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Case 1:10-cv-00897-RJL Document 73 Filed 11/01/10 Page 1 of 3

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT


FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

)
DANIEL PARISI, )
WHITEHOUSE.COM INC., )
WHITEHOUSE NETWORK LLC, )

et
WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS INC., ) Civil Action
) No. 1:10-cv-00897-RJL
)

.n
Plaintiffs )
v. )
)
JEFFREY RENSE, )

or
LAWRENCE W. SINCLAIR a/k/a Larry Sinclair, )
BARNES & NOBLE, INC., )
BARNESANDNOBLE.COM LLC, )
AMAZON.COM, INC.,
BOOKS-A-MILLION, INC., and
SINCLAIR PUBLISHING, INC.,
at )
)
)
)
ul
Defendants. )
)
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DEFENDANT AMAZON.COM, INC. S MOTION TO STRIKE PORTIONS OF


PLAINTIFFS OPPOSITION TOAMAZON S MOTION FOR SUMMARY
JUDGMENT
eR

Defendant Amazom.com, Inc. ( Amazon.com ) moves to strike the portions of

Plaintiffs Opposition to Amazon s Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. No. 61) ( Parisi

Resp. ), Plaintiffs Statement of Disputed Material Facts (Dkt. No. 61-5) ( SDMF ), and
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Declaration of Richard J. Oparil (Dkt. No. 61-1) ( Oparil Decl. ), that rely on an

unauthenticated excerpt from an Internet posting.

PDF processed with CutePDF evaluation edition www.CutePDF.com


Case 1:10-cv-00897-RJL Document 73 Filed 11/01/10 Page 2 of 3

For the reasons set forth in the attached Memorandum of Points and Authorities,

the excerpt is not competent or admissible evidence, and is not permissible under

Fed.R.Civ.P 56(e)(1).

et
Respectfully submitted,

.n
_/s/___________________
John Longstreth, # 367047
Jenée Desmond-Harris, # 982624

or
K&L GATES, LLP
1601 K St. NW
Washington, DC 20006-1600
at Ph: 202.661.6271
Fax: 202.778.9100

Stephen A. Smith
ul
Mathew J. Segal
Kari L. Vander Stoep
K&L GATES, LLP
eg

925 Fourth Avenue, Suite 2900


Seattle, Washington 98104-1158
Ph: 206.370.7800
Fax: 206.370.6177
eR

Attorneys for Defendant,


November 1, 2010 AMAZON.COM, INC.
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Case 1:10-cv-00897-RJL Document 73 Filed 11/01/10 Page 3 of 3

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that a true and correct copy of the foregoing Defendant

Amazon.com, Inc. s Motion to Strike Portions of Plaintiffs Opposition to Amazon s

et
Motion for Summary Judgment was served this 1st day of November, 2010 via the

Court s Electronic Case Filing ( ECF ) system. I understand that notice of this filing

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will be sent to all parties by operation of the Court s ECF system.

or
__/s/_______________________
at John Longstreth
ul
eg
eR
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Case 1:10-cv-00897-RJL Document 73-1 Filed 11/01/10 Page 1 of 4

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT


FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

)
DANIEL PARISI, )
WHITEHOUSE.COM INC., )
WHITEHOUSE NETWORK LLC, )
WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS INC., ) Civil Action

et
) No. 1:10-cv-00897-RJL
)
Plaintiffs )

.n
v. )
)
JEFFREY RENSE, )
LAWRENCE W. SINCLAIR a/k/a Larry Sinclair, )

or
BARNES & NOBLE, INC., )
BARNESANDNOBLE.COM LLC, )
AMAZON.COM, INC., )
BOOKS-A-MILLION, INC., and
SINCLAIR PUBLISHING, INC.,
at )
)
)
Defendants. )
ul
)
eg

DEFENDANT AMAZON.COM, INC. S


MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES IN SUPPORT OF MOTION TO
STRIKE PORTIONS OF PLAINTIFFS OPPOSITION TOAMAZON S MOTION FOR
SUMMARY JUDGMENT
eR

Amazon.com, Inc. has moved to strike portions of Plaintiffs Opposition to Amazon s

Motion for Summary Judgment. Plaintiffs introduce what they claim to be an excerpt of an

alleged July 19, 2009 website posting by Defendant Lawrence Sinclair. The excerpt reads as
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follows:

This evening I received a pdf file from a website where the Obama bloggers admit that
they have been spamming Barnes & Noble website with fake reviews and rating the book
as low as possible to try and prevent people from ordering the book.

In this same file these same Bloggers have admitted to trying to find back door entry
into another individuals blog (which by the way is also known as hacking ) which has
been sent to the owner of that website.
Case 1:10-cv-00897-RJL Document 73-1 Filed 11/01/10 Page 2 of 4

I have forwarded to the legal department at Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com the pdf file
as well. I welcome honest reviews based on having actually read the Book. Sadly the
Obama people do not know what honest anything is, and the pdf file this evening
demonstrates that in living color.

I am pleased that both Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com have the Book, Barack Obama
& Larry Sinclair: Cocaine, Sex, Lies & Murder?

et
Posted By Larry Sinclair at 9:12 PM 0 comments Links to this post
(http://theregulator.net/?p=4732; Decl. ¶ 29).

Parisi Resp. at 20; SDMF ¶ 17; Oparil Decl. ¶ 29. Plaintiffs assert in their briefing that this

.n
excerpt is evidence that Amazon.com played some role in the creation or development of

or
electronic promotional content pertaining to the Sinclair book. Parisi Resp. at 20-21.

As described in Amazon.com s Reply In Support of Motion for Summary Judgment, this


at
excerpt would not create any disputed material fact even if admitted. Nonetheless, the excerpt

should be stricken because there is no showing that the Sinclair website posting is authentic or
ul
that it would be competent or admissible evidence. Plaintiffs simply provide the block quote of
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the alleged website posting. There is no demonstration in the Oparil Declaration that Sinclair

was the author of the alleged posting. F.R.E. 901 ( [t]he requirement of authentication or

identification as a condition precedent to admissibility is satisfied by evidence sufficient to


eR

support a finding that the matter in question is what its proponent claims ). Nor could there be,

since Plaintiffs counsel is not a competent witness to establish the authenticity of this excerpt.
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Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(e)(1); Stuart v. Gen. Motors Corp., 217 F.3d 621, 636 (8th Cir. 2000) (stating

that [t]o be considered on summary judgment, documents must be authenticated by and attached

to an affidavit made on personal knowledge setting forth such facts as would be admissible in

evidence or a deposition that meets the requirements of Rule 56(e) and that [d]ocuments which

do not meet those requirements cannot be considered ).

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Case 1:10-cv-00897-RJL Document 73-1 Filed 11/01/10 Page 3 of 4

Only competent and admissible evidence may be considered in opposition to summary

judgment. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(e)(1). Therefore, Defendant Amazon.com respectfully requests

that page 20 of Plaintiffs Opposition brief (Parisi Resp. at 20), Paragraph 17 of Plaintiffs

Statement of Disputed Material Facts, and Paragraph 29 of the Oparil Declaration all should be

et
stricken as unauthenticated and inadmissible.

Respectfully submitted,

.n
_/s/___________________

or
John Longstreth, # 367047
Jenée Desmond-Harris, # 982624
K&L GATES, LLP
at 1601 K St. NW
Washington, DC 20006-1600
Ph: 202.661.6271
Fax: 202.778.9100
ul
Stephen A. Smith
Mathew J. Segal
eg

Kari L. Vander Stoep


K&L GATES, LLP
925 Fourth Avenue, Suite 2900
Seattle, Washington 98104-1158
Ph: 206.370.7800
eR

Fax: 206.370.6177

Attorneys for Defendant,


November 1, 2010 AMAZON.COM, INC.
Th

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Case 1:10-cv-00897-RJL Document 73-1 Filed 11/01/10 Page 4 of 4

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that a true and correct copy of the foregoing Memorandum of Points and

Authorities in Support of Motion to Strike Portions of Plaintiffs Opposition to Amazon s

Motion for Summary Judgment was served this first day of November 2010 via the Court s

et
Electronic Case Filing ( ECF ) system. I understand that notice of this filing will be sent to all

parties by operation of the Court s ECF system.

.n
or
_/s/_______________________
John Longstreth

at
ul
eg
eR
Th

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Case 1:10-cv-00897-RJL Document 73-2 Filed 11/01/10 Page 1 of 3

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT


FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

)
DANIEL PARISI, )
WHITEHOUSE.COM INC., )
WHITEHOUSE NETWORK LLC, )
WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS INC., ) Civil Action

et
) No. 1:10-cv-00897-RJL
)
Plaintiffs )

.n
v. )
)
JEFFREY RENSE, )
LAWRENCE W. SINCLAIR a/k/a Larry Sinclair, )

or
BARNES & NOBLE, INC., )
BARNESANDNOBLE.COM LLC, )
AMAZON.COM, INC., )
BOOKS-A-MILLION, INC., and
SINCLAIR PUBLISHING, INC.,
at )
)
)
Defendants. )
ul
)
eg

[PROPOSED] ORDER

This matter having come before the Court on Defendant Amazon.com, Inc. s Motion to

Strike Portions of Plaintiffs Opposition to Amazon s Motion for Summary Judgment, and upon
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consideration of the Motion, the response thereto and the entire record in this matter, it is hereby

on this ______ day of _______, 2010,


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ORDERED that Defendant Amazon.com, Inc. s Motion to Strike Portions of Plaintiffs

Opposition to Amazon s Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED; and

#
Case 1:10-cv-00897-RJL Document 73-2 Filed 11/01/10 Page 2 of 3

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that page 20 of Plaintiffs Opposition brief, Paragraph 17

of Plaintiffs Statement of Disputed Material Facts, and Paragraph 29 of the Oparil Declaration

are all striken from the record as unauthenticated and inadmissible.

__________________________
The Honorable Richard J. Leon

et
United States District Judge

.n
or
at
ul
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Case 1:10-cv-00897-RJL Document 73-2 Filed 11/01/10 Page 3 of 3

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that a true and correct copy of the foregoing Proposed Order on

Defendant Amazon.com, Inc. s Motion to Strike Portions of Plaintiffs Opposition to Amazon s

Motion for Summary Judgment was served this first day of November 2010 via the Court s

et
Electronic Case Filing ( ECF ) system. I understand that notice of this filing will be sent to all

parties by operation of the Court s ECF system.

.n
or
_/s/_______________________
John Longstreth

at
ul
eg
eR
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