[kc @ Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM]

A little clarification - Saehan didn't really develop the MPMan. They just tried to market it (poorly). It was created by a small engineering firm in Korea, which was acquired by Diamond Multimedia to help create the Rio PMP300. So, the products have the same genesis. As to the RIAA- they went after the Rio because prior to launching the product, the Diamond folks paid visits to the music industry folks saying "look at this cool product we are launching. Digital music is the future. Come play with us", to which the music cronies arogantly replied "No you are not. No it isn't. No thanks." (right before they called Hilary and Cary at the RIAA to give them the heads-up). Anyway, Saehan was a corporate consulting firm that hadn't a clue about how to market such products, but Diamond did and threrefore represented a bigger threat. Also, as you say, they were based in California and a much easier target.

Now you know the rest of the story (well, some of it anyway).