So back to "Who Did It?"...we have an eyewitness account (technically hearsay...but work with me here) that the perp is "headquartered in NA", they obviously build stuff with this partner in China / had the opportunity to commit this crime, and they must have motive - presumably they have some claim to be an Outlaw competitor (channel aside it seems/perhaps). There has been some talk of does "so and so have enough clout" (i.e. do they have they "means" to commit the crime), but it doesn't take much clout in a "us or them" shakedown...just more clout than "them". To summarize ideas in this and other posts, it seems the only suspects that meet or might meet all three of the must-have requirements are:

NAD, Anthem, Parasound, and ATI/B&K

....right? In a lineup I think that is order of most-likely to least-likely.

ATI seems least likely for lots of reasons (do they even build anything in China?)...although a move like that would certainly account for Mr. Tribeman being caught completely by surprise.

Parasound seems unlikely...and do they build anything in China?

Re Anthem, the 978 would arguably be a competitor to the MRX recievers...and maybe to the AVM50v (which while much more expensive is at least available...forcing some folks waiting for the 978 to hide a few K from their wives / take more aggressive steps...and while the 50v itself is not made in China it doesn't mean that Anthem couldn't use MRX-building clout to keep out another competitor to the MRX line and the AVM50v in one shot). It also seems likely that Anthem would use a similar partner as Outlaw...their build-stuff presence in Asia is relatively small I would think and they might be drawn to the same type of partner.

Until we learn more, NAD seems the best match according to our information and consideration of opportunity, means, and motive. Their processor(s) have generally been in-line with the 978 in price (at least at the lower end / 1-model-back). They sell B&M (and would generally be referred as such a company), and in addition to that they are also easily and increasingly available online - increasing their motive in stopping the 978. The fact that they don't have MX32 yet is a HUGE reason to block the 978...NAD processor sales would go to zero online when the 978 comes out, and it would probably impact their B&M too. Plus it seems NAD has been increasingly "sophisticated" lately in developing their business - they and their parent are expanding their channels, offerings, and visibility....keep Outlaw out of the ring and the NAD/PSB combination is better positioned to battle Anthem/Paradigm, D&M, etc.