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Friday, November 11th, 2005Friday, November 11th, 2005

Loeb and Loeb/MPAA Extortion

by Shawn @ 6:02 pm · filed under MPAA

Got an interesting call from a law firm (Loeb & Loeb) representing the MPAA today. They want me to settle out of court and pay $2,500 for some movie I never downloaded (and ironically enough I actually own the DVD). Of course, I declined their settlement offer and told them I would rather let it go to court.

They are TOTALLY extorting money from people because when I told her I would rather let it go to court, she started to get rather huffy...

Her: You understand that defending this in court will cost you much more than $2,500 in attorney fees, right?
Me: Yep.
Her: We are able to get a default judgement against you which will be substantially more than $2,500.
Me: Okay.
Her: I will let them know to go ahead and file a federal lawsuit against you.
Me: Okay, sounds good.

If you *really* think you have a case against me, why are you "letting me off" for $2,500? You can make much more with a court ruling.

Someone has to stand up to these clowns... their scare tactics make them sounds pretty foolish IMO. First of all, I would rather spend $100,000 and not pay them $2,500 than to just give them $2,500 (it's about the principle).

Secondly, it should be interesting to see how they are able to get a default judgement against me. I would have to fail to appear in court after receiving a summons. As long as I actually GET a summons, I will be there. Even if they go the route of Winn and Sims (filing a proof of service that never happened), it can be reversed once I find out about it.

20 Responses to “Loeb and Loeb/MPAA Extortion”

  1. Bazkaz Says:
    November 14th, 2005 at 1:26 pm

    I wonder how many people just roll over and cough up the cash. Looks like they called the wrong person this time. :)

    Just as a heads up, loeb-and-loeb.com is available. ;)

  2. Peter Says:
    March 22nd, 2006 at 10:52 am

    Please contact me if they pursue this. wejlaw@msn.com

  3. Brian Says:
    April 28th, 2006 at 11:25 am

    Haha, exactly what I would say to those blokes as well..

  4. Wizpig64 Says:
    May 16th, 2006 at 8:51 pm

    I have a friend of a friend who also was falsely accused of downloadimg a movie as well. He got a letter in the mail from someone saying they were the MPAA. Rather than just paying the $X they asked him for, he went on to get a lawyer and finding out that the letter itself was forged by some phishing people. I hope noone else falls for those jerks.

  5. web design uk Says:
    May 17th, 2006 at 5:09 am

    Yeah I can imagine there are a load of phishers trying similar things. Grrr

    Screw RIAA/MPAA and thieves in general.

  6. The Community At Large » Loeb and Loeb/MPAA Extortion Says:
    May 18th, 2006 at 2:46 am

    […] The guy is keeping everyone up to date on his blog, first post, next and were we are now. The guy has already spent a fair bit on this, I for one hope he wins.     Send this post to a friend […]

  7. Natron Says:
    May 18th, 2006 at 9:19 am

    I read the other day that RIAA is now going after XM radio for the player that allows you to record. Funny as they said they would never go after digital players.

    Just happens that XM is suppose to be renegotiating the royalty rights soon. Sounds like they are strong arming them a bit before.

  8. SaadAhmed007 Says:
    June 17th, 2006 at 4:09 pm

    This time they messed with the wrong person.
    Keep up the good work Shawn

  9. CD Burning from the inside Says:
    July 25th, 2006 at 6:19 pm

    […] So MPAA have tried to make an out of court settlement with Shawn, and then another but Shawn is detertimened to fight this battle in the courts even if its going to cost a lot of money. […]

  10. fairlight Says:
    July 26th, 2006 at 5:25 am

    Way to go Shawn, make them suckers bleed!

  11. problematik.net » meet the mpaa feebles Says:
    July 27th, 2006 at 2:55 am

    […]   noch keine kommentare zu’meet the mpaa feebles’ RSS feed fuer kommentare und trackback URI fuer ‘meet the mpaa feebles’   […]

  12. Robert Says:
    July 27th, 2006 at 1:32 pm

    I think its great that you are fighting back, somebody with enough money needed to stand up against these people.

  13. Internet Marketing Blog - SearchFeature.com » Blog Archive » Digital Point vs. MPAA Says:
    July 28th, 2006 at 7:53 am

    […] Just wanted to mention, that in case anyone has missed it this is how it started … Explore posts in the same categories: This and That […]

  14. Bloggeries Blog Reviews » Blog Archive » Shawn Hogan’s Fan Club Blog Says:
    July 31st, 2006 at 5:36 am

    […] Little did the MPAA know about Shawn Hogan or what happened with Winn and Simms, when they demanded $2,500.00, then went down to $500.00 for him allegedly downloading a copy of “Meet the Fockers” illegally. Shawn declined saying that he didn’t do it, even owns the movie on DVD, isn’t willing to settle, and now they’re going to court. He is ready to spend well over $100k on his defence. Wired Magazine picked up the story and now it’s on its way to make national headlines as it is making international headlines already. […]

  15. JD Says:
    August 4th, 2006 at 7:20 pm

    Couple things that I’m highly curious about.

    What information did the MPAA supply in order to subpoena your confidential information from your ISP.

    I don’t need to go into alot of detail as I’m sure you can read between the lines.

    Dynamic IP’s
    What software logged your IP at what time (see above).
    Does the ISP even catalouge clients previous IP’s.

    When you win this case, there should also be an arguement towards the ISP for providing your confidential information based on false information.

  16. Steve Says:
    October 6th, 2006 at 12:04 pm

    God Bless you Shawn. These greedy, parasitical extortionist have finally encountered someone with the courage & means to contest their extortion attempts. I hope 2 things for your outcome.
    1. You win
    2. You receive damages for this frivolous lawsuit.

    Since RIAA & MPAA began these lawsuits, I have been boycotting the parasitical big labels. If I want a certain cd from the big 5 or almost any DVD, I buy it used on eBay, Amazon, etc…. Since copyright law is politically corrupt & broke, I’ve decided never to give another penny to these greedy pigopolist.

  17. Christoph C. Cemper Says:
    October 11th, 2006 at 5:20 am

    Hey Shawn,

    where is your “donate” button actually? I also want to help fund your fight…

    best regards,
    Christoph

  18. Ridwan's Says:
    October 13th, 2006 at 9:10 am

    I’m totally support you and your principal Shawn! i’ll also do the same thing if i were in your position, Woohooo!

    Regards!
    Ridwan

  19. UKMortgage Says:
    October 14th, 2006 at 1:22 am

    Hey Shawn,

    Good for you for standing up to the clowns. You’ve got the law on your side and you can always claim costs against them.

    I’m sure the public will back you and you’ll get a lawyer pro bono to help with the case.

  20. Michael Says:
    November 6th, 2006 at 11:17 am

    Shawn — Give me a shout, will be glad to help you out. Interesting that you receive a letter from a high powered firm where the bill from your conversation is practically as much as the entire case!

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