Oregon Moves to Quash RIAA Subpoenas

The University of Oregon will support 17 students the RIAA accused of illegal file-sharing. Represented by the Oregon Attorney General's office, the university requested a federal judge invalidate the RIAA's subpoena seeking the students' names. The school argued the subpoena puts an undue burden on it to "create documents that do not exist, simply for the purposes of discovery," Ars Technica reports.

The tactic worked before against record industry subpoenas lobbed at the College of William and Mary, in Virginia. Oregon officials also claim they cannot determine whether a student living in a dorm room is responsible for file-sharing, or a guest. If the judge rules against the RIAA, it could set a tough precedent for future institutional copyright infringement cases. (More Recording Industry Association of America stories.)