Judge Otis D. Wright, II, a United States District Court judge in the Central District of California has awarded damages to several victims of fraud and in-essence-lawsuit abuse, after he says they were tricked into settling copyright claims brought against them for downloading or sharing copyrighted porn.

The judge’s order bizarrely includes Star Trek references such as saying the plaintiffs “boldly probe the outskirts of the law.” He also said federal authorities, which would further investigate the case for possible racketeering charges, were “eleven decks up,” were familiar with the scheme and would “refit [the plaintiffs] for their next voyage.”

Wright even opened his order by quoting Spock in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan by saying “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.”

The gist of the case is that Prenda Law, a firm in Chicago, controlled the copyright of a bunch of porn videos. They would research how the videos were being downloaded and shared and they would aggressively pursue individuals who were downloading or sharing them. The firms would then offer a “settlement” of $4000 to end the lawsuit, an amount considered just below the cost of a good defense against the charges. Victims often chose to settle instead of risking the embarrassment of a trial about their porn habits.

The judge ordered the firm to pay $81,319.72 in damages, an amount which in his footnotes the judge said “is calculated to be just below the cost of an effective appeal.”

No word on why Judge Wright chose to reference Star Trek. Maybe he just thought a copyright case involving porn needed a little excitement.

Read the full decision below.