Obtaining a warrant

[riffwraith]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CT

Hi. Please forgive me if I am not posing the Q properly, but here goes.

It seems as tho it is not possible for a civilian to obtain a warrant - that only law enforcement can. Assuming this is true, is it possible for a civilian, who is trying to get some information about a 3rd party (who is in violation of the law), to petition either law enforcement and/or a court to get a warrant, and to have that 3rd part served?

Hope that makes sense; if not, I can go into more detail if need be.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Zigner]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CT

Hi. Please forgive me if I am not posing the Q properly, but here goes.

It seems as tho it is not possible for a civilian to obtain a warrant - that only law enforcement can. Assuming this is true, is it possible for a civilian, who is trying to get some information about a 3rd party (who is in violation of the law), to petition either law enforcement and/or a court to get a warrant, and to have that 3rd part served?

Hope that makes sense; if not, I can go into more detail if need be.

Thanks in advance.

What you are looking for is not called a warrant - it's called a subpoena and it's done as a part of the lawsuit you intend to file. Your attorney will now how to prepare one.

Perhaps you can tell us what information you hope to obtain...

 

[TigerD]

Yes, more detail is necessary.

TD

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CT

Hi. Please forgive me if I am not posing the Q properly, but here goes.

It seems as tho it is not possible for a civilian to obtain a warrant - that only law enforcement can. Assuming this is true, is it possible for a civilian, who is trying to get some information about a 3rd party (who is in violation of the law), to petition either law enforcement and/or a court to get a warrant, and to have that 3rd part served?

Hope that makes sense; if not, I can go into more detail if need be.

Thanks in advance.

Are you speaking of an arrest warrant? A court issues an arrest warrant on behalf of the state, based on an offense charged in a complaint, which commands law enforcement to arrest a person. There must be probable cause to believe an offense has been committed and the person named in the warrant committed it.

Arrest warrants are not issued just to "get some information about a 3rd party."

 

[FlyingRon]

The other option (depending on just what the OP is talking about) is a examination before trial or deposition. That's typically the way you obtain information from someone in a civil action.

 

[quincy]

... depending on just what the OP is talking about ...

It certainly would help to know just what riffwraith is talking about.

riffwraith offered to go into more detail "if need be." I am pretty sure there is a "need be."

 

[CdwJava]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CT

Hi. Please forgive me if I am not posing the Q properly, but here goes.

It seems as tho it is not possible for a civilian to obtain a warrant - that only law enforcement can. Assuming this is true, is it possible for a civilian, who is trying to get some information about a 3rd party (who is in violation of the law), to petition either law enforcement and/or a court to get a warrant, and to have that 3rd part served?

Hope that makes sense; if not, I can go into more detail if need be.

Thanks in advance.

If you are aware of someone who has violated the law, or suspect they have violated the law, the proper thing to do would be to report the matter to the proper law enforcement agency. Let THEM investigate the matter. It is not up to YOU to investigate a suspected criminal, that is the job of law enforcement.

If this is a civil tort (i.e. someone caused you some harm for which you want to SUE them), then you will have to initiate a court action against them (i.e. sue them) before you can seek to subpoena any information from them. If this is the case, and this is not small enough to support a Small Claims action, then you should really seek the advice of an attorney.

 

[riffwraith]

Thanks for the replies. Ok, more info - sure.

What you are looking for is not called a warrant - it's called a subpoena and it's done as a part of the lawsuit you intend to file.

Lawsuit? Who said anything about a lawsuit? I am not intending to file a lawsuit.

Are you speaking of an arrest warrant?

No, I was speaking of a search warrant, or warrant of execution.

Here is the deal:

I am a songwriter, and some of my music has wound up on some mp3 sites without my consent (not torrent/file sharing sites). I have had some success getting some files taken down:

1) Filling out a DMCA claim
2) Where DMCA links are not available, doing a whois search, and filing a claim with the domain's host (for ex. godaddy).

However, certain sites have no DMCA link available, and no registrar info is found when doing a whois search. I am not sure why the latter; I am going to look into that shortly (it's not due to privacy; that keeps the registrar's name hidden, but should not hide all of the sites info).

So for these sites, I use a tool called robtex to fond out who hosts the nameserver. I would file a DMCA claim with that company, but all they do is pass along the info to the registrar; they don't actually take down the content. Furthermore, they refuse to furnish any info to me, including who hosts that particular domain. Under normal circumstances, the argument might be that the nameserver company is protecting the domain's wish to remain private. Understandable - but I say they forfeit the right to remain private when they are in direct violation of international copyright law. I don't have any legal precedent for that; I am merely stating my opinion here.

Bearing in mind you are talking to a lay person here, who has no background in either the legal field, not law enforcement.... the thought process was to try and obtain a formal and legal document in order to be able to force the company who hosts the name server to hand over the name of the company who hosts that particular domain. This would afford me the opportunity to petition that host to have my IP removed. I was thinking that doc would be in the form of a warrant.

I am open to any and all suggestions - even if it is an entirely different approach.

Thanks again.

 

[Zigner]

Which brings us back to doe...

Thanks for the replies. Ok, more info - sure.

What you are looking for is not called a warrant - it's called a subpoena and it's done as a part of the lawsuit you intend to file.

Lawsuit? Who said anything about a lawsuit? I am not intending to file a lawsuit.

Are you speaking of an arrest warrant?

No, I was speaking of a search warrant, or warrant of execution.

Here is the deal:

I am a songwriter, and some of my music has wound up on some mp3 sites without my consent (not torrent/file sharing sites). I have had some success getting some files taken down:

1) Filling out a DMCA claim
2) Where DMCA links are not available, doing a whois search, and filing a claim with the domain's host (for ex. godaddy).

However, certain sites have no DMCA link available, and no registrar info is found when doing a whois search. I am not sure why the latter; I am going to look into that shortly (it's not due to privacy; that keeps the registrar's name hidden, but should not hide all of the sites info).

So for these sites, I use a tool called robtex to fond out who hosts the nameserver. I would file a DMCA claim with that company, but all they do is pass along the info to the registrar; they don't actually take down the content. Furthermore, they refuse to furnish any info to me, including who hosts that particular domain. Under normal circumstances, the argument might be that the nameserver company is protecting the domain's wish to remain private. Understandable - but I say they forfeit the right to remain private when they are in direct violation of international copyright law. I don't have any legal precedent for that; I am merely stating my opinion here.

Bearing in mind you are talking to a lay person here, who has no background in either the legal field, not law enforcement.... the thought process was to try and obtain a formal and legal document in order to be able to force the company who hosts the name server to hand over the name of the company who hosts that particular domain. This would afford me the opportunity to petition that host to have my IP removed. I was thinking that doc would be in the form of a warrant.

I am open to any and all suggestions - even if it is an entirely different approach.

Thanks again.

 

[tranquility]

You must generally initiate a lawsuit before being able to do civil discovery. Civil discovery will be focused on suing the infringing persons and not on being able to issue a take down notice. Note that what they are doing (hiding the ball on getting take down notices) is a "bad practice", I don't believe that means they forfeit their privacy rights in the way you want.

http://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/DMCA_Good_Bad_and_Situational_Practices_Document-FINAL.pdf

 

[riffwraith]

Which brings us back to doe...

What the heck does that mean?

 

[Zigner]

What the heck does that mean?

It means that my first answer (the first response in your thread) answers your question.

 

[riffwraith]

You must generally initiate a lawsuit before being able to do civil discovery. Civil discovery will be focused on suing the infringing persons and not on being able to issue a take down notice.

Ok, I thought discovery was only if you have a lawsuit filed and answered. Again, I am not looking to file suit. I will if I have to, but am trying to find another way.

Note that what they are doing (hiding the ball on getting take down notices) is a "bad practice", I don't believe that means they forfeit their privacy rights in the way you want.

I wouldn't say that hiding the ball on getting take down notices means they forfeit their privacy rights; but I would say that knowingly and willingly breaking the law would mean they forfeit their privacy rights.

Cheers.

 

[riffwraith]

It means that my first answer (the first response in your thread) answers your question.

That answer does not pertain to my Q.

 

[CdwJava]

Both discovery and a subpoena pertain to filed cases. You cannot get these merely to explore the facts. You cannot obtain a search warrant or any other kind of warrant.