As pertains to how companies like SI, Yahoo, and AOL are "supposed" to deal with such subpoenas, there's obviously nothing in various rules of civil procedure (i.e. like there is on what constitutes proper service), so, I think the whole issue boils down to whether there is something akin to Standard Operating Procedure. Judging by the disparities in how the message boards currently deal with subpoenas, apparently there aren't even any suggested industry guidelines that have been established.
Had the lawsuit not happened, my guess would be that notification by e-mail (the one used to set up the account), or, in the case of SI, private message, would have been acceptable if done within a "reasonable" time-frame. However, if the lawsuit goes to trial, nothing short of registered mail will probably constitute proper notification.
In the mean time, if I were SI, I'd make some pretty quick changes to avoid a copy-cat lawsuit, not to mention that it would be the right thing to do anyway, IMO. AOL appears to have an acceptable policy.
- Jeff |
