What happened

A D.C. federal magistrate judge on Friday allowed adult-film copyright plaintiff Strike 3 Holdings LLC to subpoena Verizon Fios before the parties hold a Rule 26(f) conference, clearing the company to seek identifying information for a John Doe defendant tied to an allegedly infringing IP address.

The order lets Strike 3 serve a Rule 45 subpoena seeking information sufficient to identify the subscriber, including name, address, telephone number and email address. U.S. Magistrate Judge Matthew J. Sharbaugh said the requested discovery was "both relevant and proportional" to the needs of the case.

Strike 3 alleges the unknown defendant used BitTorrent to copy and distribute 30 of its films, and the company says it has only an IP address and needs Verizon Fios records to identify the subscriber. The court said the case cannot move forward unless Strike 3 can identify the subscriber and effect service.

Judge Sharbaugh said the subscriber's identity is plainly relevant, while cautioning that the person identified through the subpoena may not ultimately be the alleged infringer. At this stage, the court said, Strike 3 needed only to show that learning the subscriber's identity may help it identify the alleged infringer.

The court also found the subpoena proportional, crediting Strike 3's argument that the ISP has the only information capable of connecting the IP address to a subscriber. The judge said the remaining proportionality factors also favored discovery, including the limited burden on the ISP and the importance of the information to resolving the case.

Judge Sharbaugh declined to enter a protective order on his own, saying the subscriber would be better positioned to request one after being identified. But the order requires Verizon Fios to provide the subscriber with notice at least 10 business days before disclosure, sets a subpoena return date no earlier than 30 days from service, preserves the right to move to quash, bars public identification of the subscriber for 30 days after disclosure, and limits use of the information to pursuing Strike 3's claims.

Strike 3 must file a status report within 30 days summarizing its progress through the subpoena process.