Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. John Doe subscriber assigned IP address 73.222.95.224
- Jeffrey White
- 4:23-cv-06052
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 3
In Strike 3 Holdings v. John Doe, Judge White authorized subpoenas seeking the subscriber’s identity and continued the case-management conference.
Strike 3 Holdings may seek the defendant’s name and address from Comcast and other identified internet-service providers. The defendant and any affected subscriber may challenge a subpoena within 30 days after service, and the providers must give notice, preserve the information, and follow the order’s limits.
What happened
In Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. John Doe Subscriber Assigned IP Address 73.222.95.224, Strike 3 Holdings asked to subpoena internet-service providers before the parties’ required planning conference. The company sought the name and address of the person assigned the listed internet address.
The court found good cause and granted the request. It authorized subpoenas to Comcast and any later-identified internet provider for the defendant’s true name and address, subject to notice and an opportunity to challenge the subpoenas.
Judge Jeffrey S. White also required the providers to preserve the information, limited its use to protecting Strike 3’s rights under the Copyright Act, ordered identifying documents filed under seal, and continued the case-management conference to April 26, 2024.
The detailed version
- Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. John Doe subscriber assigned IP address 73.222.95.224 · No. 4:23-cv-06052
- Jeffrey White
- Dec. 20, 2023
Background
Strike 3 Holdings, LLC moved without advance notice to the other side for permission to serve a subpoena before the parties’ required Rule 26(f) conference. The subpoena sought information identifying the defendant associated with Internet Protocol address 73.222.95.224. The opinion identifies Comcast Cable as the initial Internet service provider.
Ruling
The court found that Strike 3 had shown good cause and granted permission to serve Comcast with a subpoena under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45. The subpoena may seek only the defendant’s true name and address and must include a copy of the order. Strike 3 may also serve the same type of subpoena on any service provider identified in response as having provided Internet service to the defendant.
The order treats the authorized subpoenas as court orders permitting disclosure under 47 U.S.C. § 551. Each provider must notify the affected subscriber within 30 days after being served by giving the subscriber a copy of the subpoena and this order. The subscriber and provider each have 30 days after service to file a motion challenging the subpoena, including a motion to cancel or change it. If no timely challenge is filed, the provider has 10 days to produce the responsive information.
Additional Requirements and Scheduling
Each provider must preserve the subpoenaed information until it gives the information to Strike 3 or a timely challenge is finally resolved. Strike 3 may use information obtained through a subpoena only to protect its rights under the Copyright Act. Documents containing a current or proposed defendant’s name or other identifying information must be filed under seal, following the court’s local filing procedure; public redacted filings should remove only that identifying information. The court continued the case-management conference from February 23, 2024, to April 26, 2024, at 11:00 a.m., and set April 19, 2024, as the deadline for the joint conference statement. Judge Jeffrey S. White signed the order.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.