Copyright troll Prenda Law has become best known for the major setbacks it has faced in a Los Angeles case in the court of US District Judge Otis Wright. But the tough sanction order penned by Wright has been accompanied by setbacks in other jurisdictions as well.
Wright isn't the only judge who has been skeptical of Prenda's evidence regarding the illegal BitTorrent porn downloads it wanted to sue over. In a San Francisco case brought by Prenda shell company AF Holdings, US District Judge Charles Breyer ordered AF Holdings to pay $9,425 in attorneys fees to the defendant, David Trinh.
Paul Duffy, Prenda's counsel of record, filed papers on June 6 indicating he would appeal Breyer's decision. But Duffy never paid the $455 docket fee required to mount an appeal. The court clerk for the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit sent out a letter on June 7 telling Duffy he had 14 days to pay the fee, but he never did.
Today, the appeals court told him his time is up. The case is closed, and the order to pay $9,425 in attorney's fees to defense lawyer Nicholas Ranallo is now final. It will be interesting to hear whether the collection process meets with success.
In other Prenda news, John Steele—considered by many to be the mastermind behind Prenda—has been ordered to show up to Wright's courtroom in Los Angeles tomorrow to make his case for a reconsideration regarding the $81,000 sanctions against Steele and his comrades. Ars will have a reporter in the courtroom.
