Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. John Doe subscriber assigned IP address 73.222.114.216

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

STRIKE 3 HOLDINGS, LLC,

Case No. 22-cv-05160-RS Plaintiff, 11 v. ORDER GRANTING LEAVE TO ISSUE THIRD-PARTY SUBPOENA

JOHN DOE SUBSCRIBER ASSIGNED IP

ADDRESS 73.222.114.216, Defendant.

15 I. INTRODUCTION Plaintiff Strike 3 Holdings, LLC (“Strike 3”), seeks a subpoena to unmask someone allegedly sharing its copyrighted pornographic films. Strike 3 has determined Defendant’s Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, but it cannot determine the account owner without a subpoena. An IP address may be shared widely, but it has only one account owner. Many have raised concerns that Strike 3 is effectively extorting account owners through the many lawsuits it brings annually, because defendants are embarrassed into settling — even if they are innocent. Nonetheless, the law provides Strike 3 the right to issue a subpoena. To ensure no prejudice to the possibly innocent account…