Tamburo v. Dworkin

John Tamburo (plaintiff) was a resident of and software-company owner in Illinois. One of Tamburo’s software products was an online database of dog-pedigree information that extracted data from other public websites maintained by Kristen Henry, Roxanne Hayes, Karen Mills, and Steven Dworkin (collectively, the individuals) (defendants). Three of the individuals were residents of Colorado, Michigan, or Ohio, and one was a resident of Canada. The individuals had infrequently or never physically visited or passed through Illinois. The individuals believed that Tamburo had stolen information from them or was “hacking” their websites. The individuals posted statements against Tamburo on their websites with his Illinois address and encouraged readers to harass Tamburo or boycott his products. The individuals also wanted to email a group of people who used a pedigree software program called Breedmate. Wild Systems Pty Ltd. (Wild Systems) (defendant) was an Australian company that owned Breedmate and operated an email listserve for users of Breedmate. Ronald DeJong was the owner of Wild Systems. The individuals sent messages regarding Tamburo to DeJong, who retransmitted the messages to the Breedmate listserve. Tamburo sued the individuals and Wild Systems in Illinois federal court, seeking a declaratory judgment that Tamburo had not violated any federal law and alleging that the individuals and Wild Systems had committed defamation, conspiracy, and other intentional torts against him. The individuals and Wild Systems filed motions to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction, which the district court granted. Tamburo appealed.