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As much as I hate patent trolls I wouldn't hold your breath on this. RICO charges were hard to pin/stick on the mafia, who openly committed organized crime, bec
by ianstallings 13y ago
As much as I hate patent trolls I wouldn't hold your breath on this. RICO charges were hard to pin/stick on the mafia, who openly committed organized crime, because the general nature of the justice department is to not simply indict a whole group of people for being around a criminal.
- comrade_ogilvy 13y agoA mafia organization is a certain kind of acquaintances that formed a "social group" and did not necessarily work for a single employer (or small set of employers), thus the paper trail did not exist. The FBI had to do a lot of careful investigation to document "business" relationships that were ongoing. A law firm pursuing patent claims has to leave a paper trail. The more convoluted, the more likely jurors will be inclined to see fraud.
- ianstallings 13y agoA valid point but I think the ability to determine criminality becomes harder because the business wraps itself in current legalities, being run by lawyers themselves.
- comrade_ogilvy 13y agoAgreed. One has to prove that individual arguable mistakes are a purposeful pattern of fraud. As the system exists, if I were to make, say, an incorrect bill or make some other factually incorrect assertion that you owe me money, it is assumed to not be a crime or even a civil offense. You would have to prove it. The advantage of RICO is that it makes the pattern of behavior and therefore all my legal records a matter of possible interest to the judge. There is still a lot of work for you to do, and I can try to hide behind client-attorney privilege.