Pahnke
DirecTV, Inc. v. Pahnke
Opinion
Opinion
Wanger, J.
ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S UNOPPOSED PARTIAL MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT (DOC. 57)
I. INTRODUCTION
This is one of many civil anti-piracy cases brought by DIRECTV, Inc., (“Plaintiff’) in this district. In this case, Plaintiff alleges that Defendant SCOTT PAHNKE intercepted DIRECTV satellite programming in violation of the Federal Communications Act of 1934 (“FCA”), 47 U.S.C. § 605 ; the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, also known as the Wiretap Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2510-2521 (“Wiretap Act”); and California common law.
Defendant, appearing pro se, answered the complaint and filed several other motions during the early stages of this litigation, including a successful motion to dismiss one of the counts. However, for the past several months, Pahnke has, after being given opportunities to do so, failed to respond to any communications from Plaintiffs counsel, failed to appear for several scheduling conferences, and failed to make initial disclosures or respond to any discovery requests. The district court sanctioned Defendant for this conduct by “precluding him from using any evidence to respond to any dispositive motion or at trial that he should have provided as part of his…