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her lack of a college degree and internal documents that touted such potential Napster revenue streams as CD sales and advertising, he asked Richardson whether Hummer Winblad had estimated how much it stood to earn from Napster. She said she doubted it. How, then, did Hummer decide that Napster was worth $65 million? "Unfortunately, there is no science to venture capital," Richardson said. "It's an art, if you can call it that. It's gut."

Frackman was just getting started: The next day was Shawn’s turn. As they had with Richardson, Napster’s lawyers gave him basic lessons in how to survive the process, even playing him a videotape of a simulated deposition. Tell the truth, they told him, but volunteer nothing. Other than that, the only thing out of the ordinary Shawn did to prepare was to get a decent night’s sleep. Frackman walked Shawn through Napster’s early days, paying special attention to who held what title. "You said at the beginning that one of your titles is 'founder' at Napster. Are there other people who share the title 'founder'?" Frackman asked. "John Fanning," Shawn said. Anyone else? "Sean Parker does occasionally, but it’s not clear as to whether or not he is a founder," Shawn said. Answering a follow-up question, Shawn said it wasn’t clear because Parker had started work a few months after the project began. Neither Parker nor his uncle had contributed to the code that made the Napster system, Shawn confirmed. So before the move to California, Frackman asked, who had helped write the software? "Jordan Ritter. I believe that’s it," Shawn said.

Shawn’s testimony, given out of public view, didn’t stop his uncle from claiming that he played a vital role in the development of Napster’s technology. One of Fanning’s lawyers was still repeating that claim well after Shawn’s deposition. And Fanning went to some lengths to get the record to reflect it. As Napster was preparing to file for a patent on its technology, it drafted a description of the work and attributed it to Shawn alone, with Fanning’s name in brackets. Asked why that was in his deposition, Eddie Kessler told his inquisitors: "His name is in brackets because at times John has made statements that he was—that he contributed to the design and technology of Napster, but that claim has been refuted by Shawn Fanning." Because Napster’s lawyers worried that the entire patent could have been jeopardized if Fanning was excluded and then later claimed involvement, Napster filed its final application listing Shawn,

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