Porn Companies Use Florida Law To Harass Alleged Downloaders

The porn industry is using an obscure Florida law to bully alleged file downloaders into coughing up cash.

A report from the New Times details the tactics being employed by porn industry lawyer Keith Lipscomb. Lipscomb uses a Florida law called a bill of discovery to force Internet providers to give up the names associated with Internet accounts allegedly pirating porn.

Then the law firm calls up the alleged offenders, in one case even making repeated calls to a woman’s office, demanding payment for pirated porn.

A Miami defense attorney describes the practice as “the definition of blackmail.”

The downloading allegations may be false as well. Many downloads of pirated pornography are done over unprotected wireless accounts, open to anyone within range on a computer or other device.