In Atlantic Recording Corp. v. Howell, 2008 WL 4080008 (D. Az. Aug. 29, 2008), the court issued a default judgment against the defendant for his failure to cooperate with plaintiff's request to conduct a forensic examination of his computer hard drive and certain backup media.  According to the court, the defendant repeatedly destroyed evidence central to the factual allegations in the case and admitted that he removed a file-sharing program from his computer and deleted the contents of a shared folder shortly after receiving notice of the lawsuit.

Although the defendant testified that he made backup tapes of his shared drive, the court found the backup unreliable and the defendant's credibility lacking.  The defendant testified that he knew he had an obligation to preserve evidence, but nonetheless erased and reinstalled his computer operating system after litigation commenced.Additionally, in the middle of discovery, the defendant  downloaded and used a program called "Aevita Wipe and Delete" to permanently delete all traces of certain files on his computer.  The court ruled that such a "brazen destruction of evidence" necessitated a default judgment in favor of the plaintiff.  "The evidence destroyed here was so central to the allegations in this case that imposing such a presumption would effectively establish his liability.  Imposition of a default judgment is therefore the only appropriate sanction, both for its deterrent effect and to remedy the prejudice inflicted on the recording companies and the court."  The court further ordered statutory damages of $40,500.