MANILA, Philippines – Two lawyers – Paul R. Hansmeier and John L. Steele – are up against the US federal court for engaging in what US District Judge Otis Wright called “porno-trolling” in 2013.

Porno-trolling is an act of deceptive legal wrangling. Hansmeier and Steele, who ran the law firm Prenda Law, used shell companies to buy copyrights to pornographic movies, then shared the movies to file-sharing websites. They tracked down who downloaded the films, threatening the downloaders with legal action unless they paid a settlement, usually $4,000.

The Washington Post reported Monday, December 19 (December 20, Manila time), that federal prosecutors prepared an 18-count indictment against the two lawyers for conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, conspiracy to commit and suborn perjury, as well as other charges.

Prosecutors alleged Hansmeier and Steele earned around $6 million from the scheme between 2011 and 2014. 

In 2013, Judge Wright sanctioned the two lawyers, leading to a criminal indictment last week.

How the scheme worked

The indictment said the lawyers used a network of “sham” companies to pick up the rights to a number of pornographic titles, then allegedly had the firm’s employees upload the movies to BitTorrent sites.

The firm would then track down the IP addresses of the downloaders, filing fraudulent copyright claims and acquiring subpoenas against internet service providers (ISPs). Hansmeier and Steele would then call and send letters to downloaders, threatening to expose them if they did not settle the claims against them.

Judges figured out the scheme because of the locations where the defendants were filing cases from. This eventually led to the sanctions against Hansmeier and Steele.   

Prosecutors also alleged the two made movies specifically for the purpose of porno-trolling.

They did this at least 3 times, making “multiple short pornographic films” by attending pornographic conventions in Chicago, Las Vegas, and Miami, then uploading them directly to torrenting sites “in order to catch, and threaten to sue, people who attempted to download the movies.”

Assistant US Attorney General Leslie Caldwel said in a statement, “Abusing one’s position as a licensed attorney and using the courts and legal process to file false and abusive copyright claims that threaten individuals and encourage fraudulent settlements is wrong and will not be tolerated.”

She added, “We will act to protect the integrity of judicial proceedings against attorneys and others who would seek to use them as a mechanism for their own illegal gains.” – Rappler.com