A federal judge in Washington, DC, has handed the RIAA another setback in its campaign against on-campus file-sharing. In Arista v. Does 1-19, a case brought against 19 George Washington University students by the Big Four record labels, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly has ordered the RIAA to show cause why the ex parte subpoenas issued to GWU shouldn't be quashed.

Judge Kollar-Kotelly's order comes in response to a motion filed by Doe number three last week. In that motion, the unnamed student asked the judge to quash the subpoena, arguing that the RIAA was relying on the wrong law to obtain the subpoena, and furthermore, that there was no applicable law that authorized the issue of ex parte subpoenas to colleges and universities.

The RIAA typically relies on the Cable Communications Policy Act to obtain the names and addresses of suspected file-sharers in its lawsuits. Doe three argued that, since GWU is a university and not a cable provider, the CCPA could not be used to authorize a subpoena.

Doe three's argument followed a ruling in Interscope v. Does 1-7, a case brought against seven students at the College of William and Mary. The judge in that case told the RIAA that the CCPA wasn't applicable, and that the only avenue available to it was the DMCA. One problem: the RIAA never issued any takedown notices, which are required by the DMCA before a lawsuit can be filed. And it looks like there's no way a DMCA notice could be issued in a campus file-sharing case. Only entities that host, cache, or transmit infringing content can be served with DMCA takedown notices, and GWU did none of the above. As a result, Doe three argues, the RIAA should be unable to obtain the subpoenas at all.

Judge Kollar-Kotelly has apparently found the student's argument compelling. Her Order to Show Cause (available from the Recording Industry vs The People), directs the RIAA to submit a motion to convince her why she shouldn't quash all 19 of the subpoenas. The judge notes the opinion in Interscope v. Does 1-7, also mentioning a ruling in RIAA v. Verizon in which the Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit ruled that the DMCA was not applicable to file-sharing cases.

With few exceptions, the music industry has largely had its way in court with its over 25,000 file-sharing lawsuits. Colleges have been a different matter entirely, however, and if judges in the various on-campus file-sharing cases find the arguments made in Arista v. Does 1-19 and Interscope v. Does 1-7 convincing, it could have the effect of putting the brakes on the RIAA's lawsuits against college students.