Check out this order, Motamedi v. Oesterblad (E.D. Mich. Aug. 5, 2015), submitted to Google with a redaquest to deindex the websites listed as defamatory in the order; here’s an excerpt:
Alas, this is not the case to deal with these interesting questions — because it’s not a case. There is no Motamedi v. Oesterblad in the Eastern District of Michigan. The case number 2:13-cv-14541 (the number listed in the order) in that district corresponds to a completely different order. There is no Daniel Ro. Markus, the lawyer who, according to the order, was responsible for the case. The order submitted to Google was a forgery, like the ones discussed here (Lichterman and Aukerman), here (Arnstein), and here (Haas).
There is a Motamedi — indeed, such a forged order is useful only insofar as the URLs that it aims to get deindexed are real URLs that criticize real people. I got in touch with him, to see whether he was responsible for filing the order, or if this was done by some company he hired (in which case it might have been done without his knowledge that the order would be forged). I got a good deal of bluster from him and insistence that this was indeed a real order. Maybe he does believe that it is a real order, because he hired someone who duped him into thinking that a real order was procured — but he wouldn’t tell me who that someone might be.
And this should be instructive to all of us: Never trust a court document (a subpoena, an order, or anything else) from someone else’s case until you check it with the court records. Sometimes you can do it online for free, sometimes for a modest amount — and if you get the document as part of your business, it’s a cost of doing business — and sometimes by calling the clerk of court’s office. I wish that this weren’t so, and that you could trust documents that ostensibly come from the government. But you can’t.
For more on other Internet libel takedown orders and related matters — some of which are fraudulent or at least underhanded in other ways — see this set of posts.