Axel Braun Productions v. Does ( 2012 )

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
AXEL BRAUN PRODUCTIONS,
Plaintiff,
v. Civil Action No. 11-56 (EGS/JMF)
DOES 1-2,823,
Defendants.
ORDER
On June 28, 2011, this Court stated that “[a]ny party seeking to proceed anonymously
must comply with the Local Rules [LCvR 5.1(e)] by including his name and full residence
address in his filing and must indicate on the first page of his filing that he wishes to file
UNDER SEAL.” Order [#11] at 1.
Upon further consideration, however, this Court has now concluded that, as internet
subscribers, these individuals have no expectation of privacy in their subscriber information.
See U.S. v. Christie, 624 F.3d 558, 573 (3rd Cir. 2010) (“Federal courts have uniformly held that
‘subscriber information provided to an internet provider is not protected by the Fourth
Amendment’s privacy expectation’ because it is voluntarily conveyed to third parties.”) (internal
quotation omitted); Guest v. Leis, 255 F.3d 325, 335 (6th Cir. 2001) (“Individuals generally lose
a reasonable expectation of privacy in their [subscriber] information once they reveal it to third
parties.”); Achte/Neunte Boll Kino Beteiligungs Gmbh & Co. v. Does 1-4,577, 736 F. Supp. 2d
212, 216 (D.D.C. 2010) (“With regard to [the movant’s] assertion that the information sought is
‘personal,’ courts have held that Internet subscribers do not have an expectation of privacy in
their subscriber information as they already have conveyed such information to the Internet
Service Providers.”).
Thus, any Doe defendant who seeks to file a motion in this case must do so publically on
the docket. Any motion that fails to include the movant’s name and full residence address will
not be accepted for filing. All motions that comply with the Local Rules will be accepted for
filing and will be made part of the public docket.
Finally, it is, hereby,
ORDERED that, within five (5) days of the date of this Order, plaintiff forward a copy
of the Order to all primary or intermediary Internet Service Providers that have or will be served
with Rule 45 subpoenas in this case. It is further, hereby,
ORDERED that all primary or intermediary Internet Service Providers that have or will
be served with Rule 45 subpoenas in this case will, within five (5) days or receiving this Order
from plaintiff, forward a copy of the Order to all subscribers identified by plaintiff as putative
infringers of its motion picture copyright.
Digitally signed by John M.
SO ORDERED. Facciola
DN: c=US, st=DC, ou=District of
Columbia,
email=John_M._Facciola@dcd.us
courts.gov, o=U.S. District Court,
District of Columbia, cn=John M.
Facciola
Date: 2012.01.19 10:05:03 -05'00'
_____________________________
JOHN M. FACCIOLA
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
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