Furious Judge Storms out in Piracy Case
Prenda Copyright Trolls Plead the Fifth
02 Apr 2013
The ongoing saga of ‘Prendageddon’ had its latest episode today.
After the March 11 case, many were expecting a heavy-handed battle of wits between Judge Otis Wright II and John Steele and co in court today. Popcorn was popped, the legal bloggers were in court, and fingers eagerly danced on keyboards waiting for twitter updates.
Speculation was rife beforehand as to who would actually turn up and what would be said. Would the participants even injure themselves to avoid having to speak?
We didn’t have to wait long.
12 minutes was all it lasted. Just as people were settling down from the initial speculation, the word came out.
Wow. After 12 furious minutes, Judge Wright storms out. “We’re done.” Court in recess. #prenda
— Parker Higgins (@xor) April 2, 2013
All those summoned to the court had “pled the 5th” and did not testify.
Understandably, Judge Write was not happy and adjourned the case. What little he was reported to say was fairly scathing to the Prenda mob, although we have no transcript to put it in context (yet).
What Judge Wright has in mind though, we can only speculate. Some believe a criminal case will be opened, based on the judges response of ‘taking Steele at his word’ when he plead the 5th. Others believe he’ll just hold them in contempt.
Of course, there’s a new player in this as well. Some reports have mentioned an IRS investigator, from the Money Laundering unit there. If so, that could be an even BIGGER world of hurt than anything Judge Wright could deal out.
All in all, not a good day for Team Prenda
This is a breaking story and will be updated as we get more info.
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