It appears as if Prenda Law Inc. is shaking things up once again. It appears as if Mark Lutz is no longer working for the firm.
Since John Steele [wanted us to believe that he] left the firm in the capable hands of Paul Duffy (now we have an image of him), Mark Lutz has been running the firm. All of the phone calls, the harassing voicemails, and the threats have all been from Mark. When John Steele “left the firm,” Mark moved to Miami, FL and was running the firm from its Miami office which in my opinion was opened for the sole purpose of filing the corrupt state-based “bill of discovery” cases in the Miami-Dade county courts (AFAIK, now defunct).
As far as I observed, John Steele and Mark Lutz did not get along. I expect that the whole “robocall” fiasco was just the first step of Steele ousting Mark Lutz from the firm so that he can reclaim his throne, although Mark may have left for his own reasons. No doubt there is dirt there, and as angry John Steele has gotten in the past for me contacting (and in a few cases offering to visit) his local counsel, I have no doubt that he would enjoy my inviting Mark to call me at his convenience to share his stories with me. Mark, if you are out there, please feel free to give me a call (on or off the record).
On a related note, I have always said to John Steele that he (and other copyright trolls) should start a blog explaining their side of the story.
Well, apparently they have started to listen.
Prenda Law Inc.’s new website (http://www.wefightpiracy.com) now has a blog (and a “news and press” section, which in my opinion should be combined), and they have started posting articles on their various cases. Obviously the headings are one-sided, but it is nice to see them start to express their side of the story. My one critique — JOHN STEELE, OPEN UP YOUR BLOG AND ALLOW COMMENTS! No doubt doing this will flood your site with “f-u’s,” but still — you can easily moderate the comments and only allow those comments that are not inflammatory. This will bring the blog some needed credibility rather than it being a pedestal used only to pontificate your firm’s skewed values.
Last, but not least, I have a deep psychological concern with the large red copyright image on the main page of their website:
…It reminds me too much of the clown from the “Saw” series.
Last, but not least, I want to point out that their website incorrectly states that they have attorneys in all 50 states. This is simply not true. However, one piece of information that I can share is that there appears to be new counsel in Chris Fiore’s Pennsylvania territory, and it’s not Chris Fiore. Whether this turns out to be another rumor or not is something we’ll have to wait and see.
P.S. – I love the “Lorem Ipsum” category. Looking forward to seeing the website out of beta.
If Steele were to allow comments on his blog, people might call him out on his blatant hypocrisy.
He has already gone through great lengths to whitewash his past so far, why would he stop now?
http://torrentfreak.com/copyright-bully-deletes-own-anti-bully-rant-120622/
LOL about the (c) image and the comparison to the “Saw” clown and I just thought it symbolized how they are almost down to their last chip in this cynical game they play. Speaking of which it would be fitting if Prenda set up a troll in EDPA just whenit looks like Judge Baylson is looking to severally curtail trolling operations.
I’m skeptical that Lutz is no longer with Prenda. A part of me thinks that he, (like Perea), is still associated with Prenda and trying to keep it behind closed doors. However, I could be wrong. If he is gone, could be the reason why I haven’t been getting any voicemails recently. Also, if he is gone on his own terms, or he was ousted, then good riddens.
As far as Steele, yea, he’s still very much a part of Prenda in my opinion. Just keeping it on the low.
Down with all Trolls
I really believe Lutz is done with Prenda and he’s been forking out information (confidentially of course) to someone in our community. According to Lutz, Steele is leaving Florida for parts unknown. Maybe going to St. Kitts/Nevis? The heat must be getting to him. He can’t hide from law enforcement though and I have to believe that he’s under FBI investigation, along with the Prenda gang.
Steele is the most arrogant, self-aggrandizing, raging douchebag I’ve ever had the displeasure of dealing with. His bullshit does not stop at Steele|Hansmeier/Prenda…he allegedly behaves in this manner when it comes to his family law practice as well. He (allegedly) has perjured himself in tons of documents filed with the court up in Cook County. He’s pulled bullshit on judges and then claimed innocent mistake like filing sealed documents as exhibits in a divorce case (allegedly) then saying “Oops! Sorry!” This man is a fucking monster who needs to be wearing an orange jumpsuit and have his own episode of “American Greed” on CNBC.
Read this: http://bringlittlebearhome.org/
and the mother’s Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/BringLittleBear
I’ll let you read the details, but to me this is not even a custody dispute…IMO, it’s court-facilitated kidnapping. The dad’s psych assessment is similar to that of Ted Kaczynski. Steele is now trying to send the mother to jail for contempt and the judge agrees with Steele that epilepsy is a “minor health problem” and is denying treatment. Have they ever seen someone have a epileptic seizure? There’s nothing “minor” about it. This is seriously fucked up. Anyone who does something like this has no morals, no conscience, and no soul.
As much as I cannot stand that guy, I’m willing to overlook what he’s done if he is willing to help us dismantle Prenda from the inside out since he knows EVERYTHING and an NDA is no good when criminal activity or tortious activity is involved.
Daniel G. Ruggiero, who is based out of NYC just filed two cases in PA’s Middle District Court, a copyright infringement case involving Millenium TGA, Inc. and a trademark infringement case involving A.F. Holdings. Both involve named defendants.
@Johnny Doe, Thank you. This was exactly what I was looking for. -Rob
It looks like Ruggiero is taking full advantage of the fact that he is barred in seven different states. He has now filed cases in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. Is it ethical to file so many cases when he likely knows almost nothing about IP law (based on some Google searches, he seems to specialize in lemon law, mortgages and other such things)? Also do you think the comment below is really Steele? If so, would it be appropriate to cite his unprofessional and juvenile posts in ethical complaints against him?
I saw that. It is indeed concerning just because people will need to spend money to defend themselves, and I don’t like it when people need to shell out money for something they didn’t do. Yet and at the same time, I have a “bring it on!” mentality regarding Ruggiero’s cases.
As for ethics, I doubt Ruggiero is doing this on his own — he probably has some “ghosts” helping him write his motions (and submit them to the ECF) for him. Then again, trolling is pretty easy – sue for basic copyright infringement with the intent of getting names and extorting a settlement. Limit your representation to filing up to summary judgement hearings, and leave the big stuff to Steele if anything needs to go to trial (never happened yet).
FYI, yep, that’s him. I run with the “if you can dish it, you can take it” mentality, so go for it.
Steele will never allow comments made from outsiders, the truth is he is scared of the interwebs people.
A group of anonymous people have ripped apart every single argument he’s ever put forth. Lawyers are stepping up pointing out the mockery that is being made of the system with Pretenda cases. (no its not a typo)
He has shown up in comments of blogs he considers to be run by fools mocking and trying to scare people who have no fear of him, and has failed to deliver the devastating actions he promises.
The simple truth is… if he had a case, why would he bother with the blogs run by people he swears are wrong? Fear. People are typing case numbers into Google and getting the real deal on what is happening with these cases, and its destroying his bottom line.
Oh a freebie about the new puppy… I guess working for a “questionable” nationwide firm doesn’t pay the bills. I might be evil but no pages on ripoff report exist about me…
Nationwide Law Center is paying for his domain and lists him as their NY lawyer. The paint on the domain hasn’t even dried yet… 19-Apr-2012 it was registered.
Oh quaint the list of lawyers for nationwide shows up under a few company names, all of them pimping lawyers for various things in all 50 states and Daniel is listed as the lead on at least 1 of them…
“Daniel Ruggiero is an attorney licensed to practice law in Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. He graduated from New England Law – Boston and Babson College. He is an experienced general practice attorney.”
And has a trail of work in debt “repair” and mortgage modifications…
I guess the big money is in copyright now.
He really liked 1 book in law school according to Amazon in 2005.
His name is listed as a license number on a BBB page of a firm he ran, I though they had digits for those things.
The G stands for…. Goldsmith
His office fits in a box in a UPS store… the things one does for an address on Broadway.
Datamining with Google, its a hobby. 😀
Hopefully he got paid by Pretenda upfront.
I give it 3 months max before he flees the ship as well.
TAC, nice catch about the NCL mtg/loan modification scam. Helps to explain the moral compass of an attorney who would get into the extortion scam.
I was expecting a puppy with a shiny new bar card, I was surprised at what I found…
Imagine had I spend more than 20 minutes on it, but I learned what I needed to know. No attempts at soul saving, or appealing to the moral compass, or bothering to explain the flawed concepts.
I’ll join the others in watching his fall and laughing, and looking for anything else embarrassing to add a nice cherry on top.
Well damn….. You guys blew away my thoughts of Lutz and Ruggiero. More points towards Lutz if he is spilling some info on Prenda. I’m still not a fan of his though. I’d like to hear Steele’s own words as to why he is ‘moving’.
Oh we all know why Steele is moving. Florida isn’t conducive (see: Joe Perea) for trolls any longer. His wife can’t be too happy. Chicago, Miami, now somewhere else. Call me skeptical but I have a very hard time believing that Steele ever actually left Chicago seeing as how he’s been pulling crap up there with his family law practice. Who leaves Miami to go to Chicago to practice family law for a few days or weeks? Wait, I know, nobody. If he is moving, again, then he’s obviously hiding something (duh) since he’s moved more times than John Gotti.
I love how Josh Hatfield is still listed on this site, of course with no mention how that case went down in flames. You’d think they’d want to brush that name under the rug.
Looks like this new troll Ruggiero is representing AF Holdings in 5 cases in Eastern PA, each involving a single named defendant.
2:12-cv-05426-RBS
2:12-cv-05427-JD
2:12-cv-05428-ER
2:12-cv-05429-NS
5:12-cv-05430-LS
@houstonlawy3r
I have read the complaint from 2:12-cv-05426-RBS and I have a question.
How is transferring only a portion of the copyright allowing AF Holdings to sue not the same sham transfer employed by Righthaven?
I’ve seen Steele stealing other trolls plays but to follow in Righthaven’s footsteps shows serious issues.
The filing reads like bad fiction, 1st he might just have had open wifi then they describe the actions claiming he did it, then well maybe he only knew about it, or maybe he was just negligent.
I am also very curious how they detected the download happening, as it has become very apparent that several of these “experts” are running honeypots offering the files so they can capture the most IP’s.
Wow, reading this nonsense makes me laugh. Im running scared? Please. I’m in court every week kicking people’s ass, and you freetards know it. That is why you stick to insults instead of pointing out cases. You losers keep talking in this echo chamber, saying we are not suing people. Ive been too busy filing suits left and right that I have not come over to this site to read this crap. So sad. 50 new named cases filed this week (so far). I have to thank you pirates actually. I have discovered we make more money by suing individuals than mass suits. I just need to staff up. And as someone noted on Dietrolldie, we are advertising all over for new in-house attorneys. Hmmm, is it because we are losing money? Me thinks not!
I know, I’m lying. Whatever. If Comcast is kicking our ass, why did I just get over 800 names just came back from Comcast 15 minutes ago? If judges are throwing my cases out, can you idiots please list one or two? That would be great.
PS. Bad news. Monday we are filing new cases for one of the biggest adult companies in America. Time to go house shopping….
Good to see you on here, John; I’m writing another piece on you (well, your HDP client) now as we speak. Please continue to share, and if you are willing, I’d be interested in hearing the story about Mark Lutz. Also, please take what I’ve written to heart — I believe you would benefit from opening your blog up to comments.
Oh Steele you scamp, you think we believe you.
You managed to hire a lawyer who barely dodged fines in mortgage refinancing scheme, and who uses a PO Box for his legal documents.
The shotgun approach in your filings is laughable, did you miss Randazza getting the negligence claim kicked out of several courts at this point? Did you think you were going to be the one to find the way to make it work? You’ve not had an original thought in years, even having to hold up Randazza’s $250,000 “win” in your letters because you don’t have one of your own to show off.
Now would you care to comment on how your transferring the money to AF Holdings and AF Films? I am sure your making sure the IRS is getting their due from the income your sending to these offshore entities.
I would really like to understand how you managed to avoid the same pitfalls that Righthaven hit with their sham copyright transfers, as the rights to the movies were transfer to AF Films, and then portions were transferred to AF Holdings – unless of course your legal paperwork is incorrect and then you have mislead the court… (like that has never happened.)
Your posting again, so that means your scared or drunk. Your desperately stroking your ego hoping that you can still con people into believing your fanciful stories.
So the new puppy was he the one on trial in NH for lying to the court? I mean the age is right, the name is right, but I can’t actually confirm that was him. Considering the shaky makeup of his online “empire”, (even your deluded mind doesn’t use hotmail for legal documents), I think you might have made an error in your selection. So clear that up for me won’t you?
That’s right you won’t… because your terrified of some anonymous guy online who sees you as the scammer you are.
John Steele is worse than an ambulance chaser and is a disgrace to the legal profession! People with means are settling simply to avoid the potential embarrassment of being named in a porn movie-related lawsuit.
He seems like a total asshole with a massive ego that is growing out of control quickly. I am sure he has skeletons in his closet and look forward to them being revealed.
Hey John, if you’re in court every week, will that include Judge Wright’s courtroom next Tuesday?
Wow! Steele showed up! I have to disrespectfully disagree with you John (although I’m sure you won’t be back to read this, typical hit & run comment). I don’t see how you have been kicking people’s asses every week, when your company’s cases are being dismissed all over and your affiliates’ NAMED cases have completely failed. Every time you chime in with a comment, you make claims using BIG numbers and saying ‘this week’ or ‘within minutes’.
You have ‘now discovered’ that naming people individually is better than mass suits. Really!? You just now figured that out? What about the individual suits that have been lost; like Hatfield. If you are hiring for in-house attorney’s, then it’s because you need help extorting people. You have already lost an in-house buddy and some affiliates. And yes, you are losing money. Nice try.
This seems like another one of your beer-thirty scare tactic rants. And it’s comical. I know DTD, SJD, and Houstonlawy3r don’t want anybody making threats to you and your troll buddies, and I respect that. So I’m gonna take a piece of your pie. You like to call all here names. You call us losers and idiots. Why is an attorney calling people names? Isn’t an attorney supposed to be a respectable field? Why are you stooping to school yard tactics? Have you not grown up? You John, are the embodiment of evil. You are a douche. You are a bully that will get his in the end. You may be sleeping peacefully at night, but one day, that will be over. Take it to heart.
Down with all Trolls
I have a question regarding the legal standards for infringement…
Is there a legal distinction between those who download a work (but do not distribute) and those who distribute a work via file sharing sites? I ask because a bittorrent client can be part of a “swarm” while downloading a file, but that same client many not be seed the file (Torrent clients offer ways to Leach without Seeding). Simply harvesting IP addresses connected to a swarm really is not sufficient to prove distribution.
Given this fact, shouldn’t that the Trolls’ so-called “experts” be required to show exactly which pieces of a file were provided by each IP address. Additionally, they should have to detail what percentage of a viewable copy of the work was provided by each defendant. A checksum proving that the packets in question were not modified in transit would be worthwhile as well. Any of this information would be available via freely available trace tools.
SB
I understand that while copyright infringement is copyright infringement (meaning, if you violate one of the protected rights whether by copying, distributing, etc., then you can be found guilty of copyright infringement). That being said, if you look at the complaints, the copyright trolls generally try to pin you as violating their DISTRIBUTION rights (basically saying that you enabled others in the swarm to download because you uploaded).
While I agree that your methodologies are important to draw the distinctions between copying and distributing (they likely affect you regarding joining you (joinder) in the same lawsuit with the other swarm members), and while I am aware that many people purposefully set their bittorrent clients to “no seeding” (a.k.a., “leech” mode; 0 Kbps upload speed max), I don’t think this would be relevant until someone was named was was using this as part of their defense.
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