View  all  
    Porn-trolling firm Prenda Law recently made another baffling    move in a retaliatory     defamation suit against its online critics: the firm        sent a subpoena to Automattic, WordPress's parent company,    demanding a list of all of the IP addresses that have visited    the anti-troll websites DieTrollDie and Fight Copyright Trolls,    both of which are powered by WordPress. Prenda's lawyer Paul    Duffy wrote to Automattic in a letter accompanying the    subpoena, "Due to the emergency nature of the requested    information, it is imperative that your organization responds    to the subpoena immediately.  
    But Automattic's General Counsel, Paul Sieminski, responded on    Friday afternoon with a letter objecting to the    subpoena.Shortly thereafter, the Electronic Frontier    Foundation announced    that it would lend its litigators to help fight the subpoena.  
    Sieminski's e-mail to Duffy (reproduced by     Fight Copyright Trolls) noted, Your subpoena is legally    deficient and objectionable for numerous reasons, enumerated    below, and Automattic will not produce any documents in    response to this subpoena. Sieminski goes on to list five    procedural violations, from failing to attach a true and    correct copy of the Illinois subpoena, to demanding the    results of the subpoena be given over before the minimum of 20    days for compliancehave passed, to improperly [asking]    Automattic to create a document and to supply information,    rather than properly asking for documents from a nonparty.  
    The letter continues:  
      In addition to the numerous legal deficiencies that render      the subpoena invalid, it is also objectionable on numerous      fronts.    
    Yesterday, before Automattic announced its position, and before    the EFF stepped in to help,     commenters on DieTrollDie responded to the threat of having    their IP addresses exposed by Prenda. Several took a    confrontational stance, offering up their full names and    addresses in the comments or challenging Prenda to sue them for    defamation: To whom it may concern: I, John Whitaker, gladly    admit that I have frequently accessed both the DieTrollDie and    FightCopyrightTroll websites since January 1, 2011 and may even    have posted comments. Any communications intended for me can be    addressed as follows... the poster wrote, adding his address    below.  
    Others preferred to make the subpoena look more absurd by    simply adding their IP addresses to the list of those Prenda is    seeking: Commenter "sorrykb" wrote Is it too late to get my IP    address in here? Im feeling left out, and "Bill Price" wrote    Nothing to say. I just wanted to get my IP addy on record as a    commentor rather than just a lurker. An anonymous commenter    simply left Just wanted in on this too.  
    For now, the subpoena looks like it may be going nowhere. The    representatives of Prenda Law are due in court for a hearing on    Monday, March 11, but last night a     petition surfacedthat had been filed by three senior    attorneys of the firm, asking the judge for permission to skip    the hearing because of the late timing of the order that they    appear in court.  
    Ars will be in court on Monday, to see what happens.  
Continue reading here:
WordPress to fight “legally deficient and objectionable” Prenda subpoena