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hello, I know of someone named in the Lightspeed Media Corporation Vs. John Doe case and am trying to help them as much as possible. The individual received a subpoena for information given to Comcast Cable by an Illinois county court on behalf of Prenda Law Firm including MAC address, IP address, phone #, account name and other miscellaneous information. It has been said that this information will be given to the law firm on June 1st 2012. Apparently, this has been given to over 6,500 individuals and no monetary damages have been agreed to thus far. I am wondering if it makes sense to hire a lawyer at this point (given the fact there are no damages) and if so, would it be wise to have them send a letter to the county court to try to quash this subpoena. Thanks for you help!
Optional Information: Country relating to Question: United States State (if USA): California Already Tried: this was my first step
Good evening! I can help you out with your legal question tonight. I always error on the side of caution, so I would recommend you get an attorney to try and quash the Subpoena, if there is cause. A subpoena is harder to quash unless it is too overbroad. The reason for this is because discovery is really a fishing expedition where they try and get information (some admissible and some not). Even if there is no damages listed, damages will be alleged if/when a suit is brought.
what do you mean by over broad? also is there anyway i could send the actual case filed to you for your review?
No, unfortunately we can't represent you in a legal capacity. Overbroad for example could be that the individual is subpoena'd to provide something that doesn't relate to the allegations at all. With every subpoena, there is a scope of the subpoena. If you read through that and something seems too broad (i.e. bank statements for 10 years, when they only have a questions regarding the past year etc.).
So what you are saying seems to be that this may be hard to quash? If they do get the information requested, then it is likely they will try to create a civil case directly. Do you believe it makes sense to try to settle at the current point before they receive the information they want?
No, I would wait to see what they get and have against this individual before settling, but if they give the individual a demand and he/she would rather pay it, then it is always best to just pay and avoid Litigation. Yes, it is hard to quash, but can usually be limited if it is too overbroad.
the problem with this whole case is it is based on an IP address. the person I'm trying to help is elderly and has no clue how to download videos and such. I think what this is a case of someone other than the owner stealing the IP address and potentially using it inappropriately, but i am not sure how to help this elderly individual prove that this is the case before a civil suit is created
You are correct, it is hard to prove that. You have a stronger case in front of a judge or jury who can decide if the older person is even capable of doing such downloading.
ok, sounds great. thanks for all your help!!
You are welcome and good luck! Have a good night and please accept so that I can continue to help others.
Experience: Over 12 years of business and legal experience.