered an epic Star Trek-themed smack down [theregister.co.uk] for the firm, telling the attorneys that they would "boldly probe the outskirts of law", but that their enterprise relied on deception and their lawyer had lied to the court.

The three were ordered to pay [theregister.co.uk] fines and damages that now stand at $2.9M, but they have prevaricated ever since. Hansmeier had filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, meaning he could pay off the amount in small increments from his salary.

But on Thursday, Minnesota Judge Kathleen Sanberg changed this [documentcloud.org] [PDF][1] to Chapter 7, meaning he has to sell off all assets to pay his debt. That includes his house, any vehicles, and assets that can be found by the court.

[1] Link in article is to an intermediate page. The page content is also behind a script.

Previous Prenda stories [soylentnews.org]

Original Submission