Judge in Napster Copyright Case Says Hummer Winblad Destroyed E-mails

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 26, 2006 - 2:03pm.

San Francisco - A federal judge has ruled that Silicon Valley venture capital firm Hummer Winblad exhibited "gross negligence" when it directed employees to destroy e-mails related to its dealings with Napster in 2000, the Los Angeles Times reported.

U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel will tell jurors the deleted e-mails would have hurt the company's defense, if the copyright case brought by record labels and music publishers against Hummer Winblad and Bertelsmann -- two early Napster investors -- ever goes to trial.

"As we have all been required to surrender our Napster e-mails, this should reinforce compliance with our long-standing policies," Ann Winblad wrote to employees, according to court documents. "We do not retain e-mails, it is your responsibility to delete your handled e-mails immediately."

Related Links:
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-napster26oct26,1,4850927.story
http://www.humwin.com