[RIAA} More on Oregon and UO's Refusal To Submit to the RIAA

Found via Blue Oregon, NYT columnist Adam Liptak discusses, summarizes and opines:

The surprise was not that 20-year-olds listen to Sting. It was that the university fought back.

Represented by the state’s attorney general, Hardy Myers, the university filed a blistering motion to quash the subpoena, accusing the industry of misleading the judge, violating student privacy laws and engaging in questionable investigative practices. Cary Sherman, the president of the Recording Industry Association of America, said the industry had seen “a lot of crazy stuff” filed in response to its lawsuits and subpoenas. “But coming from the office of an attorney general of a state?” Mr. Sherman asked, incredulous. “We found it really surprising and disappointing.”

Nice move, Mr. Sherman. Note how he implies through his word choice that the RIAA is in the right here without actually addressing the claims made by UO or Hardy Myers?

Oops - Oregon's AG isn't being fooled (but neither is he promoting music piracy, unfortunately):

In his filings, Mr. Myers claimed to be looking for a middle ground.

“Certainly it is appropriate for victims of copyright infringement to lawfully pursue statutory remedies,” Mr. Myers wrote last month. “However, that pursuit must be tempered by basic notions of privacy and due process.”

“The larger issue,” Mr. Myers said, “is whether plaintiffs’ investigative and litigation strategies are appropriate.”

Bingo. Everything I've seen suggets the RIAA is breaking the law six ways from Sunday to prove that.... other people are breaking the law. I'm glad to see that it's Oregon that's fighting back.

Frankly, if the RIAA is a corporation, they need their charter revoked.