Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. JOHN DOE subscriber assigned IP address 68.204.242.57

Filing 10

ORDER granting #9 Motion for leave to serve a third-party subpoena. Signed by Magistrate Judge Philip R. Lammens on 7/29/2022. (SA)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
OCALA DIVISION
STRIKE 3 HOLDINGS, LLC,
Plaintiff,
v.

Case No: 5:22-cv-308-GAP-PRL

JOHN DOE SUBSCRIBER ASSIGNED
IP ADDRESS 68.204.242.57,
Defendant.
ORDER
Plaintiff, Strike 3 Holdings, LLC, is the alleged owner of copyrights for one or more
adult videos upon which Defendant allegedly infringed. Strike 3 Holdings now seeks leave to
serve a third-party subpoena on Defendant's internet service provider, Charter
Communications Inc./Spectrum, prior to conducting the Rule 26(f) conference, in order to
ascertain the actual identity of the defendant from the IP address. (Doc. 9).
A court has broad discretion in managing discovery. Klay v. All Defendants, 425 F.3d
977, 982 (11th Cir. 2005). A court may permit a party to conduct discovery before a Rule 26(f)
conference. Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(d)(1). Courts usually require a showing of good cause for early
discovery. See TracFone Wireless, Inc. v. Holden Prop. Servs., LLC, 299 F.R.D. 692, 694 (S.D.
Fla. 2014); Digital Sin, Inc. v. Does 1-176, 279 F.R.D. 239, 241 (S.D.N.Y. 2012); Dorrah v. United
States, 282 F.R.D. 442, 445 (N.D. Iowa 2012).
Here, Plaintiff has established good cause for early discovery: it has sufficiently alleged
infringement; it does not have another way to discover the alleged infringer’s identity to

proceed with the litigation; and ISPs rarely maintain the information for long. The Court
therefore GRANTS Plaintiff’s motion (Doc. 9) as follows:
(1) Plaintiff may serve on Charter Communications Inc./Spectrum a Federal Rule of
Civil Procedure 45 subpoena commanding the name, address, email address, and telephone
number of the subscriber of the identified IP address. The subpoena must attach the complaint
and this order.
(2) Plaintiff may use the subscriber’s information only to protect and enforce its rights
set forth in the complaint.
(3) If Charter Communications Inc./Spectrum is a “cable operator” under 47 U.S.C.
§ 522(5), it must comply with 47 U.S.C. § 551(c)(2), which permits a cable operator to disclose
personal identifying information if the disclosure is “made pursuant to a court order
authorizing such disclosure, if the subscriber is notified of such order by the person to whom
the order is directed,” by sending a copy of this order to the defendant.
DONE and ORDERED in Ocala, Florida on July 29, 2022.

Copies furnished to:
Counsel of Record
Unrepresented Parties

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