DZ Reserve v. Meta Platforms, Inc.

4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 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.

13 At the Court’s direction, see Dkt. Nos. 253, 320, the parties filed a joint omnibus motion to seal portions of over one hundred documents, Dkt. No. 325. The parties also submitted requests to seal on behalf of third-party Amazing.com. Id. The documents the parties seek to seal are related primarily to DZ Reserve’s motion for class certification and various motions to exclude expert 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 reasons supported by specific factual findings that outweigh the general history of access and the public policies favoring disclosures.” See In re Google Play Store Antitrust Litig., --- F. Supp. 3d ---, 2021 WL 4190165, at *1 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 25, 2021) (quoting Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178-79 (9th Cir. 2006)). For each document that the plaintiffs seek to seal, they have identified facts showing that the portions sought to be redacted and sealed were 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 the proposed redactions are related to proprietary source code, technical processes and functionalities of Meta’s products and systems, business strategies, business dealings with third consumer behavior information. Meta has also tendered facts showing that the disclosure of these || types of information would cause Meta competitive harm or result in an unfair advantage to their competitors.

4 For the documents that third-party Amazing.com seeks to seal, it has tendered facts showing that the proposed redactions are related to proprietary business information related to its || e-commerce activities. Amazing.com further identified facts demonstrating that the disclosure of || 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 the documents should not be publicly disclosed, the omnibus motion to seal, Dkt. No. 325, is || granted.

11 IT IS SO ORDERED. a 12 Dated: December 3, 2021

JAMES JPONATO 15 United Jtates District Judge = 17 Z 18