In what the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has deemed
a “minor procedural issue,” a federal judge ruled that some of the
RIAA’s subpoenas are invalid because they were issued from the wrong
jurisdiction.
Boston College and the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology recently received subpoenas requesting the identities of
students suspected of illegally trading copyrighted material, but the
schools noted that the subpoenas were issued from Washington, D.C., and
should not be valid in Massachusetts.
Judge Joseph L. Tauro agreed and threw out those subpoenas. The RIAA said the ruling does not change the “undeniable fact” that Internet service providers, in this case the universities in question, are legally required to reveal the identities of suspected copyright violators.