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Kiwifarms is probably done for. Null is unable to get legal representation because his lawyers dropped him after five years of business for "ties to russia" and his mailing address has been terminated for unspecified reasons. Tor is inaccessible because of DDOS attacks. The site has had a security breach and user data has possibly been leaked. This is probably the most complete deplatforming anyone who hasn't actually committed a crime yet has ever experienced.
I believe that KF has significant value in the culture war for the red team and it seems strange to me that not a single person with any financial power has stepped in to help. For most people, KF is seen as a evil nazi website and at best a shitty gossip forum, but it did contain a lot of useful information and opposition research on highly prominent people that will be memoryholed forever if the site goes down (Even internet archives are being purged). Keeping it alive on the clearnet would require a substantial investment, but it wouldn't be impossible to do.
Where is the red/grey team version of George Soros? Peter Thiel?
Are there any options for a completely legal (in the United States) site like KF to stay online? What will themotte do if they ever make an enemy that understands how easy it is to wipe them off the net?
Just to be clear, this is referring to him saying:
So it seems like his company, Lolcow LLC, doesn't have an agent anymore? I'm not sure if this means he's completely devoid of legal representation. IIRC he hired a different attorney to fight several different frivolous lawsuits filed by Greer and Scott (can't confirm the name), so I'm not sure if his own attorney has terminated him.
Either way, this is extremely worrying and quite frankly, disgusting behavior. The right to have legal representation is quite literally a fundamental right, and it reflects poorly on those who attempt to take it away from others. These people are short-sighted and don't fully comprehend the consequences of enshrining the tactic of "go after people's lawyers" as a legitimate tactic that should be used. The only silver lining is that sooner or later, the harassment mob will probably run up against breaking an actual law in such a legible way as to fully suffer the consequences in court (I'm not a lawyer, but tortious interference probably fits the bill here).
Well, the way I see it, there is probably nothing that can be done unless fundamental internet services are regulated as common carriers. The only defense is that we're small, not notable, and talk in complete sentences. However we've already ended up on a "hate list" by association with TracingWoodgrains, and we've already been ousted off Reddit, so time will tell.
This isn't legal representation, it's a registered agent. Basically, if you want to register an LLC in a state, you need to use a physical street address. For most businesses, this isn't an issue, as you either use your office address or the address of the mailbox store you're using (like the UPS store, though there are other copy shop type places that do this as well). An issue arises, though when you want to register your LLC in a state where you don't live and won't be receiving mail regularly. Registered agents provide this service for a low price. You will still receive some mail at this address, but it's not a regular business address, and the mail is forwarded to the address of your choosing. The main reason why a physical address is required is that if the LLC is the defendant in a lawsuit, the plaintiff can always opt to sue in the state in which the LLC is registered, even if that's the only connection to the state. So there has to be someone there whom you authorize to receive service on the LLC's behalf. So all this really means is that the LLC associated with Kiwifarms will either have to find another Wyoming address or reincorporate in another state, though I honestly don't know how much of an issue this is since the various departments of state don't seem to check up on this too regularly for small businesses.
As for a right of representation, I'm a lawyer, and there are various reasons why a lawyer would end representation, though this is unlikely to be one of them. First, if you want to withdraw from representation while there's ongoing litigation you need permission from the judge. If a client doesn't pay no judge is going to make the lawyer continue representing them for free. If the client's just a pain in the ass and not worth your time, then it depends on the judge, the stage of litigation, the consequences, etc. In a criminal case it's rarely allowed except under unusual circumstances. If there's no litigation pending then you can drop a client at any time, provided you return any unearned retainer. I've "dropped" plenty of "clients" who I had represented in the past but didn't want new business from because I was too busy, or didn't feel I was qualified to handle their matter, or the client was a bitch, or they were asking me to violate ethical canons, or any number of other reasons. I've never dropped a client because I didn't like the political stance of their issue, but I don't deal in issues that generally elicit strong political stances. And even if he is dropped, he'll find another lawyer. We represent all kinds of scumbags for all kinds of reasons, including plenty of people who have done a lot worse than he has. Even if his lawyers had dropped him for bullshit reasons, he'll find another lawyer. It might not be a very good lawyer, or he might have to pay more than he expected, but someone will represent him. Lawyers generally can't be cancelled like other businesses because a lot of us are solo or in small firms, and the big firms don't really give a fuck, so if one lawyer takes issue with something there will be 20 more ready to replace him. If it's really an issue, I'll represent him myself provided he has a 100k retainer and the understanding that I'm totally unqualified for whatever it is he needs. But it would still be better than representing himself.
Contra your point about large legal firms, wasn't there a whole thing about Kirkland & Ellis LLP splitting with Paul Clement and Erin Murphy over not wanting to handle 2A related cases?
It happens, but it's not common.
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