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8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 LUMEN 21, INC., a Nevada ) Case No. 8:25-cv-00510-DOC-JDE ) 11 corporation, ) Plaintiff, ) STIPULATED PROTECTIVE 12 v. ) ) ORDER 13 LUMEN TECHNOLOGIES, INC., a ) ) Louisiana corporation, and 14 )

CENTURYLINK )

15 COMMUNICATIONS, LLC, a ) ) 16 Delaware limited liability company, ) Defendants. ) 17

18 Based on the Parties’ Stipulation (Dkt. 39) and for good cause shown, the 19 Court finds and orders as follows. 20 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 21 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 22 proprietary or private information for which special protection from public 23 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than pursuing this litigation may be 24 warranted. his Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or 25 responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and 26 use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential 27 treatment under the applicable legal principles. 28 1 2. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 2 This action is likely to involve trade secrets and other valuable research, 3 development, commercial, financial, and/or proprietary information for which 4 special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than 5 prosecution of this action is warranted. Such confidential and proprietary materials 6 and information consist of, among other things, confidential business or financial 7 information, information regarding confidential business practices, or other 8 confidential research, development, or commercial information (including 9 information implicating privacy rights of third parties), information otherwise 10 generally unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged or otherwise 11 protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case decisions, 12 or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the 13 prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to 14 adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to 15 ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in 16 preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of 17 the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information 18 is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be 19 designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated 20 without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public 21 22 manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of 23 this case. 24 3. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF UNDER SEAL FILING PROCEDURE 25 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 14.3, below, that this 26 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information 27 under seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed 28 and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court 1 to file material under seal. There is a strong presumption that the public has a right 2 of access to judicial proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non- 3 dispositive motions, good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See 4 Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006), 5 Phillips v. Gen. Motors Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar- 6 Welbon v. Sony Electrics, Inc., 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even 7 stipulated protective orders require good cause showing), and a specific showing of 8 good cause or compelling reasons with proper evidentiary support and legal 9 justification, must be made with respect to Protected Material that a party seeks to 10 file under seal. The parties’ mere designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material 11 as CONFIDENTIAL or HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES 12 ONLY does not— without the submission of competent evidence by declaration, 13 establishing that the material sought to be filed under seal qualifies as confidential, 14 privileged, or otherwise protectable—constitute good cause. 15 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, 16 then compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and 17 the relief sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be 18 protected. See Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n., 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th Cir. 19 2010). For each item or type of information, document, or thing sought to be filed 20 or introduced under seal, the party seeking protection must articulate compelling 21 22 reasons, supported by specific facts and legal justification, for the requested sealing 23 order. Again, competent evidence supporting the application to file documents 24 under seal must be provided by declaration. 25 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable 26 in its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be 27 redacted. If documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, 28 omitting only the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the 1 document, shall be filed. Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in 2 their entirety should include an explanation of why redaction is not feasible. 3 4. DEFINITIONS 4 4.1 Action: Lumen21, Inc. v. Lumen Technologies, Inc. et al., No. 8:25- 5 cv-00510-DOC-JDE. 6 4.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the 7 designation of information or items under this Order. 8 4.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 9 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for 10 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in 11 the Good Cause Statement. 12 4.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as 13 their support staff). 14 4.5 Designated House Counsel: House Counsel who may access 15 “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” information. 16 4.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 17 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 18 “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES 19

ONLY.”

20 4.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless 21 22 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 23 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced 24 or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery. 25 4.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 26 pertinent to the litigation who (1) has been retained by a Party or its counsel to 27 serve as an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action, (2) is not a past or 28 1 current employee of a Party, and (3) at the time of retention, is not anticipated to 2 become an employee of a Party. 3 4.8 “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” 4 Information or Items: extremely sensitive “Confidential Information or Items,” 5 disclosure of which to another Party or Non-Party would create a substantial risk of 6 serious harm that could not be avoided by less restrictive means. 7 4.9 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this 8 Action. House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other 9 outside counsel. 10 4.10 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or 11 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 12 4.11 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a 13 party to this Action but are retained to represent a party to this Action and have 14 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that 15 has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 16 4.12 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 17 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 18 support staffs). 19 4.13 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 20 Discovery Material in this Action. 21 22 4.14 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation 23 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 24 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 25 and their employees and subcontractors. 26 4.15 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 27 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – 28 1 ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” 2 4.16 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery 3 Material from a Producing Party. 4 5. SCOPE 5 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 6 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or 7 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or 8 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or 9 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 10 However, the protections conferred by this Order do not cover the following 11 information: (a) any information that is in the public domain at the time of 12 disclosure to a Receiving Party or becomes part of the public domain after its 13 disclosure to a Receiving Party as a result of publication not involving a violation 14 of this Order, including becoming part of the public record through trial or 15 otherwise; and (b) any information known to the Receiving Party prior to the 16 disclosure or obtained by the Receiving Party after the disclosure from a source 17 who obtained the information lawfully and under no obligation of confidentiality to 18 the Designating Party. 19 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the 20 trial judge and other applicable authorities. This Order does not govern the use of 21 22 Protected Material at trial. 23 6. DURATION 24 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as 25 CONFIDENTIAL or HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY 26 or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or introduced as an exhibit at 27 trial becomes public and will be presumptively available to all members of the 28 public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific factual 1 findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. 2 See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180-81 (distinguishing “good cause” showing for 3 sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” standard 4 when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of 5 this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial. 6 7. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 7 7.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for 8 Protection. Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or 9 items for protection under this Order must take care to limit any such designation 10 to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating 11 Party must designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items 12 or oral or written communications that qualify so that other portions of the 13 material, documents, items or communications for which protection is not 14 warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 15 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 16 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 17 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to 18 impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the 19 Designating Party to sanctions. 20 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 21 22 designated for protection do not qualify for protection at all or do not qualify for 23 the level of protection initially asserted, that Designating Party must promptly 24 notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 25 7.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 26 this Order, or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure of Discovery Material 27 that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before 28 the material is disclosed or produced. 1 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 2 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 3 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 4 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” or 5 “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” to each page that 6 contains protected material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for 7 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) 8 (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins) and must specify, for each 9 portion, the level of protection being asserted. 10 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection 11 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 12 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and 13 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be 14 deemed “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” After the 15 inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the 16 Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for 17 protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified documents, the 18 Producing Party must affix the appropriate legend (“CONFIDENTIAL” or 19 HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS EYES ONLY”) to each page that 20 contains Protected Material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for 21 22 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) 23 (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins) and must specify, for each 24 portion, the level of protection being asserted. 25 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party 26 identifies the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of 27 the deposition all protected testimony and specify the level of protection being 28 asserted. When it is impractical to identify separately each portion of testimony 1 that is entitled to protection and it appears that substantial portions of the testimony 2 may qualify for protection, the Designating Party may invoke on the record (before 3 the deposition is concluded) a right to have up to 14 days following receipt of the 4 final transcript to identify the specific portions of the testimony as to which 5 protection is sought and to specify the level of protection being asserted. Only 6 those portions of the testimony that are appropriately designated for protection 7 within the 14 days shall be covered by the provisions of this Protective Order. 8 Alternatively, a Designating Party may specify, at the deposition or up to 14 days 9 afterwards if that period is properly invoked, that the entire transcript shall be 10 treated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ 11

EYES ONLY.”

12 Transcripts containing Protected Material shall have an obvious legend on 13 the title page that the transcript contains Protected Material, and the title page shall 14 be followed by a list of all pages (including line numbers as appropriate) that have 15 been designated as Protected Material and the level of protection being asserted by 16 the Designating Party. The Designating Party shall inform the court reporter of 17 these requirements. Any transcript that is prepared before the expiration of a 14- 18 day period for designation shall be treated during that period as if it had been 19 designated “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” in its 20 entirety unless otherwise agreed. After the expiration of that period, the transcript 21 22 shall be treated only as actually designated. 23 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary 24 and for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent 25 place on the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is 26 stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – 27 ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” If only a portion or portions of the information 28 warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify 1 the protected portion(s). 2 7.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 3 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive 4 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such 5 material. Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make 6 reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the 7 provisions of this Order. 8 8. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 9 8.1. Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 10 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 11 Scheduling Order. 12 8.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute 13 resolution process under Local Rule 37-1 et seq. 14 8.3 Joint Stipulation. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be via a 15 joint stipulation pursuant to Local Rule 37-2. 16 8.4 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on 17 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper 18 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other 19 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating 20 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall 21 22 continue to afford the material the level of protection to which it is entitled under 23 the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge. 24 9. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 25 9.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 26 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in this Action only for 27 prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action. Such Protected Material 28 1 may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the conditions 2 described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving Party 3 must comply with the provisions of section 15 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). 4 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 5 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 6 authorized under this Order. 7 9.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 8 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 9 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 10 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 11 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action 12 and other attorneys of the same firm, as well as employees of said Outside Counsel 13 of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this 14 Action; 15 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) 16 of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 17 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 18 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 19 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 20 (d) the court and its personnel; 21 22 (e) court reporters and their staff; 23 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 24 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 25 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 26 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or 27 a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed, knew, or had permission to 28 access the information; 1 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in 2 the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing 3 party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) 4 they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the 5 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise 6 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed 7 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may 8 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone 9 except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 10 (i) any mediators or settlement officers and their supporting personnel, 11 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 12 9.3 Disclosure of “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES 13 ONLY” Information or Items. Unless otherwise ordered by the court or permitted 14 in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any 15 information or item designated “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ 16 EYES ONLY” only to: 17 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action 18 and other attorneys of the same firm, as well as employees of said Outside Counsel 19 of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this 20 Action; 21 22 (b) Designated House Counsel of the Receiving Party to whom it is 23 reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this Action and who have 24 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 25 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 26 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 27 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 28 (d) the court and its personnel; 1 (e) court reporters and their staff; 2 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 3 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 4 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 5 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or 6 a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed, knew, or had permission to 7 access the information; 8 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in 9 the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing 10 party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) 11 they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the 12 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise 13 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed 14 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may 15 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone 16 except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 17 (i) any mediators or settlement officers and their supporting personnel, 18 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 19 10. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED 20

PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION

21 22 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 23 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 24 “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES 25 ONLY,” that Party must: 26 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification 27 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 28 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or 1 order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the 2 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall 3 include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 4 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 5 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. If the 6 Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the 7 subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action 8 as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES 9 ONLY” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena or order 10 issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The 11 Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that 12 court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be 13 construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to 14 disobey a lawful directive from another court. 15 16 11. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO

BE PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION

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18 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by 19 a Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY 20 CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” Such information produced 21 by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and 22 relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as 23 prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 24 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, 25 to produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party 26 is subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s 27 confidential information, then the Party shall: 28 1 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party 2 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality 3 agreement with a Non-Party; 4 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 5 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably 6 specific description of the information requested; and 7 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the 8 Non-Party, if requested. 9 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court 10 within 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the 11 Receiving Party may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive 12 to the discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the 13 Receiving Party shall not produce any information in its possession or control that 14 is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a 15 determination by the court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party 16 shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this court of its 17 Protected Material. 18 12. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 19

20 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has 21 disclosed Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized 22 under this Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) 23 notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its 24 best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform 25 the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms 26 of this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the 27 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” attached hereto as Exhibit A. 28 1 13. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR

OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL

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3 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 4 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other 5 protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal 6 Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify 7 whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for 8 production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 9 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure 10 of a communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or 11 work product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in a 12 stipulated protective order submitted to the court. 13 14. MISCELLANEOUS 14 14.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 15 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 16 14.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 17 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 18 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in 19 this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on 20 any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Order. 21 22 14.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 23 Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material 24 may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the 25 specific Protected Material. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under 26 seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the 27 public record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 28 / / /

I 15. FINAL DISPOSITION

2 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 6, within 3 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must 4 return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As > ll used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, 6 compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the ’ || Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the 8 Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60-day deadline that '0 (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel

Is are entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, 6 deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition 7 and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert 18 work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival 19 copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this 29 || Protective Order as set forth in Section 6 (DURATION). 21 16. VIOLATION 22 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures 23 |{including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions. 24 || FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. 25 je de 26 || DATED: July 31, 2025 Lin OG 27 D. EARLY 38 United States Magistrate Judge

17

1 EXHIBIT A

2

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND

3 4 I, [print or type full name], of 5 [print or type full address], declare under penalty 6 of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the Protective Order that 7 was issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of California 8 on July 31, 2025, Lumen21, Inc. v. Lumen Techs., Inc. and CenturyLink 9 Communications, LLC, 8:25-cv-00510-DOC-JDE (C.D. Cal.). I agree to comply 10 with and to be bound by all the terms of this Protective Order, and I understand and 11 acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and 12 punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in 13 any manner any information or item that is subject to this Protective Order to any 14 person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order. 15 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District 16 Court for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms 17 of this Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after 18 termination of this action. I further agree that I will provide a copy of this 19 Stipulated Protective Order to my employees or contractors to whom disclosure is 20 reasonably necessary and secure their agreement to be bound by its terms. 21 Date: ___________________________ 22 City and State where sworn and 23 signed: ___________________________ 24 Printed name: ___________________________ 25 Signature: ___________________________ 26

27 28