Strike 3 Holdings v. Doe
Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. John Doe, subscriber assigned IP address: 173.56.10.249
- Gregory Woods
- 1:25-cv-08116
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Strike 3 Holdings v. John Doe, Judge Woods granted early discovery, allowing a subpoena to Verizon Fios for the subscriber’s name and address.
Strike 3 Holdings, LLC, John Doe, the subscriber associated with IP address 173.56.10.249, and Verizon Fios.
What happened
Strike 3 Holdings, LLC sued John Doe, identified in the caption as the subscriber assigned IP address 173.56.10.249. Before the parties’ required preliminary meeting, Strike 3 asked to serve Verizon Fios with a subpoena seeking the subscriber’s name and address.
The court found that Strike 3 had shown a reasonable basis and good cause for obtaining the information early, despite seeking the subpoena without advance notice to the other side. The court granted the motion and set deadlines allowing Verizon Fios and the identified subscriber to object or ask that the subpoena be canceled. The information may be used only to protect and enforce Strike 3’s rights in the complaint and may not be shared without further court permission.
Judge Gregory H. Woods emphasized that the order did not decide the merits of any possible future challenge to the subpoena or the subscriber’s anonymity. The order only authorized the early discovery and established procedures for serving and challenging the subpoena.
The detailed version
- Strike 3 Holdings v. Doe · No. 1:25-cv-08116
- Gregory Woods
- Nov. 19, 2025
Background
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(d) generally prevents a party from seeking discovery before the parties confer as required by Rule 26(f), unless the court authorizes earlier discovery. Strike 3 Holdings, LLC asked for permission to serve a third-party subpoena on Verizon Online, LLC, identified in the order as Verizon Fios, before that conference. The subpoena seeks the name and address of the subscriber associated with IP address 173.56.10.249.
The court applied a flexible reasonableness-and-good-cause standard and said that particularly careful review was required because Strike 3 sought expedited discovery without advance notice to the opposing party. The court noted that Strike 3 relied on a test concerning whether to preserve an objecting party’s anonymity when challenging a subpoena, but stated that anonymity and any future motion to cancel the subpoena were not before the court.
Ruling and procedures
The court found that Strike 3 met the reasonableness and good-cause standard, including the heightened scrutiny applicable to its request. It therefore granted Strike 3’s motion for leave to serve a third-party subpoena before the Rule 26(f) conference.
The court ordered that:
- Strike 3 may serve Verizon Fios with a subpoena under Rule 45 seeking the name and address of the subscriber identified by IP address 173.56.10.249. Strike 3’s lawyer must attach the order to the subpoena. - Within seven days after service, Verizon Fios must reasonably try to identify the subscriber and give that person a copy of the subpoena and the order. If Verizon Fios cannot identify the subscriber with a reasonable degree of technical certainty, it must notify Strike 3’s lawyer. - Verizon Fios may move to cancel or otherwise object to the subpoena within 21 days after service. The identified subscriber may do so within 14 days after receiving the subpoena from Verizon Fios. - If there is no motion to cancel or other objection, Verizon Fios must provide the requested information to Strike 3 within 21 days after notifying the subscriber. - Strike 3 may use the information only to protect and enforce its rights described in the complaint. The information may not be disclosed to anyone other than Strike 3 and its lawyer without further court permission.
What the order did not decide
The order did not rule on the merits of any future motion to cancel the subpoena or otherwise challenge it. It authorized early discovery and set procedures for notice, objections, and limited use of the information. Judge Gregory H. Woods also directed Strike 3 to serve a copy of the order on John Doe.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.