It’s time to talk about Twitch again, and that means the Twitch v. John Doe lawsuit.
When last we left our heroes, Twitch had filed suit in the Northern District of California against one hundred John Doe defendants for federal trademark infringement, breach of contract, trespass to chattels, and fraud. The lawsuit targeted the antics of users who gained some notoriety earlier in the year for filling the Artifact category of Twitch will all sorts of vile material, including hardcore pornography and videos of real life killings.
This week Judge Orrick granted Twitch’s application for leave in order to file subpoenas against third parties, with the ultimate goal being to uncover the identities of the defendants in the lawsuit. Those third parties include:
- Microsoft/Hotmail
- Discord
- Verizon
- Comcast Cable Communications LLC
- Contina, Charter Communications Inc.
- Optimum Online
- Suddenlink Communications
- OVH Hosting
Third party subpoena recipients will have 30 days with which to serve the defendants with a copy of the subpoena and a copy of the order, and then the defendants will have 30 days to file any orders contesting or squashing the subpoena, after which the third party recipients will have 10 days to produce information responsive to Twitch.
In fancy terms, those who suspect or have a good idea that they may become a defendant in this lawsuit will have ample notice that they are in fact a defendant.
As always, MMO Fallout has provided the related docket at our expense in the Google Drive.