2 Apr 12 Update – 27 Cases are Closed
Judge Robert Hinkle, Northern District of Florida, made his ruling on 2 Apr 12, after Mike Meiers (Troll replacement attorney) filed a response to a show cause order on why the cases should not be dismissed.
The judge stated Plaintiff failed to persuade the court on any of its three points. The court said it does have the right to sanction Terik Hashmi and Plaintiff for misconduct, as this is a Federal matter. The judge then states this matter is not a simple mistake on the part of Terik Hashmi.
Mr. Hashmi asserts he thought he could file these cases in this federal court based on this court’s local rules, but he has suggested no plausible reading of the cease-and-desist affidavit supporting that assertion. In the affidavit Mr. Hashmi swore that he understood that holding himself out as authorized to practice law in Florida would constitute contempt of the Florida Supreme Court and a third-degree felony. He swore that he understood he could not forward letters to third parties appearing to be from an attorney. He swore that he understood he could not provide legal advice or otherwise practice law in Florida, except on immigration matters. He swore that he understood that it would constitute the unlicensed practice of law to hold himself out as an attorney or as able to render legal advice or services; to offer legal services to others; or to collect fees for legal services. The assertion that Mr. Hashmi thought he could properly undertake to represent these plaintiffs in these cases—cases arising in Florida and having nothing to do with immigration—is plainly unfounded.
The last point the judge replies to is that plaintiff did not know Terik Hashmi was not authorized to practice law in Florida. The judge responds to this by stating Plaintiff didn’t even bother to provide any evidence showing this claim in the response.
To be sure, just as the record does not refute the plaintiffs’ complicity, it also does not establish their complicity. But the plaintiffs were given an opportunity to show cause why the cases should not be dismissed, and they are the ones who know whether they were or were not aware of Mr. Hashmi’s status. They are the ones who know whether they have demanded settlements through Mr. Hashmi and retained the proceeds. If the plaintiffs indeed filed these cases in good faith and without knowledge of Mr. Hashmi’s status, it would have been an easy matter to file a declaration saying so. The plaintiffs did not do that. Nor have they denied demanding and receiving settlement proceeds through Mr. Hashmi, or offered to give them back.
Based on this, the judge ordered the clerk to file the order in each of the 27 cases, stating Plaintiff’s claims are dismissed and the cases are closed.
Yes Plaintiff can refile the cases again, but the sting of the judges’ comments in the order is going to follow it wherever it goes. Plaintiff was slapped just as hard as Terik Hashmi. The judge believes they knew what was going on and didn’t say anything for fear of sticking it’s foot in its mouth. I don’t know what effect this will have for Copyright Troll cases in FL, but it isn’t good. Order_Dismissing_27_Cases
DieTrollDie 
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16 Feb 12, Show Cause Court Order
Just had some good news forwarded to me from Florida. It appears the wonder Troll Terik Hashmi has some serious explaining to do to Judge Robert Hinkle, Northern District of FL.
Here is the 16 Feb 12, Show Cause Order (Hashmi_Stay_of_27Cases), in which the judge consolidate 27 of Hashmi’s cases (for this admin purpose only) and effectively places them on hold until the judge decides if they should be dismissed because Hashmi lives in Florida, but is not a member of the FL bar. The judge has also hinted that other sanctions may be appropriate for this offense.
**** All affected Does – If you receive any calls, emails, or attempts by agents of Hashmi or the various Plaintiff to do anything with theses cases, please contact me. I will forward it to the copyright defense lawyers working this.
If any of these cases are still pending ISP subscriber information release, I would also fax & email a copy of it to the affected ISPs.
I wonder if Hashmi will even try to come up with some ridiculous excuse as to why he really doesn’t live in FL. Stupid Troll. I bet the various plaintiff’s are wondering why they went with this bozo.
DietrollDie
“Some ships are designed to sink…others require our assistance.”
Good news. I uploaded the order to Recap. Will be available in a while.
Sweet! Thanks
DTD
Great Work!!!,
I wonder how many people they scared into settling will never know of this development,
Wish there was a way to get the news out about these trolls and to get people informed via yours and SJD’s site.
stupid troll!
Mr. Hashmi lives in his parent’s condo in miami beach… sure he has had that arranged for a good reason.
I seem to remember some Trolls dropping by recently to heckle “pirates” about living in their parents’ basements…
Good to see this guy is about to get dropkicked into the garbage.
Yes, John Boy came over to call me a Basement Dwelling Pudwacker (BDP).
Wow, what an idiot. I’ll give credit when you guys win one, and whoever caught this guy practicing law in federal court without a license deserves kudos. I’ve finally seen something dumber than ignoring a court order and issuing subpoenas in TX. I will also grant that there are some dumb asses trying to follow the real Trolls.
Of course, this has nothing to do with the underlying merits of these cases. We all know if one of our cases got kicked on the merits, you BDP’s would be posting in 50 pt. font.
BTW, don’t expect certain firms to make such stupid mistakes . . .
Stupid is as stupid does. Merits, really John. Abusing a poorly written federal copyright infringement law to make money is nothing to brag about. Your comments on GFY.COM and the content owners speak volumes. The law was not designed for this. I know you will claim that is the only way your clients can protect their content and recover lost income…….. No one believes this. What type of a “Win” are you talking about? The are some recent cases in CA where our misjoinder view has been accepted. Recently Gibbs just dismissed two CA cases, because of the Judge involved (MEJ). So I beg to differ on the “Merits” issue. We are making strides and you know it. I will remember to use the 50 pt. font – thanks for the idea.
And thanks for using “BDP” in a sentence – you helped me come up with the term.
I hope the Richard Pryor Response becomes a regular thing Mr. Lutz starts to hear over and over.
DTD
You also cannot but help to notice the trolls have fled Georgia because the District Court in that state has found the trolls’ view of proper joinder to be incorrect.
I don’t see any trolls really going to Georgia, or I haven’t really noticed a case besides the one which got dismissed on the swarm joinder deal. If anything they seem to keep to Florida and the some of the other states that have been in it for a while. It seems the judges here already see this scam for what it is in Georgia.
From the Digital Rights Foundation –
https://www.eff.org/press/releases/eff-files-suit-block-threats-aimed-lawyer-ratings-site “The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has filed suit in federalcourt to block threats aimed at LawyerRatingz.com, a website thatallows Internet users to write comments and rate attorneys.” I wonder who left this for Steele?http://www.lawyerratingz.com/ratings/1028803/Lawyer-John-Steele.html
Does that include requesting subscriber information from an ISP without a subpoena? Like you did?
Im starting to get the feeling these trolls are all getting shut down at every turn, at least when having to stand in front of the man.
Question: Bit torrent case aside… Is small claims court and way to counter attack with any and everything I/we/you could think of, Extortion, Harassment, Ethics or a lack of etc… Im talking crimminal time if possible.
If I was sitting on a jury and was told about the trolls business model and shown court docs and judge/case comments etc… this list goes on, there is no way I would let these guys off. That gray line they walk can easly tilt the other way when the common man, woman, grandmother, police, teacher,bus driver etc…see how easly they could be attacked by the system they now have control over, at least this one case.
Could say 50 does penny up and hire a good atty. and file a case does 1-50 vs say Steele. I might consider matching up to $500.00, thats five hundred dollars, for a liget movement. Im sure we could get as creative as the trolls.
Could an atty. also use the contact info the troll might get from the ISP and use it to contact the same people to discuss a class counter attack against the troll before the troll makes gets traction.
Thanks,
Ars posted the news today.
I brought you a bit of traffic from ArsTechnica bu commenting and linking here
When I comment in Ars with a link to my post, I consistently get a lot of hits: this site is mega-popular.
Thanks SJD! DTD
It appears that Mr. Terik Hashmi’s firm is no longer listed as a partner for Ira Siegel’s Copyright International Group.
http://www.ceg-intl.com/partners.html
Don’t click if you are worried about them collecting IPs
http://fightcopyrighttrolls.com/discussions/florida-cases/#comment-5417
Called it!
Don’t worry Ira, we won’t forget!
Ira has been quiet lately. Also, Hashmi was removed from Ira’s CEG website, no longer listed as a partner.
Mr. Hashmi’s Transnational Law Group website you get this message:
“Due to system upgrade we are currently down for maintenance.
We apologize for the inconvenience …”
He’s running….
I wrote a post about it: http://fightcopyrighttrolls.com/2012/02/23/copyright-enforcement-group-distances-itself-from-terik-hashmi/
And yes, Terik’s website is “down”. Why quotation marks? because all the pages are there http://transnationallawgroup.com/faq-section for example. Who cares about small lies?
Betraying my age but I trust you will find it most appropriate http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rY0WxgSXdEE
Classic song and my favorite by them.
A random tidbit about the song. Forte (I’m sure it was him) previewed the song to MJ, because they were buddies at the time and collaborated (although, the song never got released officially but it is out there from what I understand). Forte was hesitant but MJ convinced him to release the song in the U.S as Queen’s single and subsequently it went on to be a big hit for them.
Yes, great song. Thanks! DTD
Now what happens if you are a John Doe associated with one of these cases, before and after a motion to quash has been filed? Would you think that a large corporation like Comcast would know about this or should they be emailed this information as a precaution?
Always good to err on the side of precaution.
Spoke with Comcast legal response centre – they had only found out about it last weekend.
otherwise – any updates with this stay?
meier in for hashmi
Judge still wants Meier to show cause why the illegally filed complaints (filed by an unlicensed attorney) should not be dismissed. Tthe judge seems itching to shitcan these cases.
Here is Meier’s response
http://ia600706.us.archive.org/5/items/gov.uscourts.flnd.64002/gov.uscourts.flnd.64002.39.0.pdf
It will be interesting to read the judges response.
Here is Meier’s response
http://ia600706.us.archive.org/5/items/gov.uscourts.flnd.64002/gov.uscourts.flnd.64002.39.0.pdf
Mike Meier was sued for Copyright Infringement a few years back:
http://www.legalmetric.com/cases/copyright/dcd/dcd_105cv01870.html
Probably for trying impersonate an attorney.
Cute!
Today marks the deadline for plaintiff’s counsel to show cause. Here is my client’s response to the plaintiff’s response filed on 3/2/12.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/83711116/Opposition-to-Plaintiff-s-Show-Cause-Response
Here is Terik Hashmi’s Response to the Court’s Show Cause Order:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/84819385/Terik-Hashmi-s-Response-to-Show-Cause-Order
Thanks! Been crazy busy. I will add it to an overall post. Thanks for keeping us up to date. DTD
So what happens next after he submits his response? I am wrapped up in one of these cases and I’m just trying to see where I stand at this point.
Thanks!
Mr. Wohlsifer has done a nice job distinguishing those cases which would favor not dismissing these consolidated lawsuits which is what the judge seems inclined to do but plaintiffs’ arguments are good ones. It will be a close call but I’m betting on the consolidated lawsuits being dismissed. Even if they are not, these lawyered up Does will likely appeal and request a stay of these proceedings pending the determination of the appeal which will put more time on plaintiffs’ lawsuits (always a good thing if you are a defendant IMHO).
Sorry, I meant that the judge IS inclined to dismiss the consolidated lawsuits.
If I filed a lawsuit, as an individual I am sure that I would have to resubmit the paper work and pay another filing fee. I am hopeful the judge sees this for what it actually is. I hope he makes them pay for their mistake. Common sense dictates that ignorance is no excuse here:
“The Plaintiffs should not be punished for erroneous acts of their then-counsel. It is Florida’s policy that cases be decided on the merits”.
I believe the plaintiffs should have to refile and pay if they want to reap the rewards of their extortion scheme. Just because they hired a dumbass troll to represent them its not the courts fault or the defendants.
http://ia700706.us.archive.org/5/items/gov.uscourts.flnd.64002/gov.uscourts.flnd.64002.docket.html
filed a “Response to Order to Show Cause”
http://www.archive.org/download/gov.uscourts.flnd.64002/gov.uscourts.flnd.64002.45.0.pdf
Which is basically detailing that since Hashmi “witnessed” CEG’s work that Mike coming in would void it.
Nice! Wonder what the judge will think of this?
DTD
Daniel Simon is one clever lawyer!
How many holes do we need in this boat?!
Anyone heard anything else on these cases?
Two Law Firms have responded in opposition to the responses filed by Meier and Hashmi, along with several does MTQ.
The judge has not ruled yet
Pingback: Copyright trolls have been abusing Florida’s ancient “Pure Bill of Discovery” for too long. Enough is enough – says judge. « Fight Copyright Trolls
Dan Simon’s arguments regarding the verification of the Hashmi complaints are compelling ones and directly relate to DTD’s posting here http://dietrolldie.com/2012/03/16/doe-makes-counterclaim-against-third-degree-films-inc-troll-mike-meier-and-seeks-20-million-dollars-in-damages/ Funny how this trolling BS gets simpler the more you look at it.
Looks like Meier has entered some garbage to the court, in NDFL cases.
While I was reading the Seth Abrahams vs Hard Drive Productions Inc. complaint a question arose in my mind as to Jon Nicolini of CEG legal status in the Florida Cases.
http://licgweb.doacs.state.fl.us/investigations/about.html
The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Licensing, licenses and regulates the private investigative industry in accordance with Chapter 493, Florida Statutes. Private investigators and private investigative agencies serve in positions of trust. Untrained and unlicensed persons or businesses, or persons not of good moral character, are a threat to the public safety and welfare.
- Determining the identity, habits, conduct, movements, whereabouts, affiliations, associations, transactions, reputation or character of any society, person, or group of persons
– The credibility of witnesses or other persons
Currently Jon Nicolini nor Copyright Enforcement Group hold a private investigator license in the state of Florida.
Individual Name Search:
http://licgweb.doacs.state.fl.us/access/individual.html
Agency/School Name Search:
http://licgweb.doacs.state.fl.us/access/agency.html
My only question is, does this apply in the Federal Courts of Florida?
Regarding Jon Nicolini as a Private Investigator in Florida would need a Private Investigator license if……
Florida Statute Chapter 493.6101 number ’17′ sub letter ‘G’ definition of a Private Investigator : The business of securing evidence to be used before investigating committees or boards of award or arbitration or in the trial of civil or criminal cases and the preparation therefor.
http://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2010/493.6101
Maybe we should forward this information to the Lawyers in the current NDFL cases
Hey guys I was just wondering if u have heard anything else about these cases?
Strike One.
—
Under these circumstances, requiring the plaintiffs to start over and do it
right is not too harsh a sanction.
For these reasons,
IT IS ORDERED:
The clerk must file this order in each of these cases and must enter a
judgment separately in each case stating, “The plaintiff’s claims are dismissed
without prejudice.” The clerk must close each file.
SO ORDERED on April 2, 2012.
s/Robert L. Hinkle
United States District Judge
—
Judge Hinkle just entered an order dismissing all 27 of the consolidated cases (over 3,500 defendants) filed by Terik Hashmi in the Northern District of Florida. The order states that plaintiff’s response to show cause failed, having relied only on state law. The order also states that, “under these circumstances, requiring the plaintiff’s to start over and do it right is not too harsh a sanction.” A key point in why the court dismissed the consolidated cases was that federal law, not state law governs the issue of whether a federal lawsuit should be dismissed based on the plaintiff’s attorney’s lack of authority to file the case. I raised this point of law on behalf of my client, Doe 34, in Doe 34′s Motion to Dismiss and Memorandum [Doc. 40]. I will post a copy of the court order on my firm’s Web site before the day is up.
So does this just mean they can go ahead and refile all of them? And if so do they need to subpoena the ISP again?
Yes they can. If they didn’t get the subscriber information they will need to reapply for the subpoena. If they already have the contact information, they will likely just call and threaten the Does that they will file a new case on them. Same BS as normal for them.
DTD
So since I was involved in one of these cases technically they can’t do anything until they refile the case? Aside from the threat of refiling in order to try and get me to settle? How will I know if they refile the case? Will another letter come from my ISP if they haven’t already gotten my info? Anything that would prevent them from refiling? Sorry for all the questions but this whole process is all fairly new to me so I’m just trying to see where I stand at this point. Thanks for all the info you provide. This site has been a life saver for me.
3 Apr 12 update posted – Order attached.
DTD