## Facts

- Action and Protection Foundation (APF), a human-rights organization, and its chairman, Daniel Bodnár, were involved as interested parties in civil and criminal matters in Budapest, Hungary concerning antisemitic hate speech and alleged defamation posted on the website kuruc.info.
- The Hungarian matters included pending criminal investigations; some proceedings were suspended or stalled because the perpetrators could not be identified.
- Petitioners alleged kuruc.info published Hungarian-language content targeting, among others, Jews of Hungarian origin and that the site did not identify its authors.
- Petitioners asserted U.S.-based discovery could help identify responsible individuals through technical and financial information tied to kuruc.info.
- Petitioners sought discovery from (1) Béla Varga, a California resident alleged to have registered the kuruc.info domain name, and (2) Cloudflare, Inc., believed to provide services associated with the site.
- The requested subpoenas included electronically stored information related to kuruc.info and bank-record requests connected to Varga.
- Petitioners filed an ex parte application in the Northern District of California under 28 U.S.C. § 1782; neither Varga nor Cloudflare appeared to oppose at the application hearing.

## Issues

1. Whether the statutory prerequisites of 28 U.S.C. § 1782(a) were met, including that the discovery targets were found in the district, the discovery was for use in foreign proceedings, and petitioners were “interested persons.”
2. Whether the court should exercise its discretion to authorize discovery under the Intel factors, including nonparticipation in the foreign proceedings, receptivity of the foreign tribunal, avoidance of circumvention of foreign restrictions, and burden/intrusiveness.
3. Whether the proposed subpoenas were appropriately limited to avoid undue burden while still providing information useful to the Hungarian proceedings.

## Decision

- The court granted the § 1782 application and authorized petitioners to serve subpoenas on Varga and Cloudflare for use in Hungarian civil and criminal matters.
- The court narrowed the subpoenas at the hearing to limit burden and intrusiveness.
- The order permitted discovery aimed at identifying individuals connected to kuruc.info through registration, technical, and related account information.

## Legal Principles

- Under 28 U.S.C. § 1782(a), a district court may order discovery from a person residing or found in the district for use in a proceeding before a foreign tribunal upon application by an interested person.
- Litigants or prospective litigants in foreign proceedings qualify as “interested persons” eligible to seek § 1782 discovery.
- In exercising discretion, courts apply the Intel factors: (1) whether the target is a participant in the foreign proceeding, (2) the nature of the foreign tribunal and receptivity to U.S. assistance, (3) whether the request circumvents foreign proof-gathering limits, and (4) whether the request is unduly intrusive or burdensome.
- Overbreadth concerns may be addressed by tailoring subpoenas rather than denying § 1782 relief when the statutory requirements and discretionary considerations otherwise support assistance.
- § 1782 may be used to obtain technical and account-related information from U.S.-based entities when such evidence is relevant to identifying anonymous actors for use in foreign civil or criminal proceedings.

## Conclusion

The court authorized narrowed § 1782 subpoenas to U.S.-based discovery targets connected to kuruc.info after finding the statutory requirements satisfied and concluding that discretionary considerations favored assistance to ongoing Hungarian civil and criminal matters seeking to identify anonymous individuals responsible for alleged hate speech and defamation.


In re Application of Action & Protection Found., No. 14-mc-80076 LB, 2014 WL 2795832 (N.D. Cal. June 19, 2014)