If laws are outlawed, then only the outlaws will have the law
I cribbed that headline, approximately, from a comment at Slashdot about an article at The Escapist. It seems that the United States Copyright Group, a law firm that extorts (note: seemingly legally) settlements from people it thinks have violated copyright licenses, is suing a lawyer who posted $19.95 instructions on how to represent yourself if the USCG comes after you. (The USCG itself has been allegedly caught ripping off its Web page design.)
The lawyer with the temerity to make it easier for people to respond to the USCG’s shakedowns, Graham Syfert, includes the forms you need in his twenty buck bundle. The thought that someone might not just roll over and cough up the $2,500 settlement so infuriated the USCG that they are suing Syfert for the $5,000 in lost time they’ve had to spend actually litigating the suits. The nerve of that Syfert guy!
If only there were a word for someone who sails on up to you, demands $2,500, and opens fire on anyone who dares to help you defend yourself. Oh yeah, there is: Pirate.
