<<If a governmental agency (for example, the Securities and Exchange Commission, law enforcement agencies, US Attorneys' offices or similar governmental agencies) sends us a subpoena, we will comply with it.>>
Why? This, perhaps, should more appropriately be:
If a governmental agency . . . sends us a subpoena, we will attempt to contact the user whose identity has been requested using the contact information the user provided during the registration process -- unless prohibited by law or by the terms of the subpoena or order. Subject to the foregoing, we will wait 10 days after notifying the user before complying with the subpoena by disclosing the identity of the user, unless the subpoena requires us to disclose this information before then. If we cannot wait 10 days because of the deadline in the subpoena, we will let the user know the deadline included in the subpoena when we provide notice that we received it.
There really is no reason to treat governmental subpoenas differently than subpoenas in civil or criminal litigation unless they have a confidentiality requirement on the face of them. Generally, these are only included on grand jury subpoenas and then only when accompanied by a court order of secrecy.
Some would argue, and rightfully so in some cases, that the need to notify the member of a governmental subpoena is actually greater than in the case of a private subpoena. The interference with privacy is actually greater and implicates potential constitutional concerns when it is the government asking for the information.
Troy
PS -- the preview and edit function appears to remove the >>. When I preview, the >> shows up, when I edit, the >> vanish from the post. This post was posted without going through the preview and edit mode after I added the >> back in.
Troy
Those who shoot from the hip usually end up just shooting themselves.
Plan the grub and grub the plan.
Where is the party tonight? Who is bringng the drinks?
