Judge smash: Prenda’s porn-trolling days are over

Judge smash: Prenda’s porn-trolling days are over:

Aurich Lawson

The number of observers watching the spectacularly flailing copyright-trolling enterprise that was Prenda Law has been growing over the past few months. Today, fifteen minutes before the hearing was scheduled, there were already more than a dozen lawyers and observers outside US District Judge Otis Wright's courtroom in downtown Los Angeles. By the time the hearing began, there were more than 40 people in the courtroom.
The large group included the guests of honor, Paul Hansmeier and John Steele, the masterminds behind Prenda Law. Prenda is a law firm that has sued thousands for allegedly downloading pornography. Although Hansmeier and Steele ditched a March 11 hearing, they showed up for today's. The two sat close together in court, along with Prenda paralegal Angela Van Den Hemel and Mark Lutz, who has been named as an official at AF Holdings and Ingenuity 13, two Prenda-related companies. Paul Duffy, nominally the principal of Prenda Law, literally ran into court just before the hearing began, red-faced and sweating, before taking his place beside his colleagues.
Former Prenda attorney Brett Gibbs, who has distanced himself from the rest of the Prenda crew, was also present. He sat on the other side of the courtroom.

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