Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. John Doe subscriber assigned IP address 73.170.211.52
- Jeffrey White
- 4:21-cv-09091
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 3
In Strike 3 Holdings v. John Doe, Judge White authorized subpoenas to identify the subscriber linked to an internet address.
Strike 3 Holdings, LLC; the John Doe subscriber assigned IP address 73.170.211.52; Comcast IP Services, L.L.C.; and any other internet service provider identified in response to an authorized subpoena.
What happened
Strike 3 Holdings, LLC asked the court for permission to subpoena Comcast IP Services before the parties held the required early case conference. The subpoena sought the name and address of the person assigned internet address 73.170.211.52.
The court found good cause and allowed Strike 3 to serve the subpoena. It 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 White ordered the providers to preserve the requested information and limited its use to protecting rights under the Copyright Act. Documents identifying the defendant must be filed under seal.
The detailed version
- Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. John Doe subscriber assigned IP address 73.170.211.52 · No. 4:21-cv-09091
- Jeffrey White
- Jan. 3, 2022
Background
Strike 3 Holdings, LLC moved for permission to serve a third-party subpoena before the Rule 26(f) conference. The requested initial subpoena would be directed to Comcast IP Services, L.L.C., identified as the initial internet service provider, and would seek only the true name and address of the defendant to whom Comcast assigned IP address 73.170.211.52.
Court’s Order
The court found that Strike 3 had established good cause to serve the subpoena. It authorized Strike 3 to serve Comcast with a subpoena under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45 and to attach a copy of the order. The court also authorized the same type of subpoena to any service provider identified in response as providing internet service to the defendant.
The court determined that the authorized subpoenas qualified as court orders allowing disclosure under 47 U.S.C. § 551. Each provider must serve the affected subscriber with a copy of the subpoena and this order within 30 days after being served. Each subscriber and provider then has 30 days after service to file a motion challenging the subpoena, including a motion to cancel or modify it. If no challenge is filed within that period, the provider has 10 days to produce the responsive information. Providers must preserve the subpoenaed information while awaiting production or resolution of a timely challenge.
Confidentiality and Disposition
Information disclosed in response to a subpoena may be used only to protect Strike 3’s rights under the Copyright Act. Documents containing the name or other identifying information of a current or proposed defendant must be filed under seal, following the court’s local filing procedure. Public redacted filings should remove only the defendant’s name and other identifying information, while the case caption should continue to use the assigned IP address. Judge Jeffrey White therefore authorized the requested pre-conference discovery subject to these notice, challenge, preservation, use, and sealing requirements. The order does not decide the underlying copyright dispute.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.