Case 1:20-mc-00036-JEB-DAR Document 8 Filed 08/04/20 Page 14 of 18
procedures (e.g., MLAT) reflects its determination of the proper balance between the competing
interests at issue in this litigation and thus constitutes the legislatively mandated processes by
which foreign governments can seek to obtain content information from providers. Facebook
could comply with a proper request pursuant to the CLOUD Act or the international assistance
process.4
II.
The Applicant has not satisfied the legal or prudential requirements for obtaining
discovery under Section 1782.
This Court also should deny the application because the requests are overbroad and
disproportionate to the potential relevance and utility of any resulting information.
In considering whether to grant a Section 1782 application, courts must weigh whether
the discovery requested is “‘proportional’ considering ‘the issues at stake in the [foreign
proceeding] … the importance of the discovery in resolving the issues, and whether the burden
or expense of the proposed discovery outweighs its likely benefit.’” MetaLab Design Ltd. v. Zozi
Int’l, Inc., 2018 WL 368766, at *4 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 11, 2018) (quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(1)).5
Requests are overbroad “where they are not narrowly tailored.” Id. (quoting In re Ex Parte
Application of Qualcomm, Inc., 162 F. Supp. 3d 1029, 1043 (N.D. Cal. 2016)).
4
Yet another legal framework for the disclosure of content information would be a formal
request for discovery pursuant to the mutual legal assistance provisions codified in
international treaties, such as the Palermo Convention on Transnational Organized Crime,
International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, United Nations
Convention Against Corruption, UN-CTOC and Convention Against Torture, to which The
Gambia and the United States are both signatories.
5
“The proper scope of discovery arising out of a § 1782 application is generally determined by
the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure,” In re: Ex Parte Application Varian Med. Sys. Int’l AG,
2016 WL 1161568, at *5 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 24, 2016), regardless of whether the foreign
proceeding is civil or criminal, Medeiros v. Int’l Game Tech., 2016 WL 1611591, at *3 & n.2
(D. Nev. Apr. 22, 2016).
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