It wasn't true. The founders didn't quit because of it, they quit because of the same reason founders always quit when they get bought by big companies.
Presumably by "one of the sysadmins" you mean me, because I ended up (somewhat badly) handling most of the PR for this debacle (I'm the Russ Garrett referenced in both of those TechCrunch posts), but I don't remember deleting any of my posts.
It didn't happen. I would have known if it had happened. I would have had to pass the data, and it didn't happen.
I can't remember the exact references that made me form that opinion but I do remember discussing it in one of the online forums - so thanks for clarifying directly, and sorry, my opinion has changed.
btw did you work out if anybody from CBS or your own company actually placed this story with TC or was it somebody from the outside?
http://techcrunch.com/2009/02/20/did-lastfm-just-hand-over-u... http://techcrunch.com/2009/05/22/deny-this-lastfm/