In a story today -- In the Fight Over Piracy, a Rare Stand for Privacy -- by Adam Liptak, the New York Times reports on efforts by Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers to challenge the bludgeoning legal tactics used by the Recording Industry Association of America in its lawsuits against illegal music file downloading. Essentially, RIAA has insisted that Internet Service Providers (ISPs), including universities, act as its agents and give up information on their subscribers, including students, or pay damages themselves. Now, on behalf of the University of Oregon, Myers is challenging whether the investigative demands and other tactics used are legal under Oregon privacy and licensing laws. From the NY Times:

In the past four years, record companies have sued tens of thousands of people for violating the copyright laws by sharing music on the Internet. The people it sues tend to settle, paying the industry a few thousand dollars rather than risking a potentially ruinous judgment by fighting in court.[...]"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."