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.

Identity of Anonymous Wikipedia Editors Not Protected by First Amendment

In Faconnable USA Corporation v. John Does 1-10, 2011 WL 2015515 (D. Colo. May 24, 2011), the United States District Court for the District of Colorado rejected a ISP's motion to quash a subpoena issued to discover the identity of anonymous editors of Wikipedia.  Plaintiff alleges that the anonymous editors violated the Lanham Act and comitted trade libel and commercial disparaging by falsely posting that plaintiff is a support of Hezbollah, a Shiite Islamist militia and political party which has been designated as a terrorist organization.

Identity of Anonymous Online Speakers Shielded by First Amendment

On May 9, 2011, the United States District for the District of Utah granted Defendants' Motion to Quash Subpoenas, Issue Protective Order, and Dismiss Complaint in a case that stemmed from Defendants' anonymous online speech.  Koch Industries, Inc. v. Does, 2011 WL 1775765 (D.Utah).  Koch Industries is a large corporation that is involved in a wide variety of industries, including the energy business.  Koch maintains a website describing its business and its policy on various political issues, such as editorials rejecting the science of climate change.  Defendants were individuals who later identified themselves as anonymous members of Youth for Climate Truth.  The case arose after Defendants created a fake press release purporting to announce a decision by Koch to cease funding organizations that deny climate change.  The press release included a link to a website created by Defendants, www.koch-inc.com, designed to look like Koch's actual website.

After Defendants Produce Over 1.46 Million Pages of ESI, Plaintiff Asks For More

A federal district court judge characterized Plaintiff's motion to compel as a "fishing expedition" and held that the over 1.46 million pages of electronically stored information (ESI) produced by the Defendants was sufficient production pursuant to the parties' Agreement for Electronic Discovery.  Thermal Design, Inc. v. Guardian Building Products, Inc., No. 08-C-828, 2011 WL 1527025 (E.D. Wisc. Apr. 20, 2011).  Holding that the Defendants had met their burden to show that the additional discovery sought was "not reasonably accessible," the Court denied Plaintiff's motion to compel further discovery of ESI.

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.

Court Holds "No Legitimate Reasonable Expectation of Privacy" in "Private" Facebook or MySpace Postings

In Romano v. Steelcase Inc., 907 N.Y.S.2d 650 (2010), a New York trial court judge has ordered the defendant to grant the plaintiff access to defendant's social networking accounts, including deleted materials.  Plaintiff brought a personal injury action against the defendant claiming damages related to her loss of enjoyment of life following her injuries.  Defendant moved the court for an order granting it access to Plaintiff's current and historical Facebook and MySpace pages and related information upon the grounds that Plaintiff placed certain information on the social networking sites which were inconsistent with her claims concerning the nature and extent of her injuries, especially her claims for loss of enjoyment of life.

Plaintiff Granted Expedited Discovery to Subpoena Social Networking Sites for Identity of Defendants

In 1524948 Albert Ltd. v. Doe, 2010 WL 3743907 (D. Utah Sept. 23, 2010), the United States District Court considered Plaintiff's Ex Parte Motion for Expedited Discovery in an action involving allegations of trademark infringement, trade libel, defamation, and intentional interference with contractual relationships.