Back at the end of last year, we wrote about how some had noticed that DigiProtect, one of a group of companies that purposely puts files online to see who downloads them, and then threatens them with “pay up or we’ll sue” letters, was potentially in trouble in Germany for not following the law. German law says that you can’t base “legal costs” on a contingency like winning. Yet, DigiProtect’s agreement is that it only gets paid if it can collect on the pre-settlement letters. That goes against the law. And, now, a court has agreed, and found that DigiProtect can’t ask for legal fees in Germany unless it can actually prove what those real fees are. The court did offer DigiProtect an out: open your books and show what the real costs are, and how they are paid. DigiProtect refused to do so. This basically cuts out pretty much all of the massive profits DigiProtect and others brag about.
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