Sharman Networks, owners of the Kazaa file trading client, have a scattered international presence that has so far made prosecution by the RIAA a difficult endeavor. The first chink in the geographic armor may have occurred with a 46-page decision authored by District Judge Stephen Wilson however, who has ruled that a lawsuit filed in California courts against Sharman Networks can proceed. "Given that Sharman's software has been downloaded more than 143 million times, it would be mere cavil to deny that Sharman engages in a significant amount of contact with California residents," Wilson wrote.