E-Commerce Law

5,000 BitTorrent Users May Not Proceed Anonymously Nor Quash Subpoenas Seeking Their Identities

Over 5,000 John Doe Defendants unsuccessfully sought to quash subpoenas issued to Internet Service Providers ("ISPs") by Plaintiff West Coast Productions to learn the identity of the Defendants known in the Complaint only by their internet protocol ("IP") addresses.  West Coast Productions, Inc. v. Does 1-5829, Civ. Action No. 11-57 (CKK), 2011 WL 2292239 (D.D.C. June 10, 2011).  The District Court for the District of Columbia held that the Defendants failed to show that their privacy interests outweighed the Plaintiff's need to obtain their identifying information to pursue its copyright claims.

Federal Court Authorizes Adult Video Producer to Subpoena ISPs to Identify 17 Alleged Infringers

A Montreal-based producer and distributor of adult entertainment content petitioned a District Court for leave to issue early discovery in order to obtain identifying information on 17 "Doe defendants" whom it alleges violated copyright laws by reproducing and distributing a portion of its adult video through peer-to-peer file sharing.  VPR Internationale v. Does 1-17, No. C 11-01494 LB, 2011 WL 1465836 (N.D. Cal. Apr. 15, 2011).  The District Court for the Northern District of California held that Plaintiff, VPR, had established "good cause" to conduct preliminary discovery on the ISPs that assigned an IP address to the Doe defendants.