Judge Won't Allow Expedited Discovery in FacebookOfSex Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge has denied Facebook's request to expedite discovery requests in learning the identities of about 100 affiliates of FriendFinder-owned FacebookOfSex.com.

U.S. District Judge Donny Ryu on Friday ruled that Facebook hadn't demonstrated good cause for expedited discovery and that "its discovery requests are so broad as to be implausibly tailored for the sole purposes of discerning unnamed defendants’ identities and crafting a motion for preliminary injunction."

"[Facebook] may obtain discovery to identify unnamed defendants during the normal course of discovery," Ryu wrote.

FriendFinder and its affiliates have been the focus of an infringement claim by the mainstream social network giant since Facebook filed suit in April.

In the suit, Facebook says the name of FriendFinder's Traffic Cat site, FacebookOfSex.com, is too similar to its own trademarked name and it seeked expedited discovery to accelerate a more complete evidentiary record relative to alleged infringing uses of its trademark.

In a motion to nix Facebook's request, FriendFinder counsel Floyd Mandell of Katten Muchin Rosenman earlier said "no good cause exists for [Facebook's] proposed expedited fishing expedition to search for other entities to sue and to interfere with defendants’ business references."

Facebook's counsel, Michael Rhodes of the Cooley law firm, said that FriendFinder simply hadn't complied with its requests over information relative to names and addresses associated with its affiliate program and that talks have broken down.

Facebook counsel further said that FriendFinder continues to use the "Facebook" trademark in the FacebookOfSex.com domain, which directs users to another FriendFinder site, XMatch.com, and that the company continues to benefit from accepting traffic from the John Doe defendants’ infringing sites.

After the suit's filing FriendFinder removed most of the  content, leaving a login screen for existing members to log in to their accounts.

Facebook asked the court for expedited relief because it said it intends to  pursue a motion for a preliminary injunction against all defendants, which have been difficult to identify because many use a  proxy service domain registration that masks their identities.   

In its original suit filed in April at U.S. District Court in San Francisco, Facebook says FacebookOfSex.com " is a blatant attempt ... to hijack Facebook's fame for illicit financial gain."

Related:  

Copyright © 2024 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More News

Justices Alito, Thomas Invoke Victorian-Era Morality Law, Raising Censorship Concerns

Several national publications reported this week on widespread concern among Free Speech advocates after U.S. Supreme Court Justices Samuel Scalia and Clarence Thomas repeatedly invoked during a hearing the infamous segregation-era law the Comstock Act, which was the cornerstone of U.S. censorship of sexual material from the 1870s until the 1970s.

Skinfluential Management's FansFuel Acquires Fanwire

FansFuel has acquired creator account management tool Fanwire.

Nebraska AV Bill Moves Forward Despite Privacy, Free Speech Concerns

Nebraska’s unicameral Legislature has given first-round approval to LB 1092, the state’s version of the age verification bills being sponsored around the country by anti-porn religious conservative activists.

AEBN Celebrates 25th Anniversary

The Adult Entertainment Broadcast Network (AEBN) is celebrating its 25th year in business this week.

Performers in Meta Blacklisting Lawsuit Seek to Preserve Antitrust Claims

Adult Performance Artists Guild board officers Alana Evans, Kelly Pierce and Ruby have informed a California court that, although they want to drop their lawsuit claiming that Meta conspired with OnlyFans to blacklist rival premium fan platforms’ talent, they may still pursue antitrust claims in the future.

FSC, Co-Plaintiffs to Ask US Supreme Court to Review Constitutionality of Texas Age Verification Law

Free Speech Coalition (FSC) and its co-plaintiffs in the challenge to Texas’ controversial age verification law have petitioned the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit to stay its recent decision upholding the law, because they intend to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to review the law’s constitutionality.

FSC Vows to Fight Florida Age Verification Law

Free Speech Coalition (FSC) has issued a statement vowing to continue fighting Florida’s new age verification law, which was signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday as part of a comprehensive bill targeting minors’ use of social media.

Kansas Republican Aims to Create New Bureaucracy to 'Investigate' Porn Websites

Republican state legislators succeeded Monday in moving forward Kansas’ version of the age verification bills being sponsored around the country by anti-porn religious conservative activists, despite serious concerns raised by House Democrats about the cost of establishing a new bureaucracy tasked with investigating websites for pornographic content.

SK Intertainment Launches 'Skinfluential Management' Agency, FansFuel Joint Venture

Mr. Skin/Mr. Man parent company SK Intertainment has launched new creator agency Skinfluential Management, as well as a new joint venture with Showbizz Media's creator stats and affiliate marketing platform, FansFuel.

Industry Attorney, Free Speech Champion Clyde DeWitt Passes Away at 75

Noted industry attorney Clyde DeWitt passed away on Friday in Las Vegas at 75, according to friends and colleagues.

Show More