Malibu Media LLC v. John Doe, Subscriber Assigned IP Address 98.243.105.60

Filing 5

ORDER granting 3 Plaintiff's motion for leave to serve third party subpoena. Signed by District Judge Terrence G. Berg. (Chubb, A)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN
MALIBU MEDIA, LLC,
Plaintiff,
Case No. 13-11454
Hon. Terrence G. Berg

v.
JOHN DOE subscriber assigned IP address,
98.243.105.60,
Defendant.
/

ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR LEAVE TO SERVE
THIRD PARTY SUBPOENA PRIOR TO RULE 26(f) CONFERENCE
This matter is before the Court on plaintiff Malibu Media’s motion for leave to serve a
subpoena on internet service provider Comcast Cable (“ISP”), seeking the name and contact
information of the John Doe defendant identified in the complaint. The Court finds Plaintiff has
established that good cause exists for its request to serve a subpoena prior to a Rule 26(f)
conference.
Accordingly, the Plaintiff’s motion for leave to serve a subpoena on the ISP (Dkt. 3) is
GRANTED to the following extent:

1.

Plaintiff may serve the ISP with a Rule 45 subpoena commanding the ISP to

provide Plaintiff with only the true name and address of the John Doe defendant to whom the
ISP assigned IP address 98.243.105.60. Plaintiff shall attach to any such subpoena a copy of
this Order.

2.

Plaintiff may also serve a Rule 45 subpoena in the same manner as above on

any service provider that is identified in response to a subpoena as a provider of Internet
services to the Defendant.

3.

Within seven days of service of the subpoena, the ISP shall reasonably attempt

to identify John Doe and provide him or her with a copy of the subpoena and this Order. If the

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ISP is unable to determine, to a reasonable degree of technical certainty, the identity of the user
of the particular IP address, it shall so notify the Court and Plaintiff's counsel.

4.

The subpoenaed ISP shall not require Plaintiff to pay a fee in advance of

providing the subpoenaed information, nor shall the subpoenaed ISP require Plaintiff to pay a
fee for an IP address that is not controlled by the ISP. If necessary, the Court will resolve any
disputes between the ISP and Plaintiff regarding the reasonableness of the amount proposed to
be charged by the ISP after the subpoenaed information is provided to Plaintiff.

5.

Plaintiff may only use the information disclosed in response to a Rule 45

subpoena served on the ISP for the purpose of protecting and enforcing Plaintiff’s rights as set
forth in its Complaint.

DONE AND ORDERED this 4th day of April, 2013.

s/Terrence G. Berg
Terrence G. Berg
United States District Judge

Certificate of Service
I hereby certify that this Order was electronically filed, and the parties and/or counsel of
record were served.

Dated: April 4, 2013

By:

s/A. Chubb
Case Manager

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