Not long ago, web hosting provider AIT (ait.com) filed a temporary restraining order against Fayetteville Publishing Company, requesting the court to intervene and expressing concerns that the company may have spoiled or destroyed evidence on the servers despite AIT's ongoing litigation against FPC.

The motion alleges the concern arose because FPC said it was not obligated to preserve the evidence. However, the transcripts of the court proceedings that returned the Web servers to FPC reveal that FPC agreed to preserve the servers as evidence. AIT has reopened the FBI criminal investigation and has asked the FBI to intervene to protect the evidence on the FPC Web servers.

In 2005 and 2006, AIT filed an FBI criminal complaint and lawsuit, alleging that either the local Fayetteville Observer (fayettevillenc.com/fayobserver.com) or Fayetteville Publishing Company committed online click fraud against AIT and other local, classified and national advertisers by inflating its Web traffic to its Web site.

The lawsuit alleged that FPC manufactured Web traffic to drive up the number of impressions and clicks so it could charge advertisers more money. AIT placed the criminal complaint on hold until recently. During the litigation, FPC servers were maintained by a third party until a court ruled that the servers be returned to FPC, who agreed to preserve the servers in tact as evidence until the litigation between the parties was completed.

AIT also said that the day after FPC attorneys insisted that they were not obligated to preserve the evidence, FPC reporter Paul Woolverton went to the Cumberland County Courthouse to obtain a copy of the transcripts from the hearing.