Strike 3 Holdings v. John Doe subscriber assigned IP address 76.126.146.183
- 3:23-cv-05484
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 3
In Strike 3 Holdings v. John Doe, the court allowed a subpoena to identify the defendant through the internet provider.
Strike 3 Holdings, LLC may seek the defendant’s identifying information from Comcast or another identified internet service provider. The John Doe subscriber and any provider served with the subpoena may challenge it within the stated deadlines and must receive the required notice.
What happened
In Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. John Doe Subscriber Assigned IP Address 76.126.146.183, Strike 3 asked to serve a subpoena on Comcast before the parties’ required early case conference. The defendant was identified only by an internet protocol address.
The court found good cause and allowed Strike 3 to subpoena Comcast for the defendant’s true name and address. The order also allowed subpoenas to other internet providers identified in response. The providers must notify the subscriber, and the subscriber or provider may challenge the subpoena within 30 days.
The court limited use of the information to protecting and enforcing Strike 3’s rights in the complaint, required preservation of the information, and ordered provisional sealing of the defendant’s identifying information. The judge’s name is unclear in the opinion’s signature.
The detailed version
- Strike 3 Holdings v. John Doe subscriber assigned IP address 76.126.146.183 · No. 3:23-cv-05484
- Nov. 30, 2023
Background
Strike 3 Holdings, LLC filed an ex parte application—an application made without the opposing party’s participation at that stage—for permission to serve a third-party subpoena before the parties’ Rule 26(f) conference. The defendant was identified in the caption by the internet protocol address 76.126.146.183. Strike 3 sought information from Comcast Cable, the internet service provider identified in the order.
Ruling
The court found that Strike 3 had shown good cause to serve a subpoena before the Rule 26(f) conference. It allowed Strike 3 to serve Comcast with a subpoena under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45 requiring Comcast to provide the defendant’s true name and address. Strike 3 must attach a copy of the order to the subpoena.
The court also allowed Strike 3 to serve the same type of subpoena on any other internet service provider identified in response as providing internet services to the defendant. If the provider qualifies as a cable operator under 47 U.S.C. § 522(5), it must comply with the notification requirement in 47 U.S.C. § 551(c)(2)(B) by sending the defendant a copy of the order.
The information obtained may be used only to protect and enforce Strike 3’s rights described in its complaint. The provider must serve the subscriber with copies of the subpoena and order within 30 days after the subpoena is served. The subscriber and provider each have 30 days after service on them to file a motion challenging, quashing, or modifying the subpoena. If no timely challenge is filed, the provider has 10 additional days to produce the responsive information. The provider must preserve the subpoenaed information until production or final resolution of a timely challenge.
Effect of the Order
The defendant’s name and other identifying information must be provisionally filed under seal. After the defendant is served, the court may require the defendant to ask for permission to continue proceeding anonymously. The opinion’s signature identifies the judicial officer only unclearly, so the judge’s full name cannot be determined from the provided text.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.