Not quite
Discovery (known in the rest of the common law world as disclosure)
Discovery is quite different from disclosure.
Discovery is "gimme all your sh*te within a mile radius of X,Y, Z. I will do a fishing expedition through it". The only way to limit it is to somehow negotiate a 3rd party to do the fishing expedition.
Disclosure is "gimme items X, Y, Z which fit the following precise description".
As a result, civil lawsuits in USA which does discovery cost an astronomical amount - you pay by the hour to lawyers, experts, etc to narrow down what can be looked at and what is admissible. They look at relatively "raw" material and thus can charge a very substantial number of hours. The mere process can bankrupt (and does so) Joe Average citizen and is a constant feeding through for large corporation lawyers who get most of their timesheets by fighting off disclosure requests or fighting for disclosure requests. As a side effect a lot of "private" corporate information ends up temporarily living in other people's hands - something UK parliament leveraged to everyone's advantage only a week or so ago.
Compared to that the cost of a civil lawsuit in other countries is significantly lower and it is started only if the litigant is pretty confident that the opponent possess exhibits X, Y, Z requested in disclosure.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
