University Gets Time To Notify Students Before Handing Over Info To The RIAA

from the another-loss-for-the-RIAA dept

It's nice to see the courts finally pushing back on the RIAA's repeated attempts to expand the law to protect its business models and co-opt others into being their private enforcement force. TorrentFreak points us to the news that the University of California, Santa Cruz has won a lawsuit against the RIAA, which allows the university to notify a student and his or her parents with plenty of time, before handing over any info to the RIAA. The idea is that the student and parents should be able to review the info, challenge the subpoena and/or retain a lawyer before things go any further. The ruling is based on a (proper) interpretation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which prohibits universities from handing over any private info on their students. In the case of a lawful subpoena, they can hand over the info, but first must notify the student and parents, giving them time to sort out the legal issues. It's nice to see more judges recognize that there's more to this than the RIAA screaming fire and demanding every one simply hand over info.

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