https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20191123/22390343442/copyright-troll-threatens-criminal-charges-germany-against-domain-registrar.shtml

I've discussed in the past how problematic it is when people don't recognize the differences between edge providers and infrastructure providers when it comes to internet services. Usually it's policymakers (or the press) getting these things confused, but we've certainly seen our fair share of attempts by copyright maximalists to use this confusion to their advantage. However, this may be the first I recall of seeing a copyright trolling operation trying to effectively do the same.

Earlier this fall, Mark Jeftovic, from EasyDNS had a blog post about how a German copyright troll, called Fechner Law, had threatened criminal charges against the company if it didn't take down an allegedly infringing URL and pay a significant cash settlement. Jeftovic responded to Robert Fechner, the young lawyer behind Fechner Law, and pointed out that EasyDNS is merely the domain registrar, and doesn't host the site in question. Fechner, somewhat obnoxiously hit back by saying that German law required EasyDNS to at least turn over the information about the website owner or face criminal charges -- even adding on "additional damages due to your uncooperative and unlawful behaviour will be claimed."