Burwick Law wants Pump Fun sanctions over harassment claims

Crypto-focused legal firm Burwick Law has asked a judge to stop memecoin platform Pump Fun harassing the company and hosting tokens based on its likeness, and wants it kept under the watchful eye of a compliance officer.  

Burwick claims that the sanctions are a necessary response to Pump Fun’s alleged “memetic marketing campaign” that intended to “amplify harassment and intimidation” against the firm. 

It claims that as part of the campaign, both Pump Fun, and “affiliates” of the platform, have used its token system to intimidate and “impose pressure outside the courtroom.” 

This includes X account @onchainrapist, which boasts a Pump Fun badge, using multiple “sexual-violence-based” posts to harass the firm’s head Max Burwick.  

Read more: ‘Hawk Tuah’ star pulled into expanding memecoin lawsuit

Burwick Law also claims that, based on whistleblower reports, Pump Fun’s CEO Alon Cohen personally handles its marketing and affiliate operations. As such, it says this intimidation is happening under the systems Cohen “oversees.” 

It additionally complained about various individuals visiting what they believed to be the firm’s offices and Max Burwick’s home neighbourhood in an effort “designed to communicate surveillance and access.”

Requested Pump Fun sanctions

Burwick Law wants Pump Fun hit with court sanctions that include: 

• The removal and permanent disabling of any tokens associated with plaintiffs, their legal counsel, and families 
• Orders forbidding Pump Fun staff and affiliates from allowing tokens incorporating protected persons
• Stopping it from harassing and threatening persons linked to the litigation, and posting any “threatening, harassing, or intimidating content referencing plaintiffs, plaintiffs’ counsel, counsel’s family members, or plaintiffs’ law firms on any social media platform.”
• Assigning a compliance officer to make sure Pump Fun and its affiliates comply

It’s unclear if the contentious memecoin DOGSHIT2 will be removed if the order is approved. The token appears to have been created by Burwick Law as part of submitted evidence for the lawsuit.

However, the firm claims it had “no affiliation, endorsement, or ownership interest in the DOGSHIT2 token or any related assets. Simply put, our firms have not launched any memecoins onchain.”

Pump Fun hasn’t taken the token down yet despite cease and desist letters from Burwick Law.

It also wants to forbid Pump Fun from making any defence under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. This law allows service providers to distance themselves legally from the actions of users on their platform. 

The proposed order was filed in a southern district New York court on Friday and is yet to be approved by Judge Colleen McMahon.

If approved, Pump Fun would have to pay for Burwick Law’s legal fees as a result of “Defendants’ litigation misconduct.”

Read more: Crypto influencer Scooter explores defamation claim against Burwick Law

Earlier this month, Burwick Law and its fellow legal counsel Wolf Popper LLC filed an amended complaint almost a year after it launched its first class action lawsuit against Pump Fun. 

This second complaint named the online crypto personality “Scooter” as one of the 25 “John Doe” defendants threatening “livelihood-destroying campaigns,” and accused them of wanting to profit from “future scam launches.” 

In response, Scooter claimed that they will now be considering legal action for potential defamation. 

Protos has reached out to Burwick Law for comment and will update this piece should we hear back.

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