Oregon AG Raises Pitch of Music Piracy Battle

The Oregon AG is playing hardball with the Recording Industry of America in a battle that could set a precedent for how the RIAA conducts its crusade against music sharing, ComputerWorld reports. Pitting alleged piracy against privacy, the AG is investigating the data mining RIAA used to subpoena the IDs of 17 U of Oregon students it suspects of piracy.

The AG wants to quash the subpoenas until it determines if the RIAA investigations violated students’ “privacy and due process” by obtaining information not applicable to the alleged piracy. It also contends the RIAA used the legal system to obtain names in the past not to pursue legal action but as a bargaining chip to seek "arbitrary sums of money, based on threats and evidence from the data mining." (More music industry stories.)