Craigslist, Inc. v. Papp

Filing 15

Order by Magistrate Judge Donna M. Ryu regarding 14 Plaintiff's Proposed Discovery Plan.(dmrlc1, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 2/5/2013)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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CRAIGSLIST INC,

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For the Northern District of California

United States District Court

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Plaintiff,

No. C 12-05276 DMR
ORDER REGARDING PLAINTIFF’S
PROPOSED DISCOVERY PLAN

v.

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MICHAEL JAMES PAPP,

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Defendant.
___________________________________/

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On December 14, 2012, the Clerk of the Court entered default as to Defendant Michael

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James Papp. [Docket No. 9.] On December 19, 2012, Plaintiff craigslist Inc. (“craigslist”) filed an

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administrative motion for leave to conduct damages discovery as to Defendant Papp. [Docket No.

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10.] On January 3, 2013, the court issued an order finding that Plaintiff had shown good cause to

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serve third party discovery regarding damages.1 The court ordered Plaintiff to submit a proposed

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discovery plan for the court’s review and approval, which Plaintiff submitted on January 16, 2013.

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[Docket Nos. 11, 14.]

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In its proposed discovery plan, Plaintiff requests permission to serve subpoenas for
documents and information on Defendant’s six known payment processors, and submitted the

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Upon entry of default, the factual allegations within the complaint are accepted as true, except
those relating to the amount of damages; it is the burden of the plaintiff to prove up its damages.
TeleVideo Sys., Inc. v. Heidenthal, 826 F.2d 915, 917-18 (9th Cir. 1987); see also Bd. of Tr. of the
Boilermaker Vacation Trust v. Skelly, Inc., No. 04–02841 CW, 2005 WL 433462, at *2 (N.D. Cal. Feb.
24, 2005) (noting that “[p]laintiff has the burden of proving damages through testimony or written
affidavit”).

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subpoenas it seeks permission to serve. (See Decl. of Hennessy in Supp. of Pl.’s Proposed Disc.

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Plan, Jan. 16, 2013, Exs. B, C.) Plaintiff asserts that discovery from the payment processors “should

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also reveal the bank accounts that the defendant used to facilitate his illicit transactions, as well as

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provide additional evidence of the revenue generated.” (Pl.’s Proposed Disc. Plan 1.) Therefore,

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Plaintiff also requests permission to serve subpoenas on those banks once the payment processor

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information reveals the defendant’s banks. Plaintiff did not submit the bank subpoenas it seeks

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permission to serve. Plaintiff requests that it be allowed six months to conduct its discovery on both

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the payment processors and the banks. (Pl.’s Proposed Disc. Plan 2.)

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The court has reviewed the proposed subpoenas Plaintiff seeks to serve on the payment
processors and finds that the subpoenas are overbroad and seek information that Plaintiff has not

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For the Northern District of California

United States District Court

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shown is relevant to its claims against Defendant. First, Plaintiff seeks documents regarding

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“Responsive Accounts,” which it defines as “accounts associated with the following persons,

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entities, email addresses, products, and/or identifying information,” followed by a list of two

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individuals and various email addresses, websites and telephone numbers. (Decl. of Hennessy Exs.

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B, C.) However, one of the individuals listed, Shelly Papp, is not a named defendant, and Plaintiff

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has made no showing that documents and information regarding Shelly Papp are relevant to this

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action. In addition, the second category of documents Plaintiff requests seeks “documents sufficient

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to show identifying and address information for each purchaser/customer/subscriber (including

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name, mailing address, and email address)” for each “Responsive account.” (Decl. of Hennessy

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Exs. B, C.) However, in its complaint, Plaintiff only asserts claims against Defendant Papp, as the

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developer and distributor of the “Ad-Nuke for Craigslist” software on the website “www.ad-

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nuke.com.” (See Compl. ¶¶ 10, 41.) Plaintiff has not asserted any claims against the users and/or

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purchasers of Defendant’s product (see Compl. ¶¶ 68; 75-77; 83-85; 90), and has made no showing

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of the relevance of the identifying and contact information for users and/or purchasers.

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Therefore, Plaintiff is granted leave to serve its proposed subpoenas on the payment

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processors, amended as follows: Plaintiff’s proposed subpoenas may not request documents or

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information related to accounts associated with Shelly Papp, and may not request documents

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responsive to proposed category 2, “documents sufficient to show identifying and address

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information for each purchaser/customer/subscriber” for each responsive account. Plaintiff is not

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granted leave to serve subpoenas on Defendant’s banks at this time. Instead, Plaintiff is ordered to

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submit a status report regarding the discovery on Defendant’s payment processors by no later than

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May 6, 2013, along with a proposed discovery plan regarding Defendant’s banks and the form of

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any subpoenas Plaintiff proposes to serve thereon.

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Dated: February 5, 2013

ERED

ORD
T IS SO

I

. Ryu

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A

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For the Northern District of California

United States Magistrate Judge

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United States District Court

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onna M
Judge
DONNA M. RYUD
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R NIA

IT IS SO ORDERED.

FO

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UNIT
ED

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RT
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