Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-azd-2_11-mc-00096/USCOURTS-azd-2_11-mc-00096-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 890
Nature of Suit: Other Statutory Actions
Cause of Action: Civil Miscellaneous Case

---

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

WO

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

Directory Assistants, Inc., 

Plaintiff, 

vs.

Does 1-10, 

Defendants. 

)

)

)

)

)

)

)

)

)

)

)

)

No. MC 11-00096-PHX-FJM

ORDER

Plaintiff Directory Assistants, Inc. ("DAI") filed an action against an unknown

defendant in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut, alleging

intentional interference with contractual relations and tortious interference with business

expectancies. DAI is an advertising consulting agency. The defendant anonymously posted

reviews of DAI on two websites in April 2011. One of these websites, RipoffReport.com,

is owned by non-party Xcentric Ventures, LLC ("Xcentric"). The website is an online forum

where consumers can post complaints about businesses. The post on RipoffReport.com

includes the following text:

Directory Assistants Inc David Ford, Dan Cassain Do Not Sign a Contract

with this Company Glastonbury, Connecticut

Do not sign a contract with this company. Once you sign the contract you are

not a customer, but a victim of their contract. They won't help you lower your

ad costs. They will only tell you to reduce the size of your ad and when you

do or make any changes at all they will charge you exhorbitant [sic] and

outrageous fees. Dan C. is the good cop. He looks nice and is professional.

Once they get you to sign, they you will be dealing with David Ford who

Case 2:11-mc-00096-FJM Document 14 Filed 11/04/11 Page 1 of 5
1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

- 2 -

sounds like a mafia kingpin. He will threaten to take you to court if you don't

pay exhorbitant [sic] fees. Their contract is full of deceptive devices that work

in their favor.

(Doc. 1, ex. 2 at 6). DAI sought information from Xcentric that could help it identify the

anonymous poster. It issued a subpoena to Xcentric on May 24, 2011, with which Xcentric

refused to comply. We now have before us plaintiff's motion to compel (doc. 1), Xcentric's

response (doc. 9), and plaintiff's reply (doc. 13). 

"[C]ivil subpoenas seeking information regarding anonymous individuals raise First

Amendment concerns." Sony Music Entm't, Inc. v. Does 1-40, 326 F.Supp.2d 556, 562

(S.D.N.Y. 2004). The First Amendment protects the right to anonymous speech on the

Internet, but this right is not absolute. McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Comm'n, 514 U.S. 334,

353 (1995); In re Anonymous Online Speakers, --- F.3d. ---, 2011 WL 61635, at *2 (9th Cir.

Jan. 7, 2011). For instance, "statements that cannot 'reasonably [be] interpreted as stating

actual facts' about an individual" are protected. Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co., 497 U.S.

1, 20, 110 S. Ct. 2695, 2706 (1990) (quoting Hustler Magazine, Inc. v. Falwell, 485 U.S. 46,

50, 108 S. Ct. 876, 879 (1988)). Xcentric contends that the posting is merely a nonactionable expression of opinion. We disagree. The post makes specific factual allegations

about DAI's business practices and its employees. These assertions could be verified as true

or false. For this reason, the statements could be actionable.

The degree of scrutiny given to anonymous online speech may vary with the

circumstances and the kind of speech at issue. In re Anonymous Online Speakers, 2011 WL

61635, at *2. While some federal and state courts have employed various standards, neither

the United States Supreme Court nor the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

has addressed the issue.

Some courts have required the moving party to show that its cause of action could

survive a motion for summary judgment. See, e.g., Doe v. Cahill, 884 A.2d 451, 457 (Del.

2005); Mobilisa, Inc. v. Doe, 217 Ariz. 103, 112, 170 P.3d 712, 721 (Ct. App. 2007). Others

have used the motion to dismiss or good faith standard. Columbia Ins. Co. v.

Seescandy.com, 185 F.R.D. 573, 579 (N.D. Cal. 1999); Lassa v. Rongstad, 294 Wis.2d 187,

Case 2:11-mc-00096-FJM Document 14 Filed 11/04/11 Page 2 of 5
1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

- 3 -

215, 718 N.W.2d 673, 687 (2006). Still others require a concrete showing as to each element

of a prima facie case. Doe I v. Individuals Whose True Names Are Unknown, 561 F.Supp.2d

249, 256 (D. Conn. 2008); Dendrite Int'l, Inc. v. Doe No. 3, 342 N.J. Super. 134, 141-42, 775

A.2d 756, 760-61 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 2001).

DAI suggests we should apply Best Western International, Inc. v. Doe, No. CV-06-

1537-PHX-DGC, 2006 WL 2091695, at *5 (D. Ariz. July 25, 2006), which required a

concrete showing of a prima facie claim of actionable harm, the equivalent of the summary

judgment standard. Id. at *4-5. Xcentric asserts that a summary judgment standard controls

as well, based on Mobilisa. We think that now that the federal pleading standard has been

raised by Twombly and Iqbal, discussed below, satisfaction of the federal pleading standard

should be sufficient to warrant disclosure of the identity of anonymous comments.

Nevertheless, we need not decide what standard applies because plaintiff has failed to satisfy

even the federal pleading standard.

A complaint must contain "enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on

its face" in order to survive a motion to dismiss. Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S.

544, 570, 127 S. Ct. 1955, 1974 (2007). "A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff

pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the

defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged." Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 129 S. Ct.

1937, 1949 (2009). "[W]here the well-pleaded facts do not permit the court to infer more than

the mere possibility of misconduct, the complaint has alleged–but it has not shown–that the

pleader is entitled to relief." Id. at 1950 (brackets and internal quotation marks omitted).

Even assuming the plaintiff's factual allegations are true, they do not plausibly give rise to

an entitlement to relief under Iqbal's standard.

We note that plaintiff does not plead defamation. Instead, DAI first alleges intentional

interference with contractual relations. Under Connecticut law, 

[a] claim for intentional interference with contractual relations requires the

plaintiff to establish: (1) the existence of a contractual or beneficial

relationship; (2) the defendant's knowledge of that relationship; (3) the

defendant's intent to interfere with the relationship; (4) that the interference

was tortious; and (5) a loss suffered by the plaintiff that was cause[d] by the

Case 2:11-mc-00096-FJM Document 14 Filed 11/04/11 Page 3 of 5
1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

- 4 -

defendant's tortious conduct.

Rioux v. Barry, 283 Conn. 338, 351, 927 A.2d 304, 311-12 (2007). Plaintiff's claim is not

facially plausible because there is no showing of loss, the fifth element of the cause of action.

DAI's complaint alleges that defendant's conduct caused DAI to suffer actual damages, but

it provides no facts to support the allegation. DAI's motion to compel includes more detailed

allegations of damages, but makes no showing of loss resulting from interference with

existing relationships. Two customers in Virginia purportedly declined to do business with

DAI after reading the posts, but these were prospective customers with no existing

contractual relationship with DAI. While DAI claims to have spent significant time and

money to address the posts, it has done so only to "reassure concerned prospective

customers" (doc. 1 at 11). There is no showing of a loss to a contractual or beneficial

relationship caused by the defendant's conduct.

DAI's second claim is for tortious interference with business expectancies. The

elements are: "(1) a business relationship between the plaintiff and another party; (2) the

defendant's intentional interference with the business relationship while knowing of the

relationship; and (3) as a result of the interference, the plaintiff suffers actual loss." Hi-Ho

Tower, Inc. v. Com-Tronics, Inc., 255 Conn. 20, 27, 761 A.2d 1268, 1273 (2000). The

plaintiff must also prove the defendant acted with improper motive or improper means.

Blake v. Levy, 191 Conn. 257, 262, 464 A.2d 52, 55 (1983). 

DAI did not plead a facially plausible claim of tortious interference with business

expectancies. Plaintiff's motion to compel alleged that two prospective customers declined

to do business with it because of the posts, but plaintiff failed to make a concrete showing

that the defendant intended to interfere with these specific business relationships while

knowing of the existence of these relationships. Knowledge of the specific business

relationship, not knowledge of amorphous potential customers, is necessary for liability to

attach. See Collins v. Anthem Health Plans, Inc., 275 Conn. 309, 334, 880 A.2d 106, 120

(2005) (plaintiff must prove a business relationship existed and "the defendant intentionally

interfered with that business relationship while knowing of its existence") (emphasis added);

Case 2:11-mc-00096-FJM Document 14 Filed 11/04/11 Page 4 of 5
1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

- 5 -

Solomon v. Aberman, 196 Conn. 359, 383, 493 A.2d 193, 206 (1985) (claim involves the

existence of a relationship and "the defendant's knowledge of that relationship") (emphasis

added). 

DAI has not satisfied the minimal possible standard for disclosure, and the one this

court would most likely adopt, let alone the more burdensome summary judgment standard.

Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED DENYING plaintiff's motion to compel. (Doc. 1).

DATED this 3rd day of November, 2011.

Case 2:11-mc-00096-FJM Document 14 Filed 11/04/11 Page 5 of 5