Partner
In case you’re curious about what happened after, here’s an update from a previous post.
IP Criminal Hall of Fame, Grand Prize Winner, the Prenda Law Firm (January 10, 2017). As you may recall, the Prenda Law Firm, created sham companies that invited illegal downloads of porn. Then they threatened expensive and embarrassing law suits if the infringers didn’t settle. John Steele, one of the masterminds of the disgraced Prenda Law Firm, and his partner, Paul Hansmeier were indicted in January 2017. On March 8, 2017, Steele pleaded guilty to all seven counts of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering. Court papers show that Steele and his co-defendant, Paul Hansmeier, made more than $6 million with their scheme. And, by the way, Steele and Hansmeier filmed some of their porn inventory themselves.