Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. John Doe subscriber assigned IP address 73.189.80.20

Summary

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of California grants Strike 3 Holdings, LLC’s ex parte application for expedited discovery to identify the subscriber associated with IP address 73.189.80.20 in a copyright infringement action. The order limits the subpoena to the subscriber’s name and address and imposes privacy protections, including notice to the identified person, restrictions on service and disclosure, and an opportunity to move to quash.

Holdings

1. Plaintiff established good cause for limited expedited discovery because it presented a prima facie copyright claim, specifically identified the requested information, lacked an alternative means to identify the defendant, and needed the information to proceed with the action.
2. Expedited discovery could proceed only with safeguards addressing the potential defendant's reasonable expectation of privacy and the risk that the ISP subscriber may not be the actual infringer.

Questions Presented

1. Whether plaintiff established good cause for expedited discovery before the Rule 26(f) conference.
2. Whether the court should permit a subpoena to the ISP to identify the person or entity associated with the subject IP address.
3. What safeguards were necessary to protect the potential defendant's privacy and opportunity to challenge the subpoena.

Disposition

other