Submission + - TorrentSpy's RAM data now considered as evidence (com.com)
AncientPC writes: This past Friday TorrentSpy was ordered to start tracking visitors (/. discussion). Possibly setting a new legal precedent, TorrentSpy is now required to track visitor info that resides in RAM to turn over as legal evidence.
The courts have for the first time found that the electronic trail briefly left in a computer server's Random Access Memory (RAM) by each visitor to a site is "stored information," and must be turned over as evidence during litigation, according to documents obtained by CNET News.com.
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This may be the first time that anyone has argued that information within RAM is electronically stored information and therefore subject to the rules of evidence, Chooljian said according to court records. Up to now, many Web sites that promised users anonymity, such as TorrentSpy, believed they need only to switch off their servers' logging function to avoid storing user data.
Should Chooljian's order stand, the decision could force Web sites to rethink privacy precautions.
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This may be the first time that anyone has argued that information within RAM is electronically stored information and therefore subject to the rules of evidence, Chooljian said according to court records. Up to now, many Web sites that promised users anonymity, such as TorrentSpy, believed they need only to switch off their servers' logging function to avoid storing user data.
Should Chooljian's order stand, the decision could force Web sites to rethink privacy precautions.