Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. John Doe subscriber assigned IP address 76.21.63.82, 3:25-cv-03875

Strike 3 Holdings, LLC filed a copyright infringement suit against an unidentified "John Doe" defendant, linked only by an IP address assigned by Comcast.
Strike 3 sought leave from the court to issue an early subpoena to Comcast, the internet service provider (ISP), before the Rule 26(f) conference, to uncover the defendant’s identity.
The court considered whether there was “good cause” to permit such early discovery—balancing the need for identification against privacy interests.
The order sets out procedural safeguards, requiring notice to the subscriber, time for objections, and limited use of any information disclosed.
The information obtained may only be used for protecting and enforcing Strike 3’s rights as detailed in the complaint, and must be kept confidential initially.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Early subpoena to identify "John Doe" via ISP	Good cause exists for discovery	Privacy and procedural rights	Good cause exists; subpoena granted
Notice to defendant regarding subpoena	ISP should notify subscriber	Subscriber's right to notice	ISP must notify and allow objections
Confidentiality of disclosed information	Should use info only for this case	Right to avoid public exposure	Info limited to litigation use, sealed
Timeline for objections and production	Reasonable, but efficient process	Needs time to contest subpoena	30 days to object, then 10 days to produce

No official reporter cases were cited in this opinion; only Westlaw citations were referenced.