Shaw v. Doe

Filing 3

ORDER granting 2 Motion for Discovery. Ordered by Judge Hugh Lawson on 6/16/2010. (nbp)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF GEORGIA M ACON DIVISION Y ONNA W. SHAW, P l a i n t i f f, v. JOHN DOE, D e fe n d a n t. ___________________________________ : : : : : : : : :

Civil Action No. 5:10-CV-216 (HL)

OR D E R Before the Court is Plaintiff's Motion for Leave to Conduct Discovery (Doc. 2). P laintiff has requested that the Court enter an order allowing her to conduct dis c overy in advance of the Rule 26(f) conference. On June 3, 2010, Plaintiff, Yonna W . Shaw, filed a com p l a i n t against John Doe, asserting causes of action of libel per se and violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1030, et seq. Plaintiff seeks preliminary and permanent injunc tions ; special, general, punitive, and exemplary damages; and attorney's fees and expenses. Plaintiff also filed the motion currently before the Court to conduct limited thirdparty discovery in advance of the Rule 26(f) conference. Plaintiff contends that John Doe published one or more defamatory statements about her on the website "Craigs lis t.org". (Compl., ¶ 2). Plaintiff alleges that in a posting on Craigslist, John Doe falsely associated her with an advertisement for adult services and

disseminated her cellular telephone number to persons interested in receiving the adult services in Virginia Beach, Virginia. (Compl., ¶ 6). She states that she received num erous telephone calls from persons seeking adult or phone sex services. (Com pl., ¶ 8). In her motion, Plaintiff states that John Doe has taken measures to hide or c onc eal his identity, but that it is possible to trace and positively identify the person res pons ible for the actions described in her complaint. Plaintiff seeks permission to s erve a subpoena for the production of documents pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil P roc edure 45 on Craigslist, Inc., which is the operator of the website on which John Doe posted the comments about Plaintiff, in order to obtain the IP address used by J ohn Doe when the posting was made. Plaintiff also seeks permission to serve a Rule 45 subpoena on the internet service provider that owns the IP address to determ ine to which of its customers the address was assigned when the post was m ade. She has attached to the motion the subpoena she would serve on Craigslist, Inc . Plaintiff's Motion for Leave to Conduct Discovery (Doc. 2) is granted. Plaintiff m ay serve the third-party subpoena on Craigslist, Inc., and once she has the IP addres s in hand, she m a y serve a third-party subpoena on the internet service provider that owns the IP address. No other discovery may be conducted without further order of the Court. Plaintiff shall file an amended complaint within 60 days of this Order which names the John Doe defendant identified through the discovery 2

process. If Plaintiff cannot file an amended complaint within 60 days for some reas on, Plaintiff is directed to file a m o t i o n for an extension of time containing a detailed explanation of why the time limit cannot be met.

SO ORDERED, this the 16th day of June, 2010.

s/ Hugh Lawson HUGH LAWSON, SENIOR JUDGE m bh

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