Your World of Legal Intelligence
 United States | 1-800-335-6202

California Court Orders Preservation of RAM Data

Document Cited in Related
Vincent

In early June, the federal court for the Central District of California, in Columbia Pictures Indus. v. Bunnell, Case No. CV 06-1093, issued a ruling requiring a company to store its random access memory ("RAM") data. The ruling came during ongoing litigation stemming from a lawsuit filed by the Motion Picture Association of America ("MPAA"), alleging claims of contributory copyright infringement against TorrentSpy, a popular free file sharing service. The RAM data preservation requirement appears to be an issue of first impression for the courts.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Choolijan held that Rule 34(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which allows for the discovery of electronically stored information, applies to a computer server's RAM data. Although Rule 34 only requires a party to produce documents already in existence, Judge Choolijan drew a distinction between forcing TorrentSpy to create new information and requiring TorrentSpy to store information created by its servers. Generally, when a web server's logging function is disabled, RAM data are purged by the server shortly after they are created. However, Judge Choolijan noted that the RAM data could be saved by requiring TorrentSpy to enable its server's logging function.

Judge Choolijan rejected TorrentSpy's argument that forcing it to store the RAM data would be unduly burdensome based on the added cost storage would require. The judge reasoned that because TorrentSpy does not have to store all of the RAM data it produces, the cost of storage would not be excessive; the only RAM data TorrentSpy must store are the server log data, as they are relevant evidence as to whether TorrentSpy's users are using the file sharing service to illegally download copyrighted material.

Judge Choolijan also rejected TorrentSpy's argument that forcing it to store the RAM data would violate its users' privacy. The judge's ruling requires TorrentSpy to redact users' IP addresses, keeping the users of TorrentSpy anonymous. However, Judge Choolijan also stated that TorrentSpy cannot avoid the order by relying on its own privacy policy, the terms of which are exclusively under TorrentSpy's control.

Judge Choolijan's decision could potentially expand the definitions of what is "reasonably accessible" under Rule 26 to include temporarily stored information, not kept in the usual course of business, and which must be recreated. The court's order requiring preservation and production of the...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT