Via SV Media Law Blog. The Napster litigation spawned secondary liability suits by record labels against the venture firm Hummer, Winblad. That firm (represented in part by my old law school friends Mike Page and Ragesh Tangri) recently filed a motion asking the district court to review certain attorney-client communications to see if they fall within crime-fraud exception to the privilege. The Justice Department investigated the record labels for possible antitrust violations and, the motion argues, the labels responded in part with false statements, a violation of 18 U.S.C. 2001, thus providing the predicate for the waiver claim. It's a clever theory, especially if in discovery in civil litigation a party contradicted a claim made to a government agency. The motion is here.
DM