Los Angeles - Due to an accused file-swapper's actions to uninstall file-sharing software and reformat his hard drive, a federal judge has found he willfully destroyed evidence and is now subject to relevant sanctions, Ars Technica reported. Defendant Jeffrey Howell previously won a major victory in the case (Atlantic v. Howell), when Judge Neil V. Wake rejected the label's argument that his simply "making available" of songs in a shared folder on the Kazaa application constituted copyright infringement.

After this setback, the label filed a motion seeking summary judgment, as Howell was said to have destroyed evidence on multiple occasions after receiving a pre-litigation settlement letter from the label.

Howell was found by RIAA forensic investigators to have "uninstalled KaZaA and deleted everything in the shared folder, reformatted his hard drive, downloaded and used a file-wiping program, and then nuked all the KaZaA logs on his PC," according to Ars Technica.

"Defendant's intentional spoliation of computer evidence significantly prejudices Plaintiffs because it puts the most relevant evidence of their claim permanently beyond their reach," the label argued.

Judge Wake is now soon expected to rule on the amount damages Howell will have to pay.

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/3kd6d (Ars Technica)

http://snipurl.com/3kd5l (DMW previous coverage)