Elec. Frontier Found. v. Global Equity Mgmt. (SA) Pty Ltd.

290 F. Supp. 3d 923
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedNovember 17, 2017
DocketCase No. 17–cv–02053–JST
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 290 F. Supp. 3d 923 (Elec. Frontier Found. v. Global Equity Mgmt. (SA) Pty Ltd.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Elec. Frontier Found. v. Global Equity Mgmt. (SA) Pty Ltd., 290 F. Supp. 3d 923 (N.D. Cal. 2017).

Opinion

IV. LEGAL STANDARDS

When subject matter jurisdiction is based on a federal question, as is the case here, a federal court applies the long-arm statute of the state in which it sits to determine whether there is personal jurisdiction. Glencore Grain Rotterdam B.V. v. Shivnath Rai Harnarain Co., 284 F.3d 1114, 1123 (9th Cir. 2002). California's long-arm statute provides that personal jurisdiction extends as far as federal due process allows. Daimler AG v. Bauman, 571 U.S. 117, 134 S.Ct. 746, 753, 187 L.Ed.2d 624 (2014) (applying California law). Under this standard, specific personal jurisdiction exists where:

(1) the defendant has performed some act or consummated some transaction within the forum or otherwise purposefully availed himself of the privileges of conducting activities in the forum, (2) the claim arises out of or results from the defendant's forum-related activities, and (3) the exercise of jurisdiction is reasonable.

Pebble Beach Co. v. Caddy, 453 F.3d 1151, 1155 (9th Cir. 2006) (citation omitted). "If the plaintiff succeeds in satisfying both of the first two prongs, the burden then shifts to the defendant to 'present a compelling case' that the exercise of jurisdiction would not be reasonable." Schwarzenegger v. Fred Martin Motor Co., 374 F.3d 797, 802 (9th Cir. 2004) (quoting Burger King Corp. v. Rudzewicz, 471 U.S. 462, 477, 105 S.Ct. 2174, 85 L.Ed.2d 528 (1985) ).

To decide whether the first prong is met in tort cases, the Ninth Circuit applies the "effects test" set forth in Calder v. Jones, which "is satisfied if (1) the defendant committed an intentional act; (2) the act was expressly aimed at the forum state; and (3) the act caused harm that the defendant knew was likely to be suffered in the forum state." Love v. Associated Newspapers, Ltd., 611 F.3d 601, 609 (9th Cir. 2010) ; see also, 465 U.S. 783, 104 S.Ct. 1482.2 The Ninth Circuit has held that a *934case brought under the First Amendment, asserting that a foreign court's order is unenforceable by an American court, is likewise analyzed under the "effects test." Yahoo!, 433 F.3d at 1206.

Under this test, courts determine whether "the defendant has directed his actions at the forum state, even if those actions took place elsewhere." Picot v. Weston, 780 F.3d 1206, 1212 (9th Cir. 2015). "An intentional act is one denot[ing] an external manifestation of the actor's will ... not includ[ing] any of its results, even the most direct, immediate, and intended." Morrill v. Scott Fin. Corp., 873 F.3d 1136, 1142 (9th Cir. 2017) (internal citations omitted). "[R]andom, fortuitous, or attenuated contacts are insufficient to create the requisite connection with the forum." Id.

The decision to grant or deny a plaintiff's motion for default judgment is soundly within this Court's discretion. See Aldabe v. Aldabe, 616 F.2d 1089, 1092 (9th Cir. 1980). The Court may evaluate the following factors in considering a motion for default judgment:

(1) the possibility of prejudice to the plaintiff, (2) the merits of plaintiff's substantive claim, (3) the sufficiency of the complaint, (4) the sum of money at stake in the action, (5) the possibility of a dispute concerning material facts, (6) whether the default was due to excusable neglect, and (7) the strong policy underlying the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure favoring decisions on the merits.

NewGen, LLC v. Safe Cig, LLC, 840 F.3d 606, 616 (9th Cir. 2016) (citing Eitel v. McCool, 782 F.2d 1470, 1471-72 (9th Cir. 1986) (the " Eitel factors") ). In assessing default judgment, the factual allegations in the complaint are taken as true. TeleVideo Sys., Inc. v. Heidenthal, 826 F.2d 915, 916-17 (9th Cir. 1987). As EFF seeks default judgment in the form of declaratory relief stating that GEMSA's injunction is unenforceable under the SPEECH Act, EFF "bear[s] the burden of establishing that the foreign judgment would not be enforceable." 28 U.S.C. § 4104 (a)(2).

V. DISCUSSION

A. Whether the Court has jurisdiction over GEMSA

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Bluebook (online)
290 F. Supp. 3d 923, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/elec-frontier-found-v-global-equity-mgmt-sa-pty-ltd-cand-2017.