The California State University chancellor’s office has sent a mass e-mail to students telling them that NoteUtopia, a note-sharing website founded by Sacramento State alumnus Ryan Stevens, violates the California Education Code.

“California Education Code section 66450 prohibits any business or person from selling or otherwise distributing or publishing class notes for a commercial purpose,” Lori Varlotta, Sac State’s vice president for student affairs, said in her e-mail sent a week and a half ago. “This means that any CSU student selling class notes, including on the NoteUtopia website, is subject to discipline, up through and including expulsion from the University.”

CSU spokesman Erik Fallis said the e-mail is the CSU’s response about the website.

According to California Education Code section 66450, businesses, agencies or individuals are not allowed to give, sell, transfer, distribute or publish any academic presentation, including class notes, for commercial purposes.

“The California State University wanted to make students aware of these codes and the possible implications of selling class notes. (Therefore) CSU students are expected to abide by the California Education Codes and student conduct codes,” Sac State spokeswoman Kimberly Nava said.

Stevens said he is “disappointed” about the “threatening tone” of the mass e-mail sent to 30,000 students.

He said Varlotta’s e-mail gave students the impression that NoteUtopia is illegal.

“This move by the university is one that is intimidating, confusing to students, and one-sided,” Stevens said. “It mischaracterizes our website. We do not buy and sell notes from students. Students buy and sell notes from each other and we simply act as a facilitator.”

Stevens, who said NoteUtopia will not be shutting down, said the prohibited buying and selling of notes bring up a students’ rights issue because the students’ own notes do not legally belong to them, but rather to their professors.

“The state claims the power to determine how a student can use their own handwritten notes. This statute threatens basic constitutional rights,” Stevens said.

Stevens said he has asked Sac State to send a clarifying e-mail to students to let them know the site is not illegal.

Nava said there are no plans to send any additional e-mails to students about NoteUtopia.

Stevens, who graduated with a business degree in May 2009, said he came up with the idea for NoteUtopia one night before an economics exam. He said his professor did not give his class a breakdown of what will be in the exam. He then thought it would benefit the students if they can go online and access notes for their classes.

Stevens said he has contacted the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which advocates for online rights, and the American Civil Liberties Union office in San Francisco, hoping the organizations will look further into his issue.

“We can look at what happened one of two ways &- the first being 30,000 students received an e-mail warning them not to use our website, laced with scary words like expulsion &- or that 30,000 students now know our name,” Stevens said. “All we want is our side of the story to be heard. That is all we are asking.”

Stevens said both the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union said they will not look into his case at this time.

“But it’s something we’ll keep poking them about,” he said. “It’s not something we’re going to give up on.”

Laila Barakat can be reached at [email protected]