DOCSLIB.ORG

Case 3:08-Cv-01465-WHA Document 51 Filed 07/17/2008 Page 1 of 10

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Case 3:08-Cv-01465-WHA Document 51 Filed 07/17/2008 Page 1 of 10 Case 3:08-cv-01465-WHA Document 51 Filed 07/17/2008 Page 1 of 10 1 WARREN J. RHEAUME (admitted pro hac vice) HELLER EHRMAN LLP 2 701 Fifth Avenue, Suite 6100 Seattle, WA 98104-7098 3 Telephone: (206) 447-0900 Facsimile: (206) 447-0849 4 Email: [email protected] 5 LESLIE N. HARVEY, State Bar No. 241203 HELLER EHRMAN LLP 6 333 Bush Street San Francisco, California 94104-2878 7 Telephone: (415) 772-6000 Facsimile: (415) 772-6268 8 Email: [email protected] 9 Attorneys for Defendant MICROSOFT CORPORATION 10 11 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 12 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 13 LAURIE MARIE LASKEY, Case No. CV-08-1465-WHA 14 Plaintiff, MICROSOFT’S NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION TO 15 v. DISMISS OR, IN THE ALTERNATIVE, SECOND 16 MICROSOFT CORPORATION, and DOES 1 MOTION FOR A MORE through 1000, inclusive, DEFINITE STATEMENT; 17 Defendants. MEMORANDUM OF POINTS 18 AND AUTHORITIES 19 Date: September 4, 2008 Time: 8:00 a.m. 20 Courtroom: 9, 19th floor Judge: William H. Alsup 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Heller 28 Ehrman LLP 1 MICROSOFT’S MOTION TO DISMISS Case No. CV-08-1465-WHA Case 3:08-cv-01465-WHA Document 51 Filed 07/17/2008 Page 2 of 10 1 NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION 2 3 TO PLAINTIFF LAURIE MARIE LASKEY: NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that 4 on September 4, 2008 at 8:00 a.m. or as soon thereafter as the matter can be heard, in the 5 Courtroom of the Honorable William H. Alsup of the United States District Court of the 6 Northern District of California located at 450 Golden Gate Ave., 19th Floor, Courtroom 9, 7 San Francisco, CA 94102, defendant Microsoft Corporation (“Microsoft”) will, and hereby 8 does, move to dismiss the above-captioned action pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil 9 Procedure 12(b)(6). Plaintiff has failed to comply with this Court’s order requiring a more 10 definite statement and all of Plaintiff’s potential claims are barred by the applicable statutes 11 of limitation. 12 If the Court construes the documents filed by Plaintiff entitled “More Defined 13 Statement” and/or “More Defined Statement Rev#1” as an amended complaint, Defendant 14 Microsoft requests in the alternative to move for a more definite statement pursuant to 15 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(e). 16 Microsoft bases its motion to dismiss on this notice of motion and motion, the 17 memorandum of points and authorities in support thereof, the pleadings on file with the 18 Court, and on such other evidence as may be presented before or at the hearing on this 19 motion. 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Heller 28 Ehrman LLP 2 MICROSOFT’S MOTION TO DISMISS Case No. CV-08-1465-WHA Case 3:08-cv-01465-WHA Document 51 Filed 07/17/2008 Page 3 of 10 1 MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES 2 I. INTRODUCTION 3 The Plaintiff has failed to file an amended complaint as required by this Court’s 4 earlier order granting Microsoft’s Motion for a More Definite Statement. Instead, Plaintiff 5 filed and served two convoluted documents that only further confuse this case. These 6 documents do not attempt to set forth facts supporting any claims for relief and also do not 7 contain a prayer for damages, as required by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8. Moreover, 8 these documents are as vague, ambiguous, and defective as Plaintiff’s original complaint. 9 Plaintiff’s failure to comply with this Court’s order provides more than ample grounds 10 warranting dismissal of this action. 11 In addition, this Court should also dismiss this action because all of the pleadings 12 filed by Plaintiff to date make clear that any possible claims that Plaintiff may have against 13 Microsoft are barred by applicable statutes of limitations. 14 II. BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF PLAINTIFF’S ALLEGATIONS 15 A. Plaintiff’s Original Complaint 16 Plaintiff Laurie Marie Laskey filed suit against Microsoft in California state court on 17 January 30, 2008. In the Complaint, Plaintiff asserted claims for general negligence, 18 intentional torts, premises liability, and products liability using the Judicial Counsel of 1 19 California’s form complaint for Personal Injury, Property Damage, and Wrongful Death. 20 The Complaint further indicated that she sought to hold Microsoft liable for “other” causes 21 of action such as “Computer crimes, Identity Theft, FCC Invasions, Code Violations, 22 Technical Violations, Split Tunneling, Security Breach, Invasion of privacy, stalking, etc.” 23 Complaint at 3, ¶ 10. No cause of action forms or additional information was attached 24 supporting these other claims. 25 The cause of action forms attached to the original Complaint list several dates upon 26 which Plaintiff allegedly suffered injury. These dates are: 27 1 A courtesy copy of the Complaint is attached hereto as Exhibit 1. Heller 28 Ehrman LLP 3 MICROSOFT’S MOTION TO DISMISS Case No. CV-08-1465-WHA Case 3:08-cv-01465-WHA Document 51 Filed 07/17/2008 Page 4 of 10 1 • November 19, 2002: Cause of Action for Intentional Tort and Cause of 2 Action for General Negligence; 3 • May 8, 2003: Cause of Action for Intentional Tort; and 4 • October 17, 2002: Cause of Action for Premises Liability. 5 Defendant further stated in the Complaint that her “evidence dates back to 1996.” 6 Complaint at Cause of Action – Products Liability. 7 B. Microsoft’s First Motion for a More Definite Statement 8 After Microsoft was served with the Complaint on February 15, 2008, Microsoft 9 removed the case to this Court on March 17, 2008 on the grounds of diversity jurisdiction. 10 Microsoft timely filed a motion for a more definite statement pursuant to Federal Rule of 11 Civil Procedure 12(e). On June 10, 2008, the Court granted Microsoft’s motion for a more 12 definite statement, holding: 13 Plaintiff’s complaint is entirely vague, ambiguous, and incomprehensible to the point that defendant would be unable to formulate any responsive 14 pleading. Accordingly, plaintiff is ordered to file a more definite statement with respect to all claims asserted. 15 16 Order Granting Defendant’s Motion for a More Definite Statement and Vacating Hearing, Dkt. # 39. 17 18 C. Plaintiff’s “More Defined Statements” Recently Filed 19 On June 9, 2008 - the day before the filing of the Court’s order granting Microsoft’s 20 motion for a more definite statement - Plaintiff filed a document with the Court entitled 21 “More Defined Statement.” Dkt. #38.2 This document does not purport to be an amended 22 complaint. Instead, it is a list of numbered paragraphs attaching several exhibits, most of 23 which appear to be printouts from websites or documents appearing on Plaintiff’s computer. 24 The document contains a rambling narrative of the contents of these exhibits. The 25 document does not contain any causes of action or a prayer for relief. 26 27 2 A courtesy copy of Plaintiff’s “More Defined Statement” is attached hereto as Exhibit 2. Heller 28 Ehrman LLP 4 MICROSOFT’S MOTION TO DISMISS Case No. CV-08-1465-WHA Case 3:08-cv-01465-WHA Document 51 Filed 07/17/2008 Page 5 of 10 1 On June 26, 2008, Plaintiff served what appears to be a further revision of this 2 document, entitled “More Defined Statement Rev#1.”3 This document attaches several 3 additional exhibits with further narrative on these exhibits, but is similar to the first 4 document filed. 5 Both documents chronicle the continued problems and concerns that Plaintiff has had 6 with her computer(s), namely with hackers, viruses, and/or strange occurances that Plaintiff 7 cannot explain. Plaintiff requests that new laws be put into place to prevent other 8 consumers from having similar problems. See, e.g., More Defined Statement Rev#1 at 4 9 ¶ 3i. Plaintiff points to alleged wrongdoings by a number of companies who are not parties 10 to this lawsuit. See, e.g., id. at 4 ¶ 3i (referring to Charles Industries); id. at 4 ¶ 3h (referring 11 to Intel Corporation). Plaintiff further alleges one additional date of an email that is 12 supposedly relevant to her injuries – December 4, 1997. Id. at 5 ¶ 4. 13 To date, Plaintiff has not served an amended complaint in this action, as required by 14 the Court’s order of June 10, 2008. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(e), 15 Plaintiff was required to file an amended complaint within ten days of the court’s order. 16 The ten day period has now expired. 17 III. ARGUMENT 18 A. The Court Should Grant Microsoft’s Motion to Dismiss the Action Because Plaintiff Has Failed to File an Amended Complaint As Ordered 19 by the Court 20 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(e) states: 21 A party may move for a more definite statement of a pleading to which a responsive pleading is allowed but which is so vague or ambiguous that the 22 party cannot reasonably prepare a response. The motion must be made before filing a responsive pleading and must point out the defects complained of and 23 the details desired. If the court orders a more definite statement and the order is not obeyed within 10 days after notice of the order or within the time the 24 court sets, the court may strike the pleading or issue any other appropriate order. 25 26 (Emphasis added). 27 3 A courtesy copy of Plaintiff’s “More Defined Statement Rev#1” is attached hereto as Exhibit 3.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Šta Znače Oznake CAM, WP, TS, SCR, TC, R5, DVDRIP, HDTV?
    Šta znače oznake CAM, WP, TS, SCR, TC, R5, DVDRIP, HDTV? Ako vas zanima šta tačno označavaju skraćenice za kvalitet filmskog snimka: CAM, WP, TS, SCR, TC, R5, DVDRIP, HDTV, itd., pročitajte ovaj članak. Slijedi tabela kvaliteta filmskih snimaka, koja govori sa kog fizickog medija (kino snimak kamerom, original vhs kaseta, original dvd, itd) je film kopiran, u smjeru od najlošijeg kvaliteta ka najboljem. Tip Oznaka Rasprostranjenost Dosta čest format, mada se sve ređe Cam "CAM" pojavljuje, zbog postojanja DVD rip formata koji je daleko kvalitetniji Snimak filma napravljen kamerom u kinu, a zvuk je dobijen pomoću mikrofona na kameri, tako da se često vide i čuju i gledaoci u bioskopu. Ovaj kvalitet snimka se obično pojavi odmah nakon prve premijere filma u kinima Kvalitet video i audio zapisa je najčešće veoma loš. "WP" Workprint Vrlo rijedak "WORKPRINT" Kopija napravljena od nedovršene verzije filma. Uglavnom fale mnogi efekti i film može da se skroz razlikuje od konačne verzije filma. "TS" Telesync Vrlo čest "TELESYNC" Nasuprot popularnom vjerovanju, kvalitet kod TS video snimka ne mora da bude bolji od kvaliteta CAM snimka. Naziv Telesync ne označava bolji kvalitet VIDEO zapisa, nego bolji kvalitet AUDIO zapisa. Uglavnom je video snimak isti kao i CAM, a audio snimak bolji. Zbog toga se CAM veoma često brka sa TS. R5 "R5" Vrlo čest R5 Line je DVD verzija za region 5. Region 5 čine Istočna Evropa, (bivši SSSR), Indija, Afrika, Severna Koreja i Mongolija. Kvalitet R5 snimka se razlikuje od kvaliteta normalnog DVD-a po tome što je video snimak odličnog kvaliteta (kopiran sa DVD-a), a audio snimak je lošeg kvaliteta (kopiran sa Telecyne snimka, da bi se dobio zvuk originala, pošto je R5 DVD verzija obično prilagođena/sinhronizovana na jezik nekog od tih 5 regiona).
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Digital Movie Piracy
    Digital Movie Piracy; A Perspective on Downloading Behaviour through Social Cognitive Theory Ruud S. Jacobs Abstract The current article attempts to refine and specify a model based on other researchers' applications of the Social Cognitive Theory originally posited by Bandura to allow the behaviour and attitudes downloaders exhibit to be analysed and compared to the amount of movies they consume (measured as an monthly average estimate). The new model is then tested against data obtained from college students as well as from a technological lifestyle forum. After the revisions these analyses suggested were applied, the model explained nearly 23% of the variance in the number of movies downloaded. The most important factors in this model were, among others: the drives to see many different and new movies, the social environment and its perceived attitude toward the behaviour, and the degree to which downloading has embedded itself in the daily routine. Because the Dutch government and lobbyists are superficially unclear about the current legislature, the unique opportunity existed to study the impact of knowing about legislature on the behaviour. Other results indicate an unexpected openness to an alternative film-distribution method where both the producers and the consumers get an honest deal, presenting options to release the current political and social tension without prosecuting an increasing portion of the population. Introduction When groundbreaking new technologies find their way into the commercial markets and end users' hands, unforeseen psychological and sociological consequences have often surprised both legislators and analysts alike. The World Wide Web is a prime example of a technological breakthrough that upset social status quo.
    [Show full text]
  • Index Images Download 2006 News Crack Serial Warez Full 12 Contact
    index images download 2006 news crack serial warez full 12 contact about search spacer privacy 11 logo blog new 10 cgi-bin faq rss home img default 2005 products sitemap archives 1 09 links 01 08 06 2 07 login articles support 05 keygen article 04 03 help events archive 02 register en forum software downloads 3 security 13 category 4 content 14 main 15 press media templates services icons resources info profile 16 2004 18 docs contactus files features html 20 21 5 22 page 6 misc 19 partners 24 terms 2007 23 17 i 27 top 26 9 legal 30 banners xml 29 28 7 tools projects 25 0 user feed themes linux forums jobs business 8 video email books banner reviews view graphics research feedback pdf print ads modules 2003 company blank pub games copyright common site comments people aboutus product sports logos buttons english story image uploads 31 subscribe blogs atom gallery newsletter stats careers music pages publications technology calendar stories photos papers community data history arrow submit www s web library wiki header education go internet b in advertise spam a nav mail users Images members topics disclaimer store clear feeds c awards 2002 Default general pics dir signup solutions map News public doc de weblog index2 shop contacts fr homepage travel button pixel list viewtopic documents overview tips adclick contact_us movies wp-content catalog us p staff hardware wireless global screenshots apps online version directory mobile other advertising tech welcome admin t policy faqs link 2001 training releases space member static join health
    [Show full text]
  • Pirates of the Oscars: Trends in Piracy Among Oscar Nominated Films Rachel Chiu, Yanli Gao, James Rigby
    Pirates of the Oscars: Trends in Piracy Among Oscar Nominated Films Rachel Chiu, Yanli Gao, James Rigby Introduction Relationship Between First Leak and Box Office Temporal Trends Gross With the 83rd annual Academy Awards just around the corner, we sought to • Not surprisingly, the movies that make more money at the box office • Prior to 2008, all nominated study the piracy trends in movies that have received Oscar nominations in (presumably the more popular ones) tend to be leaked faster than those movies had their retail DVD’s the years since 2003. With slightly over thirty films nominated each year, our that don’t do as well, which is likely due to the higher public demand leaked before Oscar Night for data set gave us 245 movies. The following are the types of leaks we associated with these films. several years in a row. studied: • Despite this trend, the movies that are leaked before they even reach • 2007 seems to have been the • R5: Low quality screener theaters tend to be the ones that don’t make as much money when they peak in number of leaks per • Cam: Video camera in movie theater are released (maybe because people have already seen them?). year, of all types, and since • Telesync (TS): Same as Cam recording but sound is directly connected to then there has been a steady source downward trend of that ratio. • Screener: Pre DVD sent to critics and other professionals prior to release • Steady decline in ratio of leaks • Retail DVD: Final product may be effective intervention Data on the part of the government or perhaps the film studios.
    [Show full text]
  • The Cultural Impact of Science in the Early Twentieth Century
    In the early decades of the twentieth century, engagement with science was commonly used as an emblem of modernity. This phenomenon is now attracting increasing attention in different historical specialties. Being Modern builds on this recent scholarly interest to explore engagement with science across culture from the end of the nineteenth century to approximately 1940. Addressing the breadth of cultural forms in Britain and the western world from the architecture of Le Corbusier to working class British science fiction, Being Modern paints a rich picture. Seventeen distinguished contributors from a range of fields including the cultural study of science and technology, art and architecture, English The Cultural Impact of culture and literature examine the issues involved. The book will be a valuable resource for students, and a spur to scholars to further examination of culture as an Science in the Early interconnected web of which science is a critical part, and to supersede such tired formulations as ‘Science and culture’. Twentieth Century Robert Bud is Research Keeper at the Science Museum in London. His award-winning publications in the history of science include studies of biotechnology and scientific instruments. Frank James and Morag Shiach James and Morag Frank Robert Greenhalgh, Bud, Paul Edited by Paul Greenhalgh is Director of the Sainsbury Centre at the University of East Anglia, Edited by and Professor of Art History there. He has published extensively in the history of art, design, and the decorative arts in the early modern period. Robert Bud Paul Greenhalgh Frank James is Professor of History of Science at the Royal Institution and UCL.
    [Show full text]
  • The Growing Threat of Internet Piracy in the Movie Industry: the Effect of Rapid Pirated Leaks on Motion Picture Revenues
    The Growing Threat of Internet Piracy in the Movie Industry: The Effect of Rapid Pirated Leaks on Motion Picture Revenues An Honors Thesis for the Department of Economics Nicholas Henning Tufts University, 2009 Abstract In 2005, the MPAA claimed that worldwide losses to movie piracy amounted to about $18.2 billion, with $6.1 billion of that missing revenue accounted for by MPAA affiliates alone. The difficulty in measuring piracy is that it is obviously illegal, making data collection and participant surveys skewed in results. In addition, the movie industry is a complex system, and any given movie has a large variability of success factors which amount to unpredictability in the expected revenue of motion pictures. This paper seeks to investigate how the speed of internet piracy affects industry revenues by creating a model for film revenue regressed against the number of days from theatrical release to first piracy leak, first screener leak, and first DVD leak, amongst several control variables. When including control variables, the impact of piracy is found to be negligible, particularly in comparison to the production budget variable. Without these controls, significance is found for days until first piracy leak and screener leak, implying the more days until first piracy leak the lower revenues will be and that more days until first screener leak leads to higher revenues, t(124)=-2.91, p<.01, and t(124)=3.05, p<.01. Finally, scatter plots of the data find that most films which end up making high worldwide revenues are pirated within the first week after theatrical release.
    [Show full text]
  • LEGAL ANALYSIS of FAIR DEALING RELATING to MUSIC WORKS in the DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT by LOUISE GROENEWALD Submitted in Accordance W
    LEGAL ANALYSIS OF FAIR DEALING RELATING TO MUSIC WORKS IN THE DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT by LOUISE GROENEWALD submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF LAWS at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA Supervisor: Prof. Sunelle Geyer November 2011 LEGAL ANALYSIS OF FAIR DEALING RELATING TO MUSIC WORKS IN THE DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT BY: LOUISE GROENEWALD (463-100-61) DEGREE: LL.M SUPERVISOR: PROF. SUNELLE GEYER Abstract Many people might think that downloading music without paying for it is not a big issue. Copyright owners disagree with this kind of reasoning because to them, music is intellectual property with substantial commercial value. Copyright law is the primary form of protection for intellectual property and is based on the fundamental principle that copyright works cannot be reproduced without the express consent of the copyright owner. During the late 90’s however, new technology made it possible for millions of people to download music from the Internet without the express consent of copyright owners. The mere act of downloading songs illegally violates the exclusive right of the copyright owner to reproduce the work. It has also created problems within copyright law that was not foreseeable in the 17th century when the Statute of Anne was enacted. In law, there is always an exception to the rule and it is no different with copyright law. Although copyright owners have the exclusive right to reproduce their work, the general public has been granted exceptions to make fair dealing of copyright works for private or personal use, purposes of research, private study, criticism, review or for reporting current events in a magazine, newspaper or periodical, broadcasting or by using the work in a cinematograph film by virtue of s12 of the Copyright Act 98 of 1978.
    [Show full text]
  • The Establishment of the Film Sector As a Catalyst for Economic Growth in South Africa: Toward a Sallywood Framework
    July 2018 THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FILM SECTOR AS A CATALYST FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH IN SOUTH AFRICA: TOWARD A SALLYWOOD FRAMEWORK South African Cultural Observatory The Establishment of the Film Sector as a Catalyst for Economic Growth in South Africa: Toward a Sallywood Framework July 2018 Submitted to the Department of Arts and Culture: Contents Contents ............................................................................................................................ i Tables .............................................................................................................................. v Figures ............................................................................................................................ vi Executive Summary ...................................................................................................... viii 1 Introduction ...............................................................................................................1 2 The Current State and Future Aspirations for the South African Film and TV Sector .3 2.1 Problem Statement ............................................................................................3 2.2 Proposed Solution ..............................................................................................3 2.3 Anticipated Outcome(s) ......................................................................................4 2.4 Vision | Mission | Goals ......................................................................................4
    [Show full text]
  • The Internet Guide for the Movie Addict
    The Internet Guide for the Movie Addict Saikat Basu The Things I Do This manual is intellectual property of MakeUseOf. It must only be published in its original form. Using parts or republishing altered parts of this guide is prohibited. The Internet Guide for the Movie Addict This page intentionally left blank 2 The Things I Do The Internet Guide for the Movie Addict Table of Contents 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 5 2. Getting your fix on the internet .......................................................................................................... 6 2.1 Online meeting places for the moviegoer ................................................................................... 6 2.2 Search for movie reviews and views ............................................................................................ 9 2.3 Get a sneak preview with trailers .............................................................................................. 13 2.4 What’s playing near you? ........................................................................................................... 17 3. Set Up Your Own Entertainment ....................................................................................................... 19 3.1 Watching Stuff Online ................................................................................................................ 19 3.2 Watching it with a Download ....................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • 4D 135301' IR 004 736 AUTHOR Gunter, Jonahan TITLE Snpei 8: the Madest Medium
    .bocommiT 'moss 4D 135301' IR 004 736 AUTHOR Gunter, Jonahan TITLE Snpei 8: The Madest Medium.. ., INSTITUTION United,Fations.Educational.Scientific, and Cultural Organization, Paris (Prance).' PUIL DATE 76 *4 , . AtoTt 88p-.;'Notavailable in hard.topy due to copyright restrictions . , EDRS PRICE ,MT-$0.83 Plus Posta* gc Not Available from EDRS. 'DESCRIPTORS Developing Nations; Editing; *Eigtt Millimeter projeCtors; *Tilos; Filmstrips; ptotographic- Equipment; production TeCtniques; *Projection Equipment; Sixteen Millimeter PrOjectori; *Sound Films; *State of the Art Reviews; Video Equipment IDENTIFIERS -Super 8 Films ABSTRACT This state of the art review gives an overview of the tistorf of the development of.Super 8 film, and describes a. range Of . hardware.'associated'with'it, covering.such areas as camera, sound synchrOnrzation, double_system recording., lighting, film processing, sound transfer, editing, sound mixing, display, and methods of distribution. It examines the potential use of 8 iillimeter for television broadcasi, an& examines super 8:in relation to other media ,snch a.s'16 milfimeter,film and videotape. It concludes that Super.8 is basically a prodaction medium that.is economical, versatile,, and easy to operate. It is likely that itwfil-have its greatest impact in the Third World. (NBC) . ********************* ************************************************** * Documents abquired by ERIC include many informal unpublished- * * materials not available from other sources. ERIC mak*s every effort * * to obtain-the best copy available. Nevertheless, items'of marginal * * reproducibility, aEe often,encountered and this affects the quality *. * of tile microfichelend hardcopy reproductions ERIC makes available * * via the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDR8)..EDRS is nbt *. * responsible for the. quality of the original document. Reproductions *' * supplied by EDRS are.tte best that can be made from the original.
    [Show full text]
  • High Court Judgment Template
    Case No: HC08C03346 Neutral Citation Number: [2010] EWHC 608 (Ch) IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE CHANCERY DIVISION Royal Courts of Justice Strand, London, WC2A 2LL Date: 29 March 2010 Before : THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE KITCHIN - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Between : (1) TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FILM CORPORATION (2) UNIVERSAL CITY STUDIOS PRODUCTIONS LLLP (3) WARNER BROS. ENTERTAINMENT INC. (4) PARAMOUNT PICTURES CORPORATION (5) DISNEY ENTERPRISES, INC. (6) COLUMBIA PICTURES INDUSTRIES, INC. Claimants - and - NEWZBIN LIMITED Defendant - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mr Adrian Speck (instructed by Wiggin LLP) for the Claimants Mr David Harris and Ms Jane Lambert (instructed by Kirwans Solicitors) for the Defendant Hearing dates: 1-3, 8, 10 February, 2, 3 March 2010 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Judgment Mr. Justice Kitchin : Introduction 1. This is an action for infringement of copyright arising from the operation of a website called Newzbin on a world wide internet discussion system called Usenet. The claimants are all well known makers and distributors of films. They say Newzbin is focused on piracy in that it locates and categorises unlawful copies of films and displays the titles of these copies in its indices; provides a facility for its users to search for particular unlawful copies and displays the results; and provides a simple one-click mechanism whereby users can acquire unlawful copies of their choice. 2. The defendant is the company that owns and operates Newzbin. It says that its website is simply a search engine like Google but directed to Usenet rather than the world wide web. It also says it is “content agnostic” and designed to index the entire content of Usenet. Where possible, it provides hyperlinks with the result that any supply of unlawful material is an act occurring exclusively between the hyperlink user and the relevant Usenet server operators and that the defendant plays no part in any such activity.
    [Show full text]
  • United States District~Cql!Rt T
    • United States Dis trict~C Ql!rt t ___------'C""E""NC!.T""'RA.,....L""- ___ DISTRICT OF ___--' C""A'-'.L""I""'F.."O'-'RN"'-'-'I"-'A'--_ In the Matter of the Seizure of (Addru l or Dri t! dutriplion or property or prfrniscs 10 be leized) THE FOLLOWING DOMAIN NAMES: APPLICATION AND AFFIDAVIT FOR SEIZURE WARRANT RAPGODFATHERS.COM, TORRENT-FINDER. COM, RMX4U.COM, CASE NUMBEi DAJAZ1.COM, and 0 - 28 22M ONSMASH.COM I, ANDREW REYNOLDS, being duly sworn depose and say: I am a Special Agent with the Homeland Security Investigations, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and have reason to believe that in the CENTRAL District of CALIFORNIA there is now concealed a certain person or property, namely the following Internet domain names: (ducribcthc pcnon or proputyto buciud) RAPGODFATHERS.COM, registered with Enom, Inc" which has its headquarters at 15801 NE 24" Street, Bellevue, Washington 98008; TORRENT-FINDER.COM registered with Blue Razor Domains, Inc., which has its headquarters at 14455 North Hayden Road, Suite 226, Scottsdale, Arizona 85260j RMX4U.COM registered with Enam, Inc. which has its headquarters at 15801 NE 24th Street, Bellevue, Washington 98008j DAJAZ1.COM registered with Fast Domain, Inc., which has its headquarters at 1958 South 950 East, Provo, Utah 84606; and ONSMASH.COM registered with Godaddy.com, Inc., which has its headquarters at 14455 N. Hayden Road, Suite 219, Scottsdale, Arizona 85260. which is (nace one Of more basu (or nR.ure undtr Uni ted Statu Code) subject to seizure and civil forfeiture under IS U.S.C. §§ 2323(a)(I)(B) and § 9SI(b); concerning a violation of Title 17, United States Code, Section 506(a) and T itle 18, United States Code, Section 2319.
    [Show full text]