Judge in Napster Copyright Case Says Hummer Winblad Destroyed Emails

San Francisco -- A federal judge has ruled that San Francisco-based venture capital firm Hummer Winblad exhibited "gross negligence" when it directed employees to destroy emails related to its dealings with Napster in 2000, the Los Angeles Times reported. U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel will tell jurors that the emails 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 emails, 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."
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-napster26oct26,1,4850927.story
http://www.humwin.com