Hansmeier is inextricably linked with a second name, namely Prenda Law. This law firm specialized in warnings and lawsuits in connection with copyright infringements. This is not unusual and is still practiced by many lawyers today, but Hansmeier and Prenda, who specialized in warnings in connection with porn videos, overshot the mark by far.
14 years imprisonment for illegal practices
Together with his partner John Steele, they have broken criminal laws by lying in court, committing identity theft and creating a so-called honeypot of self-uploaded porn to lure users into the trap.
how TorrentFreak reported, the reaction of the two to their own legal problems was very different: Steele cooperated with the authorities and received a relatively mild sentence of five years in prison – he is now free again.
Hansmeier, meanwhile, went on the offensive and defended himself with all means – unsuccessfully, because he was sentenced to 14 years in prison. Since then he has been in prison, but he is also legally active from there and has initiated a whole series of petitions and lawsuits. He recently launched legal action over a 122-day solitary confinement.
He claims (writing of himself in the third person): “Specifically, Hansmeier was involved in a petition, after which the prison officials put him in an isolation cell for five months. During his solitary confinement, Hansmeier was only allowed to telephone his family once a month, he was locked in a tiny, windowless room with a light on 24 hours a day, he was not allowed to receive newspapers or other magazines, and he was not allowed to have confidential conversations with his lawyer.” These are, of course, serious allegations bordering on torture – regardless of whether you like the person concerned or not, and they must be cleared up.
Hansmeier wants to warn further
But there is also information that suggests that Hansmeier can also be described with the word incorrigible. Because he apparently wants to continue his “work” from prison and has submitted several petitions. In the most recent, Hansmeier seeks an injunction to prevent the US government from applying fraud and money laundering laws to his proposed copyright enforcement activities.
In essence, he wants the green light for those activities for which he was actually convicted: “Paul Hansmeier wants to hire an undercover agent to enforce his copyrights on creative works and to take action against pirates under the Copyright Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act “, he writes. Hansmeier describes piracy as a “cancer”, which is essentially theft and “does nothing for our society”. However, his arguments did not convince the responsible judge, who rejected the application.
- Paul Hansmeier: known copyright troll, 14 years in prison, also active in prison.
- Hansmeier & Steele: Violation of criminal law, identity theft, honeypot.
- Steele cooperates: 5 years in prison, Hansmeier 14 years.
- Hansmeier also wants to enforce copyrights in prison.
- Hansmeier plans to hire investigators to enforce copyright law.
- Judge rejects request.
- Hansmeier describes piracy as a “cancer”.
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