Kinderstart.Com, LLC v. Google, Inc.

Filing 29

Kinderstart.Com, LLC v. Google, Inc.

Doc. 29

Case 5:06-cv-02057-JF

Document 29

Filed 06/16/2006

Page 1 of 7

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

Gregory J. Yu (State Bar No. 133955) GLOBAL LAW GROUP 2015 Pioneer Court, Suite P-1 San Mateo, CA 94403 Telephone: [phone] Facsimile: [phone] E-mail: glgroup [at] inreach [dot] com Attorney for Plaintiffs and Proposed Class and Subclasses

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA SAN JOSE DIVISION Case No. C 06-2057 JF KINDERSTART.COM LLC, a California limited liability company, on behalf of itself and all others similarly situated, PLAINTIFF'S NOTICE OF MOTION, MOTION FOR SPECIFIED DISCOVERY Plaintiffs, ON DEFAMATION AND LIBEL, AND POINTS AND AUTHORITIES v. Judge: Hon. Jeremy Fogel GOOGLE, INC., a Delaware corporation, Date: August 4, 2006, or sooner as may be ordered by the Court Defendant. Time: 9:00 a.m. Courtoom: 5th Floor, Room 3

NOTICE OF MOTION On the above captioned date and time, or on any earlier time as ordered, Plaintiff KinderStart.com LLC ("KSC") hereby moves the Court under Civil Local Rule ("L.R.") 7-2 to order specified discovery by KSC. The motion was calendared following consultation with Defendant Google's counsel. Declaration of Gregory J. Yu, attached hereto as Exhibit 1 ("Yu Dec."), ¶ 5. This motion is supported by the following argument and all accompanying and/or referenced documents, declarations, exhibits as submitted, the pleadings and other documents on file herein, and upon such other material as may be submitted to the Court at the hearing on the motion. Further, it is concurrently filed with (1) Plaintiff's L.R. 6-3 Motion to shorten time, and (2) Plaintiff's L.R. 7-7 Motion to continue defendant's pending anti-SLAPP motion.
PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR SPECIFIED DISCOVERY ON DEFAMATION AND LIBEL

Case No. C 06-2057 JF -1Dockets.Justia.com

Case 5:06-cv-02057-JF

Document 29

Filed 06/16/2006

Page 2 of 7

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

I. INTRODUCTION When a powerful company first crafts then abuses a ubiquitous, yet secretive, measuring stick, anti-SLAPP protection without discovery is patently unfair. This bodes poorly on a plaintiff as KSC, which seeks relief from defamation and libel by Google, as alleged in Count Eight of the First Amended Class Action Complaint ("FACAC"). More importantly, within the Ninth Circuit premature relief as this directly contradicts Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56. In this regard, plaintiff does not seek an undue advantage in early discovery prior to the Rule 26(f) case management conference. But if Google wants KSC under law to make its prima facie case now rather than later on PageRankTM defamation, it must carry the burden with the benefit of this requested relief. Should the Court be inclined to require Plaintiffs to demonstrate the likelihood of success on Count Eight, KSC's discovery on PageRank is now the only option. II. RELEVANT AND PROCEDURAL FACTS Defendant Google, the dominant worldwide search engine, has made PageRankTM the de facto standard of Website ranking. As the lead Plaintiff, KSC challenges indiscriminate and defamatory PageRank deflation at the behest of Google. A multitude of Websites, including www.kinderstart.com ("KS.com"), have been sacked with `0' PageRanks. KSC has already lodged its opposition to Defendant's pending anti-SLAPP motion on two independent determinative grounds ­ (1) PageRank is indeed commercial speech that falls under the exception of California Civil Code of Procedure (CCP) § 425.17, and (2) as a matter of law, PageRank entails no public issue or public interest matter. In the event that the Court does not reach either of these conclusions and is inclined to grant Defendant's motion, discovery must first be considered and, in Plaintiffs' view, allowed. To date, Plaintiffs have had absolutely nothing in discovery from Google on the merits of its defamation count. To Plaintiffs, a PageRank of `0' is an assertion of fact, and provably false, based on the PageRank patent, algorithm, and fundamental mathematics. However, comprehensive and essential evidence and bases to yield PageRank and a PageRank of `0' for any given Website lies within the exclusive control of Google. At a formal level, no discovery may precede the case management conference under Fed. R. Civ. Pro. 26(f). Informal attempts
PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR SPECIFIED DISCOVERY ON DEFAMATION AND LIBEL

Case No. C 06-2057 JF -2-

Case 5:06-cv-02057-JF

Document 29

Filed 06/16/2006

Page 3 of 7

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

to garner such information have been unavailing. Google has resisted due to restraints of time and assertion of trade secrets. Yu Dec., ¶¶ 2-4. III. ARGUMENT IN SUPPORT OF THIS MOTION A. Anti-SLAPP has Qualified Application in Federal Court Under California Code of Civil Procedure ("CCP") § 425.16(b)(1), an anti-SLAPP motion fails if "the plaintiff has established that there is a probability that the plaintiff will prevail on the claim." As to all parties to an action, "[a]ll discovery proceedings in the action shall be stayed upon the filing of a notice of motion made pursuant to this section." Id., § 425.16(g). "The court, on noticed motion and for good cause shown, may order that specified discovery be conducted notwithstanding this subdivision." Id. California courts apply this exception to the discovery stay if the requirements are met under the statute. See e.g., Tuchscher Development Enterprises, Inc. v. San Diego Unified Port District , 106 Cal. App. 4th 1219, 1247, 132 Cal. Rptr. 2d 57 (2003). In federal court, however, anti-SLAPP is under a different regime. Within the Ninth Circuit, discovery cannot be blocked by a trial court in a summary proceeding as an anti-SLAPP procedure. In Metabolife International, Inc. v. Wornick, 264 F. 3d 832, 846 (9th Cir. 2001), the court held: "Because the discovery-limiting aspects of § 425.16(f) and (g) collide with the discovery-allowing aspects of Rule [Fed. R. Civ. Pro.] 56, these aspects of subsections (f) and (g) cannot apply in federal court." (emphasis added) (quoting Rogers v. Home Shopping Network, Inc., 57 F. Supp. 2d 973, 982 (C.D. Cal. 1999)). Overall, the Ninth Circuit in Metabolife followed the Supreme Court's interpretation of Rule 56(f) that discovery is required "where the moving party has not had the opportunity to discover information that is essential to its opposition." Id., 264 F.3d at 846 (quoting Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 250 n. 5, 91 L. Ed. 2d 202, 106 S. Ct. 2505 (1986)). Here, Google essentially is using anti-SLAPP on the defamation count to gain summary judgment when no discovery is to be had by KSC on key elements, including PageRank determination and its supposed accuracy or alleged inaccuracy. An anti-SLAPP proceeding where plaintiff is expected to show probability of success on the merits properly requires
PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR SPECIFIED DISCOVERY ON DEFAMATION AND LIBEL

Case No. C 06-2057 JF -3-

Case 5:06-cv-02057-JF

Document 29

Filed 06/16/2006

Page 4 of 7

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

discovery by plaintiff. To meet the threshold of probability, plaintiff is to make its prima facie case with all evidence, affidavits and declarations offered in support be credited to plaintiff. Wilcox v. Superior Court, 27 Cal. App. 4th 809, 830, 33 Cal. Rptr. 446 (Cal. Ct. App. 1994). B. Discovery Should be Allowed When Google is the Total Master of PageRank. A CCP § 425.16 motion should not proceed in certain cases where all the facts lie within the purview and control of a defendant seeking to strike the cause of action. One Federal court in this Circuit held: if a defendant desires to make a special motion to strike based on the plaintiff's lack of evidence, the defendant may not do so until discovery has been developed sufficiently to permit summary judgment under Rule 56. Once the nonmoving party has been given the opportunity to conduct discovery, the special motion can be heard and attorney's fees will be available as provided in § 425.16(c). Rogers v. Home Shopping Network, Inc., 57 F. Supp. 2d 973, 982 (C.D. Cal. 1999) (citing United States ex rel. Newsham v. Lockheed Missiles & Space Co., 171 F.3d 1208, 1217-18 (9th Cir. 1999), republish. 190 F.3d 963 (1999), cert. denied., 530 U.S. 1203, 120 S. Ct. 2196, 147 L. Ed. 2d 232 (2000). Certainly, under Global Telemedia International, Inc. v. Does 1-35, 132 F. Supp. 2d 1261, 1271 (C.D. Cal. 2001), discovery is not meaningful where the evidence sought is irrelevant to the issue of fact or opinion of the speech in question. One key example for the need for plaintiff's discovery prior to adjudication of an anti-SLAPP motion is where essential knowledge held by the defendant or available witnesses to support plaintiff's case in chief are not yet obtained. Lafayette Morehouse, Inc. v. Chronicle Publishing Company, 37 Cal. App. 4th 855, 868, 44 Cal. Rptr. 2d 46 (1995). PageRank, originating from one of Google's founders, is the result of a computer algorithm known only to Google. The exact means and method of computing PageRank for KS.com and all the Websites of other Class members are formulated and performed exclusively by Google on its own computers with its staff of engineers. Declaration of Randall McCarley, attached hereto as Exhibit 2, ¶ 6. For these reasons, the test of whether PageRank is chosen by a human decision-maker on a case-by-case basis or generated by an algorithm within a computer is only ascertained by reasonable discovery of Google's technical processes and data for
PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR SPECIFIED DISCOVERY ON DEFAMATION AND LIBEL

Case No. C 06-2057 JF -4-

Case 5:06-cv-02057-JF

Document 29

Filed 06/16/2006

Page 5 of 7

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

calculating a PageRank for KSC and this Court to consider. Such discovery goes to the heart of the factual dispute behind the defamation claim that PageRank is not a mere opinion but a provably false statement of numerical value. Procedurally, if Google believes there is no merit to the defamation count, the court ought to allow discovery on the disputed factual issue prior to deciding on the likelihood of success. Further, it makes entirely equitable sense. When a defendant as Google would use an extraordinary weapon as anti-SLAPP to continue defaming a competitor with a `0' PageRank as in the case of KSC, it would be patently unfair to block the truth behind a calculation of `0' PageRank which lies in the hands of no other actor but Google. Moreover, striking the defamation count guarantees unbridled freedom to Google to continue PageRanking any site with a `0'. This amounts to defamation and libel if a `0' PageRank is mathematically impossible under available commentary on PageRank. Google's Website on "Google Information for Webmasters" states: "Sites may be blocked from our index because they do not meet the quality standards necessary to assign accurate PageRank." http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=40052 (emphasis added). Clearly Google is intent as ever to produce "accurate" PageRanks. Plaintiffs are committed to prevail on the defamation and libel count, but all facts, bases and processes to generate a PageRank lie completely under the dominion of Google. Therefore, Plaintiffs propose certain subject matter on Exhibit 4 attached hereto, which is a Specified Discovery Plan. Furthermore, an additional element to establish defamation affecting certain public figures or public issues is the presence of malice by defendant. In Sharper Image Corp. v. Consumers Union, 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23204 (N.D> Cal. Nov. 9, 2004), further discovery was requested by plaintiff to ascertain the presence of malice for its defamatory claim against by the consumer rating agency. This information about Google's intent, motivation, and internal and external communications behind PageRank devaluation is almost all within the control of Google. KSC has never received any notice or explanation as to the cause for the Blockage and `0' PageRank against KS.com. Declaration Of Victor B. Goodman in Support of Plaintiff's Motion For Preliminary Injunction Against Further Free Speech Violations, on file herein as Exhibit 2 thereto, Docket no. 16, and attached hereto as Exhibit 3, ¶ 5,. Accordingly, plaintiffs
PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR SPECIFIED DISCOVERY ON DEFAMATION AND LIBEL

Case No. C 06-2057 JF -5-

Case 5:06-cv-02057-JF

Document 29

Filed 06/16/2006

Page 6 of 7

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

submit the proposed Specified Discovery Plan. A serious problem persists because Google wants its universe of PageRank protected for contradictory reasons. On one hand, it desires that all of cyberspace trusts PageRank as objective and accurate. On the other hand, it wants PageRank completely safe from inquiry or verification, even when it drops a `0' PageRank on any Website Google so chooses. All the means to verify the accuracy of PageRank lie in the hands of Google. C. Plaintiffs Are Entitled to Specified Discovery on PageRank. Although CCP § 415.16(g) is not binding upon this Court based on the Erie doctrine and the Ninth Circuit's holding in Metabolife, the statute is instructive in one respect. The trial court may allow "specified discovery" on the relevant subject matter. At this time, KSC is not entitled to, nor is it seeking, a wide-ranging sweep of any and all information concerning Defendant and its business practices. In Metabolife, the defendant news media firm allegedly defamed an herbal supplement company about the medical dangers of the supplement that one could die from ingesting it. Also, the firm stated that "every expert" consulted by them stated that the product was not safe. There, the plaintiff was the manufacturer of its own product and could consult with any number of experts on the safety of the supplement. However, when the media asserted anti-SLAPP protection, the trial court denied plaintiff the opportunity to ask defendant for its list of all experts consulted. The Ninth Circuit reversed that ruling plaintiff could not test the veracity of the media firm's statement because this list was not furnished by defendant to plaintiff. Therefore, KSC is entitled to discovery as to all the variables, input and calculations used or made by Google to generate a PageRank of `0' for KS.com. This information rests within Google alone. KSC should look at this material, under a suitable protective order. IV. CONCLUSION. Before the Court considers Google's desire to strike the defamation and libel count, discovery of the methodology and motives behind PageRank becomes absolutely necessary for Plaintiffs. Defendant's § 425.16 motion preemptively and willfully tendered the issue of whether the PageRank algorithm and PageRank is a statement of fact that is provably false. Limited discovery here as set forth in the Specified Discovery Plan would afford Plaintiffs a
PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR SPECIFIED DISCOVERY ON DEFAMATION AND LIBEL

Case No. C 06-2057 JF -6-

Case 5:06-cv-02057-JF

Document 29

Filed 06/16/2006

Page 7 of 7

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

meaningful and equitable opportunity to carry its burden of proof of the likelihood that a `0' PageRank is both provably false and defamatory and, if necessary, that there was malice behind the provably false statements of PageRank. Without such discovery of facts, documents and witness within Google's control, a hearing and ruling on the extraordinary anti-SLAPP relief sought at this time would violate Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56. Based on the foregoing argument of Plaintiffs and the entire file herein, Plaintiff urges that this Motion to be granted, and that the Specified Discovery Plan attached as Exhibit 4 be approved by the parties and ordered by the Court. Plaintiffs further request that the Magistrate Judge assist in developing and securing suitable execution and enforcement of such plan on a timely basis. Dated: June 16, 2006 GLOBAL LAW GROUP By:_________/s/ Gregory J. Yu________________ Gregory J. Yu, Esq. Attorney for Plaintiff KinderStart.com LLC and for the proposed Class and Subclasses

PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR SPECIFIED DISCOVERY ON DEFAMATION AND LIBEL

Case No. C 06-2057 JF -7-