City & Cnty. of S.F. v. Homeaway.com, Inc.

*1120 I. INTRODUCTION

The City and County of San Francisco, along with the city tax collector and treasurer (collectively, the City), obtained an order from the superior *1121 court granting their petition to enforce an administrative subpoena. The subpoena requires HomeAway.com, Inc. (HomeAway) to disclose data about rental transactions involving accommodations located in San Francisco that were arranged using a HomeAway Web site.

On appeal, "[w]e review de novo the question whether the subpoena meets the standards for enforcement. [Citation.]" ( *904 State ex rel. Dept. of Pesticide Regulation v. Pet Food Express (2008) 165 Cal.App.4th 841 , 854, 81 Cal.Rptr.3d 486 .) HomeAway contends that the City's subpoena does not meet these standards because it violates the Stored Communications Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2701 - 2712 (the SCA), 1 which regulates the government's ability to compel disclosure of some electronic data stored on the Internet. HomeAway also contends that enforcing the subpoena would violate its customers' constitutional rights. Finally, HomeAway argues that the subpoena is not enforceable under local or state law. We affirm the order.

II. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL…