Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. John Doe subscriber assigned IP address 73.63.224.184

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

STRIKE 3 HOLDINGS, LLC,

Case No. 21-cv-06886-RS Plaintiff, 11 v. ORDER GRANTING LEAVE TO ISSUE THIRD PARTY SUBPOENA

JOHN DOE SUBSCRIBER ASSIGNED IP

ADDRESS 73.63.224.184, Defendant.

15 I. INTRODUCTION Strike 3 seeks a subpoena to unmask someone sharing its copyrighted adult pornography, as it does thousands of times every year. Strike 3 has determined Defendant’s Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, but cannot determine the account owner without a subpoena. An IP address may be shared widely—but only has one account owner. Many have raised concerns that Strike 3 is effectively extorting account owners through these lawsuits, because they are embarrassed into settling, even if they are innocent. All the same, the law provides Strike 3 with the right to its subpoena. To ensure no prejudice to the possibly innocent account owner, courts routinely protect the…