Lawyer Who Founded ‘Copyright Trolling’ Prenda Law Is Disbarred
John Steele, one of the masterminds behind the Prenda Law “copyright trolling” scheme, has been disbarred, reports Ars Technica.
Steele agreed to the disbarment two months after pleading guilty to federal fraud and money laundering charges.
Reporter Joe Mullin writes that Steele said he and a co-defendant, Paul Hansmeier, made more than $6 million over a two-year period with “sham entities” that threatened Internet users with copyright lawsuits.
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.”
Read the Ars Technica article.