[b]D'avy[/n], the way that reads to me is only the FAA doesn't use it for any punitive action...If the CVR/FDR data was released to a third party, then they are free to refer to the data as part of the legal process, be it a civil action, or, as happened in Australia not too long ago, the local copper's trying to charge a train driver for causing a derailment.
FWIW, I'm certainly not opposed to having CVR's (as we've now got them in some trains as a "trial"), or DFDR's, so long as the data can only be used as part of the accident investigation process. That a lawyer can now subpoena a CVR tape as part of an unrelated court case is deeply disturbing.