At a Minnesota hearing, forgery allegations are front-and-center.
by Joe Mullin and James Keuning
Every time it looks like the saga of copyright troll Prenda Law must be winding down, bizarre new events take place.
The most recent chapter took place yesterday in a Minnesota courtroom, during a hearing called over allegedly forged signatures that Prenda used on its copyright assignments.
John Steele, the lawyer widely considered to be one of the Prenda masterminds, took the stand and testified while his co-founder Paul Hansmeier asked him questions. That itself was remarkable, considering both Hansmeier and Steele pleaded the Fifth yesterday in a Los Angeles courtroom when they were asked to testify about some of the very same issues covered. Some key documents in the Prenda copyright business were signed by an Alan Cooper—but Cooper, Steele's former housekeeper, denies ever signing them.
As for Mark Lutz, the only man who Steele and his comrades will admit actually owns Prenda shells like AF Holdings, he was still nowhere to be found. Steele actually told the judge that he roamed the streets of South Beach, hoping to get Lutz on the flight, but he couldn't find him.
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A quick recap: Prenda sued thousands of BitTorrent users for illegally downloading pornographic movies, earning the moniker of being a "copyright troll." But earlier this year, Prenda ground to a halt amid serious sanctions and allegations that it had actually planted its own porn on download sites like The Pirate Bay.
Yesterday's hearing was convened by US District Judge Franklin Noel, who is overseeing some Minnesota copyright cases that Prenda tried to walk away from. The cases have been re-opened, and Noel is one of several judges who still have outstanding questions about Prenda and its principals.
The following narrative of yesterday's events is based on combined information from two eyewitness sources—Minnesota attorney James Keuning, who wrote a narrative for Ars and spoke to us by telephone, and a published account from Nancy Sims, a copyright specialist at the University of Minnesota library.
The Alan Cooper Story, by John Steele
The proceedings started off with Hansmeier calling his partner Steele to the stand. He pulled out the copyright assignment for Sexual Obsession, one of the porn movies Prenda has been suing over. That assignment included the signature of Alan Cooper, Steele's former housekeeper.
When asked about the signature—which Cooper denied signing himself—Steele explained why it was all good: Cooper had actually given Mark Lutz permission to sign his name, Steele explained. (Lutz, the sole member of the relevant Prenda shell, wasn't at the hearing at all.) Later in the hearing, Cooper would deny that sequence of events.
But this revelation didn't come out in a straightforward fashion; Hansmeier led Steele through a long batch of questions, in which he described his whole relationship with Cooper.
It began like this: Steele had some land up near Lake Mille Lacs and needed someone to protect it because things had a tendency to be stolen from the cabin, including his generator. They struck a deal: Cooper could live there for free if he did around 15 hours of work per month (Steele didn't recall the exact number.)
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Steele didn't think Cooper actually did any work, he added—but that was okay with him. They had a good relationship. "We got closer in 2007 because of my divorce," said Steele. By 2010, they were "very good friends... we liked to hunt, four-wheel, go to bars."
Cooper was eager to get into the porn business, in Steele's telling. Steele set up a company called VPR, Inc., and described the business model for Cooper: "acquire content and then sue people when they steal it." He set up a website for the company and later transferred it to Cooper. But VPR floundered. "They never filed any lawsuits" and never made any money, said Steele. He decided to do Cooper a favor by introducing him to Mark Lutz. Lutz had had success running adult businesses and could help Cooper get on track, Steele surmised.
Cooper and Lutz became buddies. By 2011 Cooper was happily working in the porn business, according to Steele's telling—he got "a kick" out of it. Meanwhile, Steele closed his law firm, Steele Hansmeier, which had been engaged in anti-piracy litigation. "I was quite frankly surprised with the vitriol and nastiness of the pirates we were pursuing," he said. The pirates Steele spoke of put up a blog post with pictures of his house and his three-year-old daughter, along with the text: "What caliber of bullet is best to murder John's family?"
Steele grew emotional at this point; he paused and drank some water before continuing. The Steele Hansmeier law firm was closed in November 2011; Steele decided to sell the cabin, where Cooper was still living, in July 2012. The property "was a hassle," and he "wasn't getting any use out of it."
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That's when Cooper turned hostile, said Steele. He stole things out of the pole barn; he took a chainsaw to the cabin's interior walls; he cut down trees and used Steele's own trailer to haul the wood away. Cooper even threatened people who came onto the property, Steele testified, resulting in "at least one" lost sale. Cooper complained to people that he wouldn't have anywhere to go. "It's not my problem," Steele said he responded. And then, just as the judge was urging them to get back to the documents, Steele slipped in the grand finale: Cooper "spread a rumor that I molested his 12-year-old daughter."
"Move on," said US District Judge Franklin Noel, stepping in for the second time.
Signatures
Steele's on-the-stand reminiscing was then interrupted by Judge Franklin Noel, who was overseeing the proceedings. What exactly was the point of this testimony, Noel asked? Hansmeier said it was directed to "motive," but quickly refocused.
Hansmeier went back to the signature on the copyright assignment. "Did Alan Cooper sign this himself?" asked Hansmeier. "I don't know," said Steele. "Alan Cooper gave Mark Lutz authority to sign on his behalf," he said.
And then Hansmeier was done—but Judge Noel wasn't. "You're not done yet," said Noel. He made Steele explain exactly what he meant: how does he know about this supposed agreement between Cooper and Lutz? Steele explained that he overheard Cooper's half of a phone call with Lutz.
AF Holdings, a Prenda shell, was a client of Steele Hansmeier, Steele said. "But I do not know if we filed any suits." He didn't know if Cooper was an employee of AF Holdings. Then the judge showed him the signature on the assignment—did Cooper sign it?
"I would guess he did not, because it does not look like his signature," said Steele.
Then Hansmeier called two other witnesses to testify to Steele's "motive:" Patrick Flesher and Brent Berry. Berry spoke said he heard Cooper's alleged molestation talk. Then Cooper took the stand.
Cooper: Housekeeper, victim, or angry thwarted porn kingpin?
Hansmeier started off by saying Cooper had made forgery accusations against his clients "on multiple occasions." Cooper was confused; he was concerned with his own signature, he said. Hansmeier became argumentative, and was eventually told by the judge that "none of this helps."
Hansmeier then asked Cooper a confusing mishmash of questions from all directions, many meant to discredit him. Was Cooper being paid for his testimony? He said he was not. Were his expenses for the trip to an LA hearing covered by the Electronic Frontier Foundation? The flight and a one-night hotel stay were covered, he said. Had he been diagnosed with mental illness? No. Had he ever been medicated for mental illness? No again. What drugs had he been prescribed? At that last one, Cooper's lawyer, Paul Godfried, objected and the judge sustained it.
Cooper was questioned about March 18, 2011, the date he supposedly gave Lutz permission to sign his name. Cooper said he didn't remember anything about that date, but he knew he never gave Lutz such permission.
"What evidence do you have that you are identified as CEO of AF Holdings?" asked Hansmeier. Cooper didn't know. Someone had texted him and told that him his identity was stolen, and that he should contact a lawyer. Hansmeier pressed on that point, apparently seeking evidence that some Prenda lawyer he'd been up against had recruited Cooper as a client.
But the answer was something Hansmeier couldn't have predicted. As Hansmeier pressed, Cooper admitted he didn't want to answer. It could hurt the person if the name was revealed, Cooper said. The judge told him to answer, and he did: the texts came from a woman named Kim Eckenrode (spelling uncertain). She was John Steele's mother-in-law. It was Eckenrode who told him his identity was being used; it was she who told him he needed a lawyer.
Cooper was then examined by his own lawyer, who promptly admitted the Eckenrode text message into evidence. The exact message wasn't clear, but it told Cooper that Steele was using his signature, "works with porn companies based in Nevis," and sues downloaders for profit. It recommended an attorney, who ultimately led Cooper to Godfried.
At this point, Steele exhaled loudly.
Steele went back to the stand to explain the texts. He testified that his mother-in-law had read about his work and Prenda Law on anti-troll blogs like DieTrollDie. He said that she is "very religious" and concerned about his involvement in the adult industry. Even though he didn't own Prenda, Steele's mother-in-law had become concerned reading "random guesswork from Internet pirates," he said. He didn't know whether the text message to Cooper came from her, but the tone was consistent with "anonymous pirates on the Internet."
Missing Mark Lutz
Following a recess, the final issue to be addressed was who would speak for AF Holdings. That Prenda-linked shell was, after all, the copyright owner and plaintiff in this case. "Where's AF Holdings?" asked Judge Noel. He had ordered Mark Lutz to come to the hearing.
Lutz was the sole officer, said Hansmeier. And he was planning to come—Hansmeier even showed the boarding pass—but he wasn't there. Hansmeier hadn't been able to reach him, by phone or e-mail. Steele and Lutz had been booked on the same Miami flight, and Steele had checked both Lutz's apartment (at 7:00 am) and various places he frequents around South Beach, explained Hansmeier. Steele even encountered Lutz's friends, who said he'd made it an early night so he could make it to court in the morning.
Cooper's lawyer mentioned that Lutz was making a habit of not showing up to key Prenda hearings. Hansmeier pointed out that Lutz had been detained by "federal agents" in an airport.
Courtesy: arstechnica
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