Strike 3 Holdings v. John Doe subscriber assigned IP address 108.249.130.93
- Kandis Westmore
- 4:20-cv-07470
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 3
In Strike 3 Holdings v. John Doe, Judge Westmore allowed early subpoenas to identify the subscriber behind an internet address.
Strike 3 Holdings, LLC may seek the defendant’s name and address from AT&T U-verse and any later-identified internet service providers. The defendant and affected subscribers may challenge the subpoenas, while the providers must give notice, preserve information, and follow the order’s production and confidentiality requirements.
What happened
Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. John Doe Subscriber Assigned IP Address 108.249.130.93 concerns Strike 3’s request to identify the person assigned that internet address. The request targeted AT&T U-verse before the parties’ usual early case-management meeting.
The court found good cause and allowed Strike 3 to issue subpoenas seeking only the defendant’s true name and address. The order also allowed subpoenas to later-identified internet providers, required notice to affected subscribers, and gave subscribers and providers 30 days to challenge a subpoena.
Judge Kandi A. Westmore also required providers to preserve the information, limited its use to protecting rights under copyright law, and required filings containing identifying information to be sealed.
The detailed version
- Strike 3 Holdings v. John Doe subscriber assigned IP address 108.249.130.93 · No. 4:20-cv-07470
- Kandis Westmore
- Nov. 12, 2020
Background
Strike 3 Holdings, LLC asked for permission to serve a third-party subpoena before the parties’ required Rule 26(f) conference. A third-party subpoena is a demand for information from someone who is not a party to the lawsuit. The proposed subpoena sought information from AT&T U-verse, identified as the initial internet service provider, about the subscriber assigned IP address 108.249.130.93.
Ruling
The court found that Strike 3 had shown good cause to serve the subpoena. It authorized Strike 3 to serve AT&T U-verse with a subpoena under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45 seeking only the defendant’s true name and address. Strike 3 must attach the order to the subpoena.
The court also authorized Strike 3 to serve the same type of subpoena on any later-identified service provider that provided internet services to the defendant. The order treated the authorized subpoenas as court orders permitting disclosure under 47 U.S.C. § 551, provided that the subscriber is notified.
Notice and Challenges
Each provider has 30 days after being served to notify each affected subscriber by providing the subscriber with the subpoena and this order. Each subscriber and provider then has 30 days after service to file a motion challenging the subpoena, including a motion to cancel or change it. If no subscriber challenges the subpoena during that period, the provider has 10 days to produce the responsive information.
Restrictions and Confidentiality
Each provider must preserve the subpoenaed information while awaiting production or resolution of a timely challenge. Strike 3 may use information disclosed under the subpoenas only to protect its rights under the Copyright Act. Documents containing the name or other identifying information of any current or proposed defendant must be filed under seal, following the court’s local sealing procedures. Public redacted filings should remove only the defendant’s name and other identifying information.
The order concerns early discovery and does not decide whether the defendant infringed copyright or resolve the underlying lawsuit. Judge Kandi A. Westmore signed the order.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.