Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. John Doe subscriber assigned IP address 99.106.168.11
- Thomas Hixson
- 3:22-cv-07314
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 2
In Strike 3 Holdings v. John Doe, Judge Hixson granted a request to subpoena AT&T U-verse for the subscriber’s name and address before discovery began.
Strike 3 Holdings, LLC, the unidentified subscriber, AT&T U-verse, and any other internet service provider identified through the subpoena process.
What happened
In Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. John Doe Subscriber Assigned IP Address 99.106.168.11, Strike 3 Holdings asked to learn the unidentified defendant’s identity from AT&T U-verse before the parties held their required initial discovery meeting.
The court found good cause and allowed Strike 3 Holdings to serve a subpoena requiring AT&T U-verse to provide the defendant’s true name and address. The order also allowed subpoenas to other internet providers identified through the process, required notice to the subscriber, and gave the subscriber and provider 30 days to challenge a subpoena.
Judge Thomas S. Hixson granted the motion. The order limited use of the information to protecting and enforcing the rights described in the complaint, required the provider to preserve the information, and directed that identifying information be filed under seal.
The detailed version
- Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. John Doe subscriber assigned IP address 99.106.168.11 · No. 3:22-cv-07314
- Thomas Hixson
- Dec. 2, 2022
Background
Strike 3 Holdings, LLC sued a defendant identified in the caption as John Doe Subscriber Assigned IP Address 99.106.168.11. Strike 3 Holdings filed an ex parte application, meaning a request made without first requiring the opposing party to participate, for permission to serve a subpoena before the parties’ Rule 26(f) conference. That conference is the required early meeting about discovery in a civil case.
Ruling
The court found that Strike 3 Holdings had established good cause to serve AT&T U-verse, identified as the internet service provider, with a subpoena under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45. The subpoena may require the provider to give Strike 3 Holdings the defendant’s true name and address associated with the IP address identified in Exhibit A to the complaint. A copy of the order must accompany the subpoena.
The court also authorized Strike 3 Holdings to serve the same type of subpoena on another internet service provider identified in response to a subpoena as providing internet service to one of the defendants.
If AT&T U-verse qualifies as a cable operator under 47 U.S.C. § 522(5), the order requires it to follow 47 U.S.C. § 551(c)(2)(B). That provision permits disclosure of personal identifying information under a court order when the subscriber is notified. The provider must serve the subscriber with a copy of the subpoena and this order within 30 days after the subpoena is served on the provider, using any reasonable method, including first-class mail or overnight service to the subscriber’s last known address.
The subscriber and the provider each have 30 days after service to file a motion challenging the subpoena, including a motion to quash or modify it. If no timely challenge is filed, the provider has 10 days to produce the responsive information. The provider must preserve the subpoenaed information until it delivers the information to Strike 3 Holdings or a timely motion to quash is finally resolved.
Effect of the Order
The court granted the ex parte motion for early third-party discovery. The order did not decide the underlying claims against the unidentified subscriber. It limited Strike 3 Holdings’ use of information obtained through the subpoena to protecting and enforcing the rights described in the complaint and required the names and other identifying information of current or proposed defendants to be filed under seal.
Judge Thomas S. Hixson issued the order on December 2, 2022.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.