Quentin

Hmm... the ruling in the RIAA case doesn't list EMI as being among the plaintiffs, that's why I thought they weren't a party to the case. I definitely got the date wrong, though; in a different source I looked at earlier, I misread the date of publication of the Court's decision as the date of filing. Sorry about that!

Having said that, while it sure sounds like EMI and the other labels referenced in that article accused Limewire in 2007, it also looks to me they didn't actually file their case until 2010, and as such, discovery in that case could not have started prior to 2010.

It's also possible that there was an earlier case filed by EMI, but not fully adjudicated, and what I'm looking at is a later filing. I can't find any evidence that's the case, though.

At any rate, I don't think Merrill's conclusion is outlandish, regardless of the source of his claim. I just think it's a bit unlikely that the source of the data was discovery in any lawsuit.

What the heck... I know some of the attorneys involved in these cases; I'll just ask around and find out for sure.

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Q. Boyer