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Sony v. Hotz: The Parties Agree and Disagree on Jurisdictional Discovery Issues

By Pamela Jones et al.

The parties in SCEA v. Hotz have conferred and now have sent a 17-page joint letter to the Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero, informing him that certain disputes about jurisdictional discovery have been resolved but others need his intervention.

I'll show you the letter, as text, and provide some details, but the bottom line is that Sony, technically Sony Computer Entertainment America or SCEA, is pursuing discovery more in the manner that large corporations do. They want as much as they can get, like wanting George Hotz to fly to California for a deposition, and they are even willing to pay Hotz's travel expenses. But Hotz is an individual, not a corporation, and he doesn't have endless money from international commerce, so he'd like SCEA to send interrogatories and other written methods of doing discovery. They aren't offering, he points out, to pay for a court recorder at the deposition.

And I'd have to say Hotz would like it if Sony didn't treat him like he is inclined to be dishonest. His lawyers say he has been above-board and forthcoming to date. But on Sony's side, they feel they'd like definite confirmation about the facts of Hotz's dealings with California, so Sony still wants things like the right to subpoena PayPal.

This is all about whether or not SCEA can sue Hotz in California or if it must start again in New Jersey, where Hotz resides. Hotz has a Motion to Dismiss filed, and unless SCEA can come up with a way to pin Hotz to California, it can't sue him there.

Full post as published by Groklaw on February 22, 2011 (boomark / email).