Lawyer Pleads Guilty To Porn Copyright Scam

A lawyer in Minnesota has pleaded guilty to federal money laundering and fraud charges for his part in a variation on a patent troll scheme. The attorney, along with a second man who is pleading not guilty, is said to have extorted millions in settlements from computer users over a period of several years. After downloading material that the attorneys had made available on their site, the porn aficionados would be accused of copyright infringement and offered a settlement of a few thousand dollars. Many were willing to accept it, presumably in order to avoid embarrassment as well as threatened legal action. The lawyers are said to have netted about $6 million over period of four years. The attorneys came up with the idea while they were in law school.