A South Florida grandmother is being sued for illegally downloading porn. But she says they got the wrong person. So why is she being sued? So why is she being sued? 7’s Heather Walker investigates.
Eighty-seven-year-old Harriet Lieb enjoys the simple things in life, like sharing meals with family, playing bridge with friends and spending time with her grand-dog. In other words, she’s your typical grandmother.
Harriet Lieb: “I’m a totally old lady.”
Which is why when she got a letter saying she was being sued:
Harriet Lieb: “That was a shock to me.”
It’s the first time Harriet says she has ever been sued.
Her shock turned to disbelief when she found out why.
Harriet Lieb: “It was like, ‘Can you believe that?'”
Strike 3 Holdings LLC is suing Harriet for illegally downloading its pornography.
Harriet Lieb: “If you read what it says here, it says I downloaded and uploaded — I don’t even know what that all means.”
The lawsuit doesn’t name Harriet — instead it lists her IP address along with a list of 26 porn sites the company owns and dates of the alleged downloads.
Harriet Lieb: “It certainly wasn’t me because I’ve never been on a pornographic site.”
She lives alone and says no one else has access to her computer. So why did she receive the lawsuit?
Leslie Lott: “Sometimes IP addresses are issued to more than one person. There is some software that can spoof IP addresses, sometimes the person who is behind the IP address is not the actual person who downloaded.”
Leslie Lott is an attorney in South Florida, where thousands of these lawsuit have been filed. None of the lawsuits name a person — they are filed against “John Doe.”
On the day Harriet was sued, the company filed dozens of lawsuits across the country.
Leslie Lott: “At least one court has called this extortion because they don’t really know that you are the individual involved — they are just sending a really, really wide net.”
A federal judge in DC called it a “high-tech shakedown,” calling Strike 3 Holdings a “copyright troll.” The judge threw out the lawsuit, saying Strike 3 was using his court, “not as a citadel of justice, but as an ATM.”
Harriet says she won’t let the company bully her.
Harriet Lieb: “It made me really mad that this company is getting away with this kind of thing.”
It’s unclear how much money the porn company has made off of these lawsuits. According to court records, the vast majority closed within a few months, which lawyers say indicates they were never meant to go to trial.
Harriet Lieb: “People my age – it’s very scary and you don’t want to go to court, so you just want to pay them off to get rid of them.”
7Investigates reached out to Strike 3 Holdings through their lawyer. Initially, they agreed to an interview and then backed out. We have not heard from them since.
Leslie Lott: “Be sure anything you use, you have permission to use.”
Harriet is steadfast they got the wrong lady in this case. And she says she will fight for the truth before she pays a penny.
Harriet Lieb: “For them to accuse me of something that I haven’t done, I will not pay. They preyed on the wrong person.”
This grandma isn’t backing down.
Heather Walker, 7News.
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