Omni Innovations LLC et al v. BMG Music Publishing NA Inc et al

Filing 17

MOTION to Stay This Litigation by Defendant BMG Columbia House Inc. (Attachments: # 1 Proposed Order # 2 Certificate of Service)Noting Date 5/25/2007.(Townsend, Roger)

Omni Innovations LLC et al v. BMG Music Publishing NA Inc et al

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Case 2:06-cv-01350-JCC

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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 v. BMG COLUMBIA HOUSE, INC., a New York corporation; and JOHN DOES, 1-X, Defendants.

The Honorable John C. Coughenour

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE OMNI INNOVATIONS, LLC, a Washington limited liability company; JAMES S. GORDON, JR., a married individual, Plaintiffs, NO. 06-cv-01350-JCC DEFENDANT BMG'S MOTION TO STAY THIS LITIGATION NOTE ON MOTION CALENDAR: May 25, 2007

Defendant BMG Columbia House, Inc. ("BMG") hereby moves to stay this lawsuit pending resolution of another lawsuit brought by Plaintiffs James S. Gordon, Jr. ("Gordon") and Omni Innovations, LLC ("Omni") alleging precisely the same claims before this Court. Gordon et al. v. Virtumundo et al., Case No. CV06-0204-JCC, W.D.Wash. (Coughenour, J.) ("Virtumundo"). Virtumundo is scheduled for trial on June 18, 2007. The complaints and causes of action alleged by Plaintiffs are virtually identical in each case. Thus, the resolution of Virtumundo may result in a dispositive issue preclusion/collateral estoppel effect on this case. Plaintiffs seek only statutory damages and are; therefore, not suffering actual harm from the emails in question. In contrast, without a stay of proceedings in this case, the Court's resources are likely to be wasted and the parties will incur unnecessary legal fees
DEF. BMG'S MOTION TO STAY - 1 [06-cv-01350-JCC]
NEWMAN & NEWMAN, ATTORNEYS AT LAW, LLP 505 Fifth Ave. S., Ste. 610 Seattle, Washington 98104 [phone]

Dockets.Justia.com

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and costs. Indeed, in three other cases involving Virtumundo and Omni, this Court has ordered stays pending resolution of Virtumundo. See Omni Innovations, LLC v. SmartBargains.com, LP, Case No. CV06-01129-JCC, W.D.Wash. (Coughenour, J.) ("SmartBargains") (Dkt. # 17), Omni Innovations, LLC et al. v. Ascentive, LLC et al., Case No. CV06-01284-TSZ, W.D.Wash. (Zilly, J.) ("Ascentive") (Dkt. # 75), and Omni Innovations, LLC v. Inviva Inc., Case No. 2:06-cv-01537-JCC (Coughenour, J.) ("Inviva") (Dkt. # 18). II. FACTS In this case, as in Virtumundo, the Plaintiffs allege violations of the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, 15 U.S.C. § 7701 et seq. ("CAN-SPAM") and the Washington Commercial Electronic Mail Act (RCW 19.190) ("CEMA"). In both cases, each Plaintiff claims to be a "provider of Internet access service" and an "interactive computer service" as defined in CAN-SPAM and CEMA, respectively.1 (See Virtumundo, First Amended Complaint (Dkt. # 15) ¶¶ 3.2, 3.3; see also Plaintiffs' Second Amended Complaint ("SAC") (Dkt. # 13) at ¶¶ 7-8.) Plaintiffs' claimed CAN-SPAM and CEMA damages depend on their alleged status as interactive computer services. (SAC at ¶¶ 18, 20.) Also, in both cases Plaintiffs seek damages based upon the following theories: 13. Each of the E-mails misrepresents or obscures information in identifying the point of origin or the transmission path thereof, and thereby violate the Washington CEMA (19.190 et seq.), and further each of these E-mails contains header information that is materially false or materially misleading and thereby violate Federal CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 ( ). The foregoing violations include without limitation: "subject" lines; "from" lines; and other header information that does not match, or is missing or false, in the "from" and "by" tokens in the Received header field. 14. On information and belief, Plaintiffs allege that some of the E-mails used false, or misleading information in registering the domains from which the subject E-mails were sent, and that numerous domains were used to send the E-mails for no other purpose but to avoid spam filters, evade detection, and
CAN-SPAM's definition of "Internet access service" is nearly identical to CEMA's definition of "interactive computer service." At 47 U.S.C. § 231(e)(4), CAN-SPAM defines an Internet access service as "a service that enables users to access content, information, electronic mail, or other services offered over the Internet ..." (emphasis added). CEMA's definition of "Internet service provider", at RCW 19.190.010(8), applies to a party "that provides or enables computer access by multiple users to a computer server, including specifically a service or system that provides access to the internet ..."(emphasis added)
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DEF. BMG'S MOTION TO STAY - 2 [06-cv-01350-JCC]

NEWMAN & NEWMAN, ATTORNEYS AT LAW, LLP

505 Fifth Ave. S., Ste. 610 Seattle, Washington 98104 [phone]

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otherwise obscure the true point of origin of the E-mails. (SAC at ¶¶ 13-14.) Plaintiffs brought essentially identical claims in Virtumundo. (See Virtumundo, First Amended Complaint (Dkt. # 15).) In that case, the defendants moved for summary judgment alleging, inter alia, (i) that Plaintiffs do not have standing because they are not, and never were, an interactive computer service (or provider of Internet access service) adversely affected by the subject emails; and (ii) that Plaintiffs' theories regarding an email "from" line cannot give rise to a violation under CAN-SPAM or CEMA. (See Virtumundo, Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. # 98).) Plaintiffs' novel theories asserted in Virtumundo are unsupported by case law, adopted FTC rule or regulation, or express statutory language. (See Virtumundo, Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. # 98) at 16-28.) In that case, Gordon and Omni allege violations of CAN-SPAM and CEMA from emails they allege defendants sent with an improper IP address and host name protocol, transfer token information and other email header information. (Id.) The basis of Plaintiffs' claims are technical in nature and involve the intricacies and inner workings of email transmission over the Internet. III. ARGUMENT A. Standard for Granting a Stay of Proceedings. In the interest of judicial economy, the Court may exercise its inherent power to stay proceedings until the resolution of a related matter that would resolve a dispositive matter. See Leyva v. Certified Grocers of California, 593 F.2d 857, 863-64 (9th Cir. 1979) ("A trial court may, with propriety, find it is efficient for its own docket and the fairest course for the parties to enter a stay of an action before it, pending resolution of independent proceedings which bear upon the case."); see also Silvaco Data Systems, Inc. v. Technology Modeling Associates, Inc., 896 F. Supp. 973, 975 (N.D. Cal. 1995) ("in the interest of wise judicial administration, a federal court may stay its proceedings where a parallel state action is pending") (internal citation omitted).
DEF. BMG'S MOTION TO STAY - 3 [06-cv-01350-JCC]
NEWMAN & NEWMAN, ATTORNEYS AT LAW, LLP 505 Fifth Ave. S., Ste. 610 Seattle, Washington 98104 [phone]

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"Collateral estoppel" or "offensive nonmutual issue preclusion" generally prevents a party from relitigating an issue that the party has litigated and lost. See Catholic Social Servs., Inc. v. I.N.S., 232 F.3d 1139, 1152 (9th Cir. 2000). The application of "offensive nonmutual issue preclusion" is appropriate if: 1. there was a full and fair opportunity to litigate the identical issue in the prior action, see Fund for Animals, Inc. v. Lujan, 962 F.2d 1391, 1399 (9th Cir. 1992); Resolution Trust Corp. v. Keating, 186 F.3d 1110, 1114 (9th Cir. 1999); Appling v. State Farm Mut. Auto Ins. Co., 340 F.3d 769, 775 (9th Cir. 2003); the issue was actually litigated in the prior action, see Appling, 340 F.3d at 775; the issue was decided in a final judgment, see Resolution Trust Corp., 186 F.3d at 1114; and the party against whom issue preclusion is asserted was a party or in privity with a party to the prior action, see id.

2. 3. 4.

See also Reyn's Pasta Bella, LLC v. Visa USA, Inc., 442 F.3d 741, 746 (9th Cir. 2006); Robi v. Five Platters, Inc., 838 F.2d 318, 322 (9th Cir. 1988). B. A Stay Is Appropriate in This Case Because This Court Is Adjudicating Plaintiffs' Identical Claims in Virtumundo.

If there is a judgment that Gordon and Omni do not have standing as an Internet access service in Virtumundo, then issue preclusion will be dispositive as to Plaintiffs' federal CAN-SPAM claims in the instant lawsuit. Alternatively, if the Court rejects Gordon's and Omni's legal theories in Virtumundo, then those findings will apply to Plaintiffs' theories in the instant matter. First, Plaintiffs are the same entities as the plaintiffs in Virtumundo and have had a full and fair opportunity to litigate the identical issue in the related action. Plaintiffs have had an opportunity to make a record in Virtumundo and, if applicable, may advance any facts or testimony at trial that supports their claim to be an Internet access service. Second, the matters of (i) whether Gordon or Omni have standing as an Internet access service that is adversely affected; and (ii) whether their novel theories give rise to a claim for statutory damages under CAN-SPAM or CEMA are before the Court in the
DEF. BMG'S MOTION TO STAY - 4 [06-cv-01350-JCC]
NEWMAN & NEWMAN, ATTORNEYS AT LAW, LLP 505 Fifth Ave. S., Ste. 610 Seattle, Washington 98104 [phone]

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Virtumundo case. Third, the matter is fully briefed and before the Court in Virtumundo on summary judgment. Trial is scheduled for June 18, 2007. BMG merely requests a stay pending resolution of that case and a final judgment. Finally, Plaintiffs are the identical plaintiffs as in Virtumundo and, accordingly, the fourth prong of issue preclusion has been satisfied. All four factors weigh heavily in favor of granting a stay in the above-captioned case. Virtumundo will have a dispositive effect on this case even if the decision applies only to Plaintiffs' CAN-SPAM claims. The Virtumundo Court may dismiss Plaintiffs' CAN-SPAM claims if it determines that Plaintiffs do not provide an Internet access service. It would be a waste of resources if Omni is allowed to re-litigate the same issue in this lawsuit. Furthermore, since Plaintiffs' CAN-SPAM and CEMA claims in this case arise from the same collection of emails (SAC at ¶ 20-22), it will be far more efficient for the parties and the Court to address the federal and state claims simultaneously, after the potentially dispositive resolution of Virtumundo. C. This Court Has Recently Granted a Stay in Three Similar Cases. This Court has already stayed two other cases involving the same issues and the same Plaintiffs, thereby promoting judicial economy and avoiding the potential waste of substantial attorney time and unnecessary pretrial motion practice. Defendants respectfully request the Court grant a stay in this lawsuit for the same reasons it granted them in the three previous cases. In SmartBargains, defendant SmartBargains.com, LP moved this Court to stay that lawsuit pending resolution of Virtumundo. (SmartBargains, Case No. CV06-01129-JCC, W.D.Wash., Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs' CAN-SPAM Claims or to Stay This Litigation (Coughenour, J.) (Dkt. # 13)). In their response, Gordon and Omni did not oppose staying that litigation. (See Id., Opposition to Defendant's Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs' CAN-SPAM Claims (Dkt. # 14)). Subsequently, this Court ordered a stay in that case pending resolution of Virtumundo. (Id., Order (Coughenour, J.) (Dkt. # 17.))
DEF. BMG'S MOTION TO STAY - 5 [06-cv-01350-JCC]
NEWMAN & NEWMAN, ATTORNEYS AT LAW, LLP 505 Fifth Ave. S., Ste. 610 Seattle, Washington 98104 [phone]

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Similarly, the Ascentive defendants moved to stay that case pending resolution of Virtumundo. (Ascentive, Case No. CV06-01284-TSZ, W.D.Wash., Motion to Dismiss and to Stay This Litigation (Zilly, J.) (Dkt. # 65)). Omni's only argument in response was that Ascentive should not be stayed pending resolution in Virtumundo because the issue of whether Omni has standing under CAN-SPAM as an Internet access service allegedly could not affect Omni's state law CEMA claims. (See Id., Opposition to Defendants' Motion to Dismiss and to Stay This Litigation (Dkt. # 69).) As the defendants' reply noted, Omni's sole argument was unavailing for at least three reasons: First, the Omni decision will have a dispositive effect on this case even if that decision applies only to Plaintiffs' CAN-SPAM claims... Second, CAN-SPAM's definition of "Internet access service" is nearly identical to CEMA's definition of "interactive computer service."... In light of the clear similarities between the statutes, Plaintiffs' argument that the Omni court's ruling on CAN-SPAM "cannot possibly impact Omni's state law CEMA claims" (Response at 4:17-18) lacks credibility. Third, Plaintiffs' ability to define themselves as Internet access service providers is only one of the relevant issues to be determined in the [Virtumundo] case... (See Id., Defendants' Reply Re Motion to Dismiss and Stay (Dkt. # 70).) Subsequently, the Ascentive Court ordered a stay in that case pending resolution of Virtumundo. (Id., Minute Order (Zilly, J.) (Dkt. # 75.)) Most recently, this Court entered a stay in Inviva pending resolution of Virtumundo. See Inviva, Dkt. # 18. Like SmartBargains and Acentive, the motion for a stay was based upon the commonality of facts and issues in the lawsuit. After a full briefing, the Court granted Inviva's motion. In fact, Defendants are aware of no instance in which a defendant was denied a stay against Plaintiffs in their anti-spam lawsuits pending resolution of Virtumundo. The overwhelming tide of factual and legal authority supports granting a stay in this lawsuit. In the event the Court declines to grant a stay in this case, then the parties will have no alternative but to engage in pretrial litigation practice. In discovery, BMG seeks many of the same documents and issued many of the same requests for admission as
DEF. BMG'S MOTION TO STAY - 6 [06-cv-01350-JCC]
NEWMAN & NEWMAN, ATTORNEYS AT LAW, LLP 505 Fifth Ave. S., Ste. 610 Seattle, Washington 98104 [phone]

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propounded by the defendants' counsel in the Virtumundo lawsuit. Plaintiffs will likely provide the same answers and the same documents. In turn, the parties will take depositions and develop much of the same record as in the related action. These efforts will take many months and consume substantial resources. However, all of that time and money could be for naught if the Virtumundo Court were to rule either that (i) Gordon or Omni are not Internet access services adversely affected by emails or (ii) Gordon's and Omni's novel theories lack merit. Such rulings would eliminate Plaintiffs' CAN-SPAM and CEMA claims in the instant lawsuit pursuant to the doctrine of offensive nonmutual issue preclusion. This case is in its nascent stages and the parties have just begun to devote resources to conduct discovery and pretrial motion practice. Balancing the lack of actual damages to Plaintiffs against the unnecessary expenditure of resources, this Court should grant a stay until such time as it makes a final adjudication of whether Plaintiffs have standing and whether their email "from" line theories will prevail. IV. CONCLUSION The Court should stay this litigation pending resolution of collateral issues in Virtumundo. This Court will resolve many of the same issues in that case as in this case ­ including the threshold issue of whether Gordon and Omni have standing ­ and it would be a gross waste of judicial resources and the resources of the parties to litigate this case when the Court is already deciding the same issues in another matter. DATED this 8th day of May, 2007. NEWMAN & NEWMAN, ATTORNEYS AT LAW, LLP BY:

Roger M. Townsend, No. 25525 [e-mail]
NEWMAN & NEWMAN, ATTORNEYS AT LAW, LLP 505 Fifth Ave. S., Ste. 610 Seattle, Washington 98104 [phone]

DEF. BMG'S MOTION TO STAY - 7 [06-cv-01350-JCC]