Malibu Media, LLC v. John Doe subscriber assigned IP address 69.181.126.175

Filing 19

ORDER GRANTING SEALING MOTION AND EXTENDING DEADLINE TO EFFECTUATE SERVICE OF PROCESS, Motions terminated: 18 First Administrative Motion to File Under Seal filed by Malibu Media, LLC, 17 First MOTION for Extension of Time to File CORRECTION OF DOCKET #16 filed by Malibu Media, LLC.. Signed by Judge Alsup on 1/19/16. (whalc1, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 1/19/2016)

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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MALIBU MEDIA, LLC,

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For the Northern District of California

United States District Court

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No. C 15-04280 WHA

Plaintiff,
v.
JOHN DOE SUBSCRIBER ASSIGNED IP
ADDRESS 69.181.126.175,
Defendant.

ORDER GRANTING SEALING
MOTION AND EXTENDING
DEADLINE TO EFFECTUATE
SERVICE OF PROCESS

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Plaintiff commenced this action on September 18, 2015. Pursuant to Rule 4(m), the

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deadline to effectuate service of process was January 18, 2016. On October 18, 2015, an order

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granted plaintiff’s request to serve a third-party subpoena on defendant’s Internet provider,

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Comcast, in order to obtain defendant’s identifying information. Plaintiff received defendant’s

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identifying information from Comcast on December 14. On January 19, plaintiff moved to file

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under seal its amended complaint, proposed summons, and return of service, and also sought to

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extend the deadline within which to effectuate service by forty-five days.

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Defendant had thirty-five days to serve defendant from the date it received Comcast’s

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response and offers an inadequate explanation for its failure to do so within that time period.

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Specifically, plaintiff avers, without any details, that it “conducted a thorough investigation of

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the information provided” by Comcast. Further, plaintiff notes that it had to move to file under

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seal its amended complaint, proposed summons, and return of service before it can serve

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defendant, which motion it filed thirty-six days after receiving defendant’s identifying

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information, after the deadline to effectuate service had passed. Finally, plaintiff notes it had to

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wait to receive a mailed copy of the unredacted summons before it could effectuate service.

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In the Court’s judgment, four weeks following the receipt of defendant’s identifying

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information should be plenty enough time to effectuate service unless defendant is dodging

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service. Nevertheless, this order hereby GRANTS plaintiff’s sealing motion and extends the

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deadline to effectuate service to JANUARY 29, 2016. Going forward, plaintiff must serve the

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defendants in its other cases within the 120 days provided in Rule 4(m) (90 days for cases filed

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after the 2015 amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure took effect) or four weeks

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from receiving the identifying information from the defendant’s Internet provider.

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For the Northern District of California

United States District Court

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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Dated: January 19, 2016.

WILLIAM ALSUP
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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