Prenda Law rebuffed by WordPress

I wish to express my admiration and gratitude towards WordPress, who host this site, and EFF, who unconditionally defend justice.

On Friday I reported Prenda Law’s subpoena on WordPress (actually Automattic, Inc, the owner of WordPress) in Infosecurity Magazine (Copyright trolls will not go quietly). In a nutshell, Prenda Law has demanded the IP addresses of everyone who has visited the WordPress-hosted DieTrollDie and FightCopyrightTrolls websites – two organizations that offer help and support to victims of copyright trolling; especially via Prenda Law.

That same afternoon, WordPress general counsel responded to Prenda Law’s Paul Duffy. No, he said. “Your subpoena is legally deficient and objectionable for numerous reasons, enumerated below, and Automattic will not produce any documents in response to this subpoena.” Of course, if the subpoena is upheld, Automattic will simply have to disclose the information.

But in the meantime WordPress has given Prenda Law (reproduced by Fight Copyright Trolls) five legal reasons for its non-compliance, and a further four reasons by which it finds the subpoena objectionable. And just to add further complications for Prenda, the Great Defender of 21st Century Justice, EFF, has joined in:

EFF takes issue against Prenda Law

It is to be hoped that the courts currently adjudicating on Prenda Law do not merely throw the book but the entire legal library – first at Prenda Law, and then at all other copyright trolls.