Opinion
24-cv-03128-RS
06-18-2024
JIAREN ZHU, Plaintiff, v. THE PARTNERSHIPS AND UNINCORPORATED ASSOCIATIONS IDENTIFIED ON SCHEDULE “A” Defendant.
ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE UNDER SEAL
RICHARD SEEBORG CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Plaintiff Jiaren Zhu filed this action on May 23, 2024. Approximately seven weeks later, Zhu brought a motion seeking leave to file the attachments to the complaint under seal. Those attachments consist of a list of the “Sellers' Aliases” used by the defendants, and screenshots from Defendants' e-commerce stores on Amazon.com. The motion is denied. Even assuming Zhu could have made a showing that sealing would have been appropriate when the action was filed, there is no basis for sealing now. By Zhu's own admission, the information disclosed by his filing has already been gathered by “agencies” in China, who have shared it with at least some of the defendants.
Sealing the attachments to the complaint will not remove the information from the public domain. A simple Google search of Zhu's name reveals the information he voluntarily placed in the public record when he filed this action is now available on multiple websites. Furthermore, Zhu has recently filed a nearly identical action-disclosing the same information-in the Northern District of Illinois. Although Zhu has requested leave to proceed under seal in that action, he filed his documents without obtaining a sealing order.
Given that Zhu on at least two separate occasions voluntarily placed into the public record the information he now seeks to seal, and that a sealing order now would not remove the information from the public domain, the sealing order must be denied.
IT IS SO ORDERED.