The Southern District of New York granted Strike 3 Holdings, LLC’s motion for leave to serve a third-party subpoena on Verizon Online LLC under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45. The plaintiff seeks to ascertain the true name and permanent address of Defendant John Doe, who is assigned IP address 162.84.236.148.
Judge Schofield applied a "flexible standard of reasonableness and good cause" to determine whether expedited discovery was appropriate prior to a Rule 26(f) conference. The court noted that Strike 3 satisfied the requirements for expedited discovery by demonstrating a concrete showing of actionable harm, specificity in its request, and the absence of alternative means to obtain the defendant's identity.
The order explicitly limits the scope of the subpoena. Strike 3 is permitted to obtain only the defendant's name and address; it may not subpoena Verizon for an email address or telephone number. The court also acknowledged substantive privacy concerns regarding the nature of the copyrighted material and the risk of false identification by the ISP.
To protect the defendant's privacy, Judge Schofield ordered that Defendant may proceed anonymously as John Doe unless and until the Court orders otherwise. Strike 3 is prohibited from initiating settlement discussions prior to service of the Complaint without leave of Court, though it may participate and settle if the Defendant initiates such discussions.
Verizon has 60 days from service of the subpoena to notify the Defendant and provide a copy of the Order. The ISP may not turn over identifying information before this 60-day period expires, allowing the Defendant time to file motions to quash or modify the subpoena.
The ISP must preserve any subpoenaed information pending resolution of any timely filed motion to quash. If the ISP charges for production costs, it must provide a billing summary and cost report to Plaintiff. Any information disclosed may be used solely for protecting Strike 3's rights as set forth in its Complaint.
The initial pretrial conference scheduled for May 19, 2026, is adjourned to July 21, 2026. The parties must submit a joint status letter and proposed case management plan by July 14, 2026. Plaintiff Strike 3 must file a status letter with the Court by June 3, 2026.