Prenda used to be a law firm that represented copyright owners suing the pirates who illegally download movies and TV shows and other, shorter films. I say “used to,” because in about 2013, they were sanctioned (i.e. fined) by a judge for repeatedly engaging in egregious behavior. After being fined, the lawyers running Prenda started hiding their assest so they could plead poverty and avoid paying the fines. The judge found out, and held the lawyers in contempt. How delightful.
Though if you really want the full Prenda experience, Ken White of Popehat has chronicled every delicious moment of Prenda’s demise, including a wonderful blow by blow commentary of a hysterical appellate hearing. I do suggest watching it.
The story gets even better today, because TorrentFreak has evidence that the FBI is investigating Prenda’s attorneys for copyright infringement. Prenda was apparently the pirate providing illegal copies of the videos in the first place, and then running to copyright holders to say “hey look all these people are downloading your movie; we can sue them for you!”
The crucial evidence to back up this allegation came from The Pirate Bay, who shared upload logs with TorrentFreak that tied a user account and uploads to Prenda and its boss John Steele.
This serious allegation together with other violations piqued the interest of the FBI. For a long time there have been suspicions that the authorities are investigating the Prenda operation and today we can confirm that this is indeed the case.
The confirmation comes from Pirate Bay co-founders Peter Sunde and Fredrik Neij, who independently informed TF that they were questioned about Prenda during their stays in prison.
Oh, honeys.