DZ Reserve v. Meta Platforms, Inc.

Opinion

1 2 3 6 7 DZ RESERVE, et al., Case No. 3:18-cv-04978-JD

8 Plaintiffs, ORDER RE OMNIBUS MOTION TO 9 v. SEAL

10 META PLATFORMS, INC., Re: Dkt. No. 325 Defendant. 11

12 13 At the Court’s direction, see Dkt. Nos. 253, 320, the parties filed a joint omnibus motion to 14 seal portions of over one hundred documents, Dkt. No. 325. The parties also submitted requests to 15 seal on behalf of third-party Amazing.com. Id. The documents the parties seek to seal are related 16 primarily to DZ Reserve’s motion for class certification and various motions to exclude expert 17 witnesses, which are not dispositive proceedings. See Dkt. Nos. 325-1, 325-2, and 325-3. 18 The Court concludes that the parties have met their burden for “articulat[ing] compelling 19 reasons supported by specific factual findings that outweigh the general history of access and the 20 public policies favoring disclosures.” See In re Google Play Store Antitrust Litig., --- F. Supp. 3d 21 ---, 2021 WL 4190165, at *1 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 25, 2021) (quoting Kamakana v. City and County of 22 Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178-79 (9th Cir. 2006)). For each document that the plaintiffs seek to 23 seal, they have identified facts showing that the portions sought to be redacted and sealed were 24 related to personal information of individuals and names of unrelated third parties. 25 For each document that Meta Platforms seeks to seal, it has identified facts showing that 26 the proposed redactions are related to proprietary source code, technical processes and 27 functionalities of Meta’s products and systems, business strategies, business dealings with third 1 consumer behavior information. Meta has also tendered facts showing that the disclosure of these 2 types of information would cause Meta competitive harm or result in an unfair advantage to their 3 competitors. 4 For the documents that third-party Amazing.com seeks to seal, it has tendered facts 5 showing that the proposed redactions are related to proprietary business information related to its 6 e-commerce activities. Amazing.com further identified facts demonstrating that the disclosure of 7 the documents would lead to competitive injury to Amazing’s position in the marketplace. 8 Because each party has demonstrated compelling reasons supported by facts to show that 9 the documents should not be publicly disclosed, the omnibus motion to seal, Dkt. No. 325, is 10 granted. a 12 Dated: December 3, 2021

14 JAMES JPONATO 15 United Jtates District Judge 16

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