A subpoena has been issued directing Network54 Corp., your forum owner’s Internet Application Service Provider of this forum, to disclose any information we have regarding an anonymous poster of two specific messages. BNSF Railway Company (“BNSF”) has filed the subpoena in accordance with a Petition to Investigate Claims in the District Court, Tarrant County, Texas. Network54 refused to accept jurisdiction of the subpoena, and the subpoena was re-filed in Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles.
The postings in question are allegedly fake news items titled “Nation’s 2nd Largest Railroad Poised To Reduce Train Crews” and “Re: United Underground” that one that starts “The Supreme Court on Thursday abandoned a 96-year-old ban on setting price floors in a case involving a labor union and railroads”. The posts in question have been removed [Edit: they have now been restored.].
Information about the anonymous poster has not yet been disclosed
Information about the anonymous poster has not yet been disclosed. You can challenge the subpoena in Court. California has liberal ANTI-SLAPP laws that may also pertain to you. You may wish to find your own lawyer to help you evaluate your position and options. We have provided some resources below to help.
The attorneys for the railway requested the removal of the posts in mid July. The original subpoena was sent on July 17, and can be found here: 07_13_07_Subpoena.pdf, 07_13_07_DWQ.pdf , and 07_13_07_Notice.pdf. A newer and expanded subpoena as issued in California on July 31 will be posted once we have scanned it. The subpoena is returnable on and therefore must be challenged by August 14. See it here: BNSF_CA.pdf
We have requested that BNSF withhold from any action for 30 days in order for Network54 to provide notice, but they have not as of yet agreed to any extension, and we are thus preparing to file a motion to quash behalf (actually, Public Citizen is filing the motion for us). We believe the longer notice period is needed since we do not have contact information for the poster and hope to have the message visible long enough such that the poster will hopefully visit this forum and thus be notified with ample time to exercise their rights.
Our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy state that we may disclose such information at our sole discretion. We are not giving up that provision, but we respect the rights of anonymous posters on our service, and are trying to do so with whatever means we have at our disposal. However, he applicant is determined, our options are narrowing, and it is now the posters responsibility to fight for their privacy.
Update: Since the Califonia subpoena was not valid, and on advice from counsel, we refused to disclose the private information. We expect that BNSF will likely produce a valid subpoena in the future, possibly with a motion to compell from the court, at which time we intend to file a motion to quash.