Intellectual Property, Pornography

Porn Troll Disbarred

Who knew that fraud was such a sticking point for these folks?

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Surfing the internet for pornographyAfter pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, noted copyright troll John Steele has now been disbarred.

It’s not hugely surprising. After all, folks convicted of a fraud and money-laundering scheme that netted them $6 million generally don’t get to keep their law licenses. It’s the sort of thing disciplinary committees frown upon.

Along with [Paul] Hansmeier and a now-deceased attorney named Paul Duffy, Steele “conspired to extort settlement funds from thousands of Internet users in a multi-jurisdictional copyright litigation scheme,” Illinois attorney regulators said in a statement of charges. “Specifically, they attempted to exact settlements from users who allegedly infringed on the copyrights of certain pornographic movies, including movies that Mr. Steele himself produced and distributed.”

Still, the Prenda saga remains bittersweet. This isn’t to suggest copyright trolling is good or that Steele doesn’t deserve any of what’s crashing down upon him right now, but the absurdity of creating bait solely to extort payments under the aegis of intellectual property law had the potential to expose the glaring problems with copyright law today. Because Prenda merely took the legal framework that the RIAA and various film studios have lobbied to expand and pushed it to its logical conclusion.

However, that lesson is almost assuredly going to be lost. Steele and his colleagues will be branded “bad actors” and shuffled off the main stage while somewhere out there the music industry will bully some 10-year-old. Hey, the system works as long as you quickly squelch anyone who makes the system look bad.

Lawyer who founded Prenda Law is disbarred [Ars Technica]

Earlier: Porn Lawyer Pleads Guilty

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HeadshotJoe Patrice is an editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.

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