Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. John Doe subscriber assigned IP address 73.234.43.14

Summary

The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts grants Strike 3 Holdings, LLC leave to serve Comcast Cable with a Rule 45 subpoena seeking the name and address associated with an allegedly infringing IP address. The order imposes notice, objection, and privacy protections for the John Doe subscriber before Comcast may disclose the information.

Holdings

1. A plaintiff may obtain early third-party discovery under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(d) upon a showing of good cause.
2. Strike 3 satisfied the applicable five-factor test because it made a concrete prima facie showing of copyright infringement, narrowly specified the requested information, lacked an alternative means to identify Doe, demonstrated the information's central need to advance the case, and sufficiently addressed the subscriber's privacy interest.
3. The subpoena could issue only with restrictions limiting the disclosure to the subscriber's name and address and providing notice and an opportunity to move to quash or contest the subpoena.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Strike 3 established good cause for expedited discovery before the Rule 26(f) conference.
2. Whether Strike 3 satisfied the five-factor test for serving a third-party subpoena on Comcast Cable to obtain only the name and address associated with the alleged infringing IP address.
3. What restrictions were necessary to protect the Doe subscriber's privacy and opportunity to challenge the subpoena.

Disposition

other