shamu726 Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 Law firm Dunlap, Grubb and Weaver, pioneers of the BitTorrent copyright troll cases in the United States, have thrown in the towel. The law firm conceded defeat in a fraud and abuse case that was brought against them by an alleged pirate, and were ordered to pay nearly $40,000. Early 2010 the law firm Dunlap, Grubb and Weaver brought mass-piracy lawsuits to the United States. The law firm teamed up with several film studios and sued tens of thousands of alleged BitTorrent users.A few months after the first cases were started the tables were turned. One of the alleged pirates sued the lawyers for fraud, abuse and extortion, due to their role in the “copyright troll” scheme.Dunlap, Grubb and Weaver were named in a class-action lawsuit together with movie studio Achte/Neunte and the German tracking company GuardaLey, who together went after thousands of people who allegedly downloaded and shared the movie ‘Far Cry’ using BitTorrent.Through the lawsuit, spearheaded by Dmitriy Shirokov, the troll victims were seeking relief based on 25 counts including extortion, fraudulent omissions, mail fraud, wire fraud, computer fraud and abuse, racketeering, fraud upon the court, fraud on the Copyright Office, copyright misuse and unjust enrichment.Among other things, the “copyright trolls” were accused of building their case on shoddy evidence and a false copyright registration.Last year the Massachusetts District Court denied the class action, which meant the case continued with Shirokov as the only plaintiff. This severely limited the scope of the verdict. However, after more than three years Shirokov did win his case.During the proceedings, where the law firm remained as the only defendant, it became clear that Dunlap, Grubb and Weaver could not present critical pieces of evidence. The company claimed that the requested documents were lost in a computer crash.As a result, the law firm had no other option than to concede defeat, which it did through an offer of judgement. In a recent ruling Judge George O’Toole ordered Dunlap, Grubb and Weaver to pay $39,909.95, which includes attorney fees.TorrentFreak spoke with Jason Sweet, whose firm Booth Sweet represented Shirokov. Sweet notes that the outcome is a “bittersweet victory,” as the class action status was denied earlier. Also, the awarded fees are a far cry from those requested.Nevertheless, Shrirokov and his legal team are happy with the outcome. Their main goal was to make it harder for copyright trolls to operate in Massachusetts, and they believe that was achieved.“The case did accomplish what we wanted it to. That is, to deter others from starting similar cases in Massachusetts. It served its purpose,” Sweet tells TF. While the case does not mark the end of copyright trolling schemes in the United States, it won’t make them any easier either.As for Dunlap, Grubb and Weaver, they will now have to pay their dues. The law firm has left the copyright trolling trade already, and the recent verdict makes it unlikely that they will ever return.Source: TorrentFreak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dMog Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 only 40 k for extortion...someone should also go to jail... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joerpaul Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 (edited) 250,000$ fine on the blue-collar working man in the US for downloading a copy of some piece of shit film, yet "extortion, fraudulent omissions, mail fraud, wire fraud, computer fraud and abuse, racketeering, fraud upon the court, fraud on the Copyright Office, copyright misuse and unjust enrichment" on the part of a media company and law firm only deserve a 40,000$ fine. that's the capitalist justice system. it protect the interests of the wealthy while demolishing the down-trodden in an effort to widen the gap between the rich and the poor.only 40 k for extortion...someone should also go to jail... Edited April 30, 2014 by joerpaul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CODYQX4 Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 (edited) . Edited April 28, 2019 by CODYQX4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkyy Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 (edited) 250,000$ fine on the blue-collar working man in the US for downloading a copy of some piece of shit film, yet "extortion, fraudulent omissions, mail fraud, wire fraud, computer fraud and abuse, racketeering, fraud upon the court, fraud on the Copyright Office, copyright misuse and unjust enrichment" on the part of a media company and law firm only deserve a 40,000$ fine. that's the capitalist justice system. it protect the interests of the wealthy while demolishing the down-trodden in an effort to widen the gap between the rich and the poor.only 40 k for extortion...someone should also go to jail...Absolutely 100% in agreement with you...I have always said that "The Law" has very little to do with justice. It is a system designed by the rich primarily to protect the rich while pretending to the masses that it is there to guarantee justice for all irrespective of your social class. If you are working class and commit a minor offence they throw the book at you and your small-time lawyer...but if you are rich and commit a major crime, your expensive legal team of up to 8 lawyers will manipulate every iota of the charges against you to get you off..like O.J.Simpson for example. I watched that trial on tv (like millions of other people) and, based on the evidence, I believe he was guilty as sin....but he was wealthy as sin and he got off.At least this Copyright Troll case will make other "law" firms think twice about trying to blackmail, bully and coerce people in order to make easy bucks. Edited May 1, 2014 by funkyy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dMog Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 the law in many cases is horses ass..it does work most of the time or or past generations would have been rioting in the streets...but more and more as with the case in matters like this and civil matters the way justice is meted out and also interpreted needs an overhaul...as in your example of OJ...but as the saying goes..you taunt fate too much in life ,her cousin Karma will kick you in the balls eventually...OJ got off because a group of slick lawyers were allowed to bastardise interpretation on the law and allowed to basically lie to the court in order to confuse a jury...a jury i might add that looking for an excuse to send a message to the man about how people of color were, are and will continue to be treated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CODYQX4 Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 (edited) . Edited April 28, 2019 by CODYQX4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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