kim dotcom | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net KitGuru.net - Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards Mon, 22 Jan 2018 13:54:55 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://www.kitguru.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-KITGURU-Light-Background-SQUARE2-32x32.png kim dotcom | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net 32 32 Kim Dotcom is launching a $6.8 billion legal fight against New Zealand https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/kim-dotcom-is-launching-a-6-8-billion-legal-fight-against-new-zealand/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/kim-dotcom-is-launching-a-6-8-billion-legal-fight-against-new-zealand/#comments Mon, 22 Jan 2018 13:05:53 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=361289 The Kim Dotcom legal saga continues this week. The MegaUpload founder is now suing New Zealand for $6.8 billion following the shutdown of his file-sharing site, his 2012 arrest and damage to his reputation. As part of his case, Dotcom's legal team is making the argument that he was arrested and had his home raided …

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The Kim Dotcom legal saga continues this week. The MegaUpload founder is now suing New Zealand for $6.8 billion following the shutdown of his file-sharing site, his 2012 arrest and damage to his reputation.

As part of his case, Dotcom's legal team is making the argument that he was arrested and had his home raided based on an invalid warrant. If the warrant was invalid, then so are the charges against him. The $6.8 billion number is for damages in the form of lost business since 2012. Accountants calculate that the Megaupload group of companies would be worth $10 billion today if they had continued operating. Damages also include legal costs, loss of investments, loss of his mansion and loss of reputation.

Speaking with the BBC, Dotcom stated: “I cannot be expected to accept all the losses to myself and my family as a result of the action of the New Zealand government. This should never have happened and they should have known better. And because they made a malicious mistake, there is now a damages case to be answered.”

Dotcom has been under the threat of extradition to the US ever since the FBI seized the Megaupload servers. However, under the New Zealand copyright act, criminal sanctions can't be levied against an internet service provider. In order for the US to be successful with an extradition, the alleged crimes would also have to be a crime in the country from which they are requesting the extradition.

Dotcom will next fight his extradition in the Appeals Court on the 20th of February. The US authorities are sticking to their argument that Dotcom violated copyright law, despite the fact that Megaupload had a file takedown system in place for copyright holders to utilize. According to the FBI, film studios and record companies lost more than $500 million while Megaupload was active.

KitGuru Says: It has been six years since Kim Dotcom's home was raided and Megaupload ceased to exist. Since then, there has been a non stop legal struggle between the US, Dotcom and New Zealand. Do you guys think Dotcom will come out on top?

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Kim Dotcom may still be extradited, but not for copyright infringement https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/kim-dotcom-may-still-be-extradited-but-not-for-copyright-infringement/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/kim-dotcom-may-still-be-extradited-but-not-for-copyright-infringement/#respond Mon, 20 Feb 2017 09:29:34 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=322309 Kim Dotcom's long-running appeal of his originally long-running extradition trial in New Zealand, has come to a close. Despite the courts agreeing that he didn't commit copyright infringement, it ruled he could be extradited anyway, based on more general fraud charges. Dotcom's legal team has now announced that it plans to continue fighting the judgement. …

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Kim Dotcom's long-running appeal of his originally long-running extradition trial in New Zealand, has come to a close. Despite the courts agreeing that he didn't commit copyright infringement, it ruled he could be extradited anyway, based on more general fraud charges. Dotcom's legal team has now announced that it plans to continue fighting the judgement.

The MegaUpload file locker was shut down in 2012 and its founder, Kim Dotcom arrested in a raid on his New Zealand home. For the past few years, he's been fighting his extradition to the U.S. to face charges of copyright infringement. When his extradition was originally granted, it was appealed. While the courts appear to have agreed he did not commit copyright infringement, they still want to see him extradited on ‘a general fraud offence.'

Kim Dotcom took to Twitter to voice his disdain of the ruling, though seemed in rather high spirits for someone who seems more likely than ever to be extradited to America where he could face a lengthy jail sentence if found guilty of the charges brought against him.

Dotcom's now slightly-more-probable extradition was because Justice Gilbert of the High Court suggested that his actions had constituted fraud.

“Wilful infringement of copyright can properly be characterised as a dishonest act,” they said (via Ars). “Such infringement deprives the copyright holder of something to which it may be entitled.”

Source: Dotcom/Twitter

Dotcom sees this as a minor victory in some senses. While he may have lost in a traditional sense, the court did effectively prove that he didn't commit copyright infringement, which paints him in a better light than previous courts.

While the High Court has once again given the thumbs up to send Dotcom to the United States, it seems unlikely to happen anytime soon. His legal team have pledged to take the case to two further appeals court, including the New Zealand Supreme Court if it will hear it. With the ruling against his copyright infringement, Dotcom believes that squashing the fraud claims should be far easier.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: The Dotcom case is one that seems likely to be poured over by legal students for some time. It's a unique case which you can't help but feel is tainted with a political bias in some senses. It seems unlikely that Dotcom was entirely innocent of all claims against him, but the way he has been targeted seems very aggressive. 

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MegaUpload 2.0 hit a Canadian stock exchange roadblock https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/online/jon-martindale/megaupload-2-0-hit-a-canadian-stock-exchange-roadblock/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/online/jon-martindale/megaupload-2-0-hit-a-canadian-stock-exchange-roadblock/#respond Tue, 24 Jan 2017 12:46:10 +0000 http://dev.kitguru.net/?p=318549 The reason that the launch of Kim Dotcom's MegaUpload 2.0 did not occur on the planned 20th January launch date, was because of a Canadian stock exchange. Although MegaUpload 2.0 was set to perform a reverse takeover of a Canadian firm in order to become publicly listed and increase its value, a stalling due to …

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The reason that the launch of Kim Dotcom's MegaUpload 2.0 did not occur on the planned 20th January launch date, was because of a Canadian stock exchange. Although MegaUpload 2.0 was set to perform a reverse takeover of a Canadian firm in order to become publicly listed and increase its value, a stalling due to information requests has seen MegaUpload 2.0 pull out of the plan.

Kim Dotcom has managed several innovative web ventures over the past few years and has even tried a reverse takeover in the past too. His last file locker, Mega, tried the same thing, though it was blocked by a lack of shareholder approval. The decision to stop the reverse takeover this time appears to be taken by MegaUpload 2.0 rather than the exchange, but we're told it was because of the exchange's “bias.”

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0Wvn-9BXVc']

The plan, as per Kim Dotcom's latest tweets, was to see Bitcache, the parent and sister company of MegaUpload 2.0, take over an unnamed, Canadian publicly listed company. This would have seen Bitcache valued at $100 million and add an additional $12 million in capital to the fledgling company. However when this merger was put to the exchange, “further detailed and intrusive information,” was requested, leading the Bitcache board to nix the deal altogether.

In order to maintain its flexibility at this time in its short life, Bitcache will for now remain its own entity. We're told that a beta trial of Bitcache and MegaUpload 2.0 will come about later this year.

This has left some fans of Dotcom rather agitated. He not only encouraged early investment in Bitcache – which now doesn't have much to show, despite the promised 20th January event – but also encouraged people to buy Bitcoin, estimating its value would rise based on the launch of the Bitcache/MegaUpload 2.0 service.

It is important to point out however, that Kim Dotcom does not head up the new company, but is merely an evangelist, which suggests the developers are using his name value to help promote the brand and increase early funding. However it could also be that Dotcom wants to distance himself from the company's finances, should his extradition appeal fail and he is deported to the U.S.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: I can certainly understand people feeling duped by Dotcom. While he has no doubt launched a few innovative services over the years, he has a record of making big promises and then struggling to deliver. The Meganet and Internet MANA Party being two of the biggest. 

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Kim Dotcom to launch MegaUpload 2.0 in hours? https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/kim-dotcom-to-launch-megaupload-2-0-in-hours/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/kim-dotcom-to-launch-megaupload-2-0-in-hours/#respond Thu, 19 Jan 2017 12:42:17 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=318115 Consistently legally embattled entrepreneur, Kim Dotcom, has pledged to make a big announcement in just a few hours time. As he has consistently done since his original arrest in 2012, on its annual anniversary – 20th January – he plans to make a big announcement and this time around, it's related to his BitCache and MegaUpload …

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Consistently legally embattled entrepreneur, Kim Dotcom, has pledged to make a big announcement in just a few hours time. As he has consistently done since his original arrest in 2012, on its annual anniversary – 20th January – he plans to make a big announcement and this time around, it's related to his BitCache and MegaUpload 2.0 plans.

Since the raid on his home in 2012, Kim Dotcom has tried his hand at a few different things. He launched a music service, a second file locker and even tried to start a political party. While none of those have panned out too well for him, he's still doggedly trying to recapture the success of his original file locker, MegaUpload and its true sequel, MegaUpload 2.0, could well be that.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0Wvn-9BXVc']

Designed as a file locker that utilises blockchain technology to track file transfers and provide monetary compensation when copyright protected work is shared illegally, it sounds like an interesting prospect and attracted around a million dollars of investment in 2016 from interested backers. Dotcom has now promised that they will be very happy with the announcement he is set to make in just a few hours, when the New Zealand calendar ticks over to the 20th January.

While the landscape of file lockers is certainly different than when Dotcom's original MegaUpload was king of the hill, he has helped encourage encryption in file storage systems and his seeming love of personal privacy and support for whistleblowers has helped garner him a lot of support form fans over the years.

It will be interesting to see if that support can translate into a successful business venture, as at this point the Dotcom fortune is severely reduced from what it once was.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Do you guys think Kim Dotcom can turn around his fortunes with MegaUpload 2.0 and Bitcache? Or will it be as successful as his political ventures? Here's hoping for another MegaUpload song though. That was catchy as hell.

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Kim Dotcom claims he’s been under unlawful surveillance https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/kim-dotcom-claims-hes-been-under-unlawful-surveillance/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/kim-dotcom-claims-hes-been-under-unlawful-surveillance/#comments Thu, 24 Nov 2016 09:25:02 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=312878 MegaUpload founder and perpetual courtroom denizen, Kim Dotcom, still finds himself battling with unknown forces. This time he's claiming that a camera placed in a hotel room opposite his apartment was pointed directly at him. Although official claims are that it was filming the nearby harbour, it has since been removed, prompting Dotcom to begin …

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MegaUpload founder and perpetual courtroom denizen, Kim Dotcom, still finds himself battling with unknown forces. This time he's claiming that a camera placed in a hotel room opposite his apartment was pointed directly at him. Although official claims are that it was filming the nearby harbour, it has since been removed, prompting Dotcom to begin an investigation of his own.

January will be the fifth anniversary of the MegaUpload file locker takedown and Kim Dotcom's initial arrest. Since then he's been battling to avoid his extradition to the U.S. where he has been charged with conspiracy to commit copyright infringement and money laundering. He lost his initial trial and is now working on the appeal, but in the meantime he claims the government is still conducting surveillance on him.

In a follow up tweet, Dotcom claimed that his legal team had requested the footage from the camera, citing that any filming of Dotcom was an invasion of his privacy. In the mean time the camera has been removed, with claims that it was used to film the harbour, not Dotcom's apartment.

Dotcom went on to claim that this isn't the only harassment he's seeing lately at the hands of customs. Guests who fly into the country to meet with him are often reportedly strip-searched at the airport, as well as forced to unlock their electronic devices.

Although no official source backs up this claim, writer Timothy Marsh does suggest that he has been through such an experience.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: It's been a crazy saga keeping an eye on Dotcom over the past half decade. It doesn't seem likely to end any time soon either, with Dotcom's appeal continuing and potentially transitioning to the Supreme Court sometime in 2017. 

Image source: Dotcom/Twitter

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Mega confirms breach, but claims user data still safe https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/jon-martindale/mega-confirms-breach-but-claims-user-data-still-safe/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/jon-martindale/mega-confirms-breach-but-claims-user-data-still-safe/#respond Fri, 18 Nov 2016 12:08:48 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=312054 The Mega file locker has admitted that some of its corporate data, specifically relating to its blog and help-centre system was stolen by hackers. However, it categorically denies claims that its main file locker system has been compromised, and promises users that their data is safe and secure. When initially launched by Kim Dotcom back …

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The Mega file locker has admitted that some of its corporate data, specifically relating to its blog and help-centre system was stolen by hackers. However, it categorically denies claims that its main file locker system has been compromised, and promises users that their data is safe and secure.

When initially launched by Kim Dotcom back in 2013, the whole point of Mega was that it was going to learn from the mistakes of file-lockers of the past and protect user data and identities above all else. However since then Dotcom has fallen out of love with the company and hasn't been involved in its running for years. He even claimed that it would shortly go bust because of difficulties with payment providers.

It seems too that the service isn't quite as secure as the original founders may have made out too, as a hacking group is now claiming to have gained access to its administrative infrastructure.

sneakers

I'm having to dig a bit deep to get hacking movie references in these stories now. Source: Universal

“We have been digging into some Mega developers account and started to escalate into their systems. We plan to release all the proprietary source code for public analysis,” the self-proclaimed hackers said in a statement to TorrentFreak.

They claim to specifically have over 2GB of Mega source code data, as well as the source code for its Mega chat service and other tools. Mega has confirmed that a breach took place, but denies that anything of import was stolen.

The point of breach was said to be a contractor who was working on an entirely independent system for the public-facing blog Mega operates. This allowed hackers to gain entry to the blog's back end and and to some extent the Mega help centre. However Mega denies that any user data was compromised and insists that its service is still entirely safe.

It reminded users and the public that the main feature of Mega is that all files uploaded to it are encrypted, so even if user data was spirited away, it would be entirely unreadable to the nefarious individuals behind the breach.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Another case of he-said she-said in a hacking case. Here's hoping Mega is being genuine and not just in-damage control mode. 

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MegaUpload 2 won’t even host files itself https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/megaupload-2-wont-even-host-files-itself/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/megaupload-2-wont-even-host-files-itself/#respond Tue, 25 Oct 2016 11:35:23 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=309627 Since the original MegaUpload was shut down by authorities in 2012 and its many assets seized, original founder Kim Dotcom has been trying to develop a new file locker which cannot fall foul to old pitfalls. He's not quite managed it yet, but MegaUpload 2.0 might make it a reality, by encrypting everything, completely anonymising …

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Since the original MegaUpload was shut down by authorities in 2012 and its many assets seized, original founder Kim Dotcom has been trying to develop a new file locker which cannot fall foul to old pitfalls. He's not quite managed it yet, but MegaUpload 2.0 might make it a reality, by encrypting everything, completely anonymising users and not even hosting any files itself.

The reason Dotcom and his fellow MegaUpload staff have been under investigating for various charges over the past few years, is because they have been charged as complicit in piracy that MegaUpload users partook in. To prevent that, MegaUpload 2.0 will have multiple layers of separation between the users and the staff.

The first of those is encrypted files and encrypted transactions, so there is no way for anyone running MegaUpload to know what's being shared without investigating individual file shares. It will have a takedown system in place so that if anyone does discover piracy through whatever means, those files can be removed, but MegaUpload isn't planning to be that involved in the process.

megaupload2

In fact it won't even host the files itself, it will use third parties almost exclusively. Although often accessed files will be stored by MegaUpload 2.0 in fast access RAM, longer term storage will be provided by serviecs like Maidsafe and Storj, with Megaupload acting as an intermediary (as per TorrentFreak).

The big icing on the cake in this separation, is that while an “evangelist,” for MegaUpload 2.0, Kim Dotcom isn't really involved. No doubt he'll financially benefit somewhere down the line, but he can't be used as a reason to go after the service, much like happened with his previous file locker development, Mega.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: These features combined with Blockchain tracked, bitcoin transactions with each file share could make MegaUpload 2.0 the most secure and user-focused file locker in the world. But how do you feel about a service which stores your files and data with somebody else? 

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Watch the last day of Kim Dotcom’s appeal process here https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/watch-the-last-day-of-kim-dotcoms-appeal-process-here/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/watch-the-last-day-of-kim-dotcoms-appeal-process-here/#comments Wed, 28 Sep 2016 11:32:56 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=307332 For the past near five years, Kim Dotcom has been embroiled in one legal battle or another, but we may finally be close to learning whether he's going to be extradited or not. Today marked the final day of his appeal process and thanks to his petition to live stream the event, we're able to …

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For the past near five years, Kim Dotcom has been embroiled in one legal battle or another, but we may finally be close to learning whether he's going to be extradited or not. Today marked the final day of his appeal process and thanks to his petition to live stream the event, we're able to watch all of the final few hours of it on Youtube.

Admittedly this is a rather long stream, with six hours of closing statements from both Dotcom's legal team and the representatives of the U.S. and NZ governments, both of which want to send the German national to the United States to face charges related to running the MegaUpload file locker. Now though at the end of his legal defence, Dotcom seems rather confident he'll win.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aaw4MmK2jo']

Throughout the trial, Dotcom's defence has highlighted not only classic defences like Dotcom not being responsible for the actions of MegaUpload users, but also pointed out what his defence sees as injustices by the U.S. and NZ governments. Since he was branded as a fugitive, because he contested extradition from New Zealand, Dotcom's assets were all frozen, despite him not being proved guilty of any crimes at the time.

This, Dotcom and his team claimed, was by design so that he would struggle to pay a competent legal defence team. Whether you agree with his assessment, Dotcom did indeed struggle to pay his legal team, even leading to losing his original defence back in 2015.

Dotcom even highlighted in a recent Tweet that the U.S. representatives seemed particularly shady about this tactic, asking for the live stream to be shut down while it discussed the topic with the judge. As the hearing drew to a close, Dotcom went on to thank his legal team, even suggesting that his children would grow up with a father because of their efforts.

Clearly he seems to believe that the case is all but over. It will be a while before we know for sure though, as a decision is expected to take several weeks. It's also quite possible that whoever loses will launch a further appeal at a higher court.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Although Dotcom has been confident in the past, he's never quite been this certain of a positive court result before. How do you guys hope it pans out?

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Kim Dotcom threatens to sue for billions if appeal successful https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/kim-dotcom-threatens-to-sue-for-billions-if-appeal-successful/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/kim-dotcom-threatens-to-sue-for-billions-if-appeal-successful/#comments Fri, 02 Sep 2016 11:49:44 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=304890 Legally embattled Kim Dotcom has pledged to sue the U.S. and New Zealand governments for billions if his appeal to avoid extradition to America is successful. He claims that at the time of his arrest in 2012, his series of Mega sites and services were worth in excess of $2.4 billion, and would “sue for …

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Legally embattled Kim Dotcom has pledged to sue the U.S. and New Zealand governments for billions if his appeal to avoid extradition to America is successful. He claims that at the time of his arrest in 2012, his series of Mega sites and services were worth in excess of $2.4 billion, and would “sue for a lot more.”

Dotcom is currently taking part in his appeals process following his original extradition trial in 2015, where a judge ruled that he should be deported to the United States to face charges of money laundering and conspiracy to commit copyright infringement. However, he remains confident that he will avoid that in the near future and plans legal action of his own, if successful.

Although not an official announcement of intent by any means, Dotcom did claim via Twitter that he would sue the U.S. and New Zealand governments for billions, since the sites and services they destroyed through his arrest were worth as much. Consider too the punitive damages associated with keeping him in courts and unable to access his frozen assets for years and he may well have a serious case on his hands.

One wrinkle in Dotcom's plan however, could come in the form of NZ police commissioner Peter Marshall. He signed an indemnity order, which would essentially label him responsible if Dotcom were to complain about his treatment over the past few years. The NZ government believes this would exonerate the U.S. from any complaints Dotcom may have, as per NewsHub.

All of this though, will very much depend on the outcome of his appeal. It is set to continue for the next five weeks and much of it will be livestreamed. Dotcom reports that the U.S. has repeatedly tried to halt the streaming of the court case, though the judge has allowed it to continue for now.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: The whole Dotcom case has been a fascinating example of the U.S. wielding heavy hands overseas. If the pendulum swings the other way, the fall out could be huge. 

Image source: Dotcom/Twitter

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Catch up on Dotcom’s livestreamed extradition appeal here https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/catch-up-on-dotcoms-livestreamed-extradition-appeal-here/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/catch-up-on-dotcoms-livestreamed-extradition-appeal-here/#comments Wed, 31 Aug 2016 08:18:22 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=304665 The Kim Dotcom extradition appeal is an ongoing legal battle between the German national and the combined might of the NZ and U.S. governments, but it's not happening quietly. You can watch a replay of the livestream now, in preparation for its continuance Thursday (NZ time) early tomorrow. Dotcom's legal team had to battle to …

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The Kim Dotcom extradition appeal is an ongoing legal battle between the German national and the combined might of the NZ and U.S. governments, but it's not happening quietly. You can watch a replay of the livestream now, in preparation for its continuance Thursday (NZ time) early tomorrow.

Dotcom's legal team had to battle to have the trial livestreamed, something that they feel makes the case more open and will help shine an international light on some of the practices of the courts and governments involved in the case. Although the U.S. government tried to prevent it, the stream was eventually given approval, a first for this sort of a case.

You could have watched the stream live in the early hours of this morning – owing to the time difference between territories – but there is now a recording. It won't be online forever, as the judge ruled that it should be deleted after a set period of time, though we would be very surprised if someone didn't rip it before that occurs.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYxPMYbGiEM']

The stream wasn't overly long, clocking in at 2:25 hours, but it is a court case, one related to copyright, judges and legal precedents, so it's rather stale. However there is a lot at stake with this trial, including potential abuse of copyright law and a test of U.S. legal pressure outside its borders.

This was just day three of the appeal, which is expected to go on for the next six weeks.

KitGuru Says: It's interesting to take a peek at how this latest legal tussle between Dotcom and the various involved governments continues, but it is pretty dry. If you guys spot something interesting in the stream, do let us know, as I can't sit through the whole thing. 

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NZ courts give approval for Dotcom trial live stream https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/nz-courts-give-approval-for-dotcom-trial-live-stream/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/nz-courts-give-approval-for-dotcom-trial-live-stream/#comments Tue, 30 Aug 2016 08:15:42 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=304567 For the first time in New Zealand's history, one of its court trials will be live streamed to the world and it's Kim Dotcom's extradition appeal that will break this new ground. It should give viewers much deeper insight into the case itself, but also a look at how the NZ and U.S. governments have …

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For the first time in New Zealand's history, one of its court trials will be live streamed to the world and it's Kim Dotcom's extradition appeal that will break this new ground. It should give viewers much deeper insight into the case itself, but also a look at how the NZ and U.S. governments have been fighting their side of the legal battle.

All of this relates back to Dotcom's original arrest and the shutdown of his file locker, MegaUpload, in January 2012. Since then he's been fighting extradition to the U.S., been certified a fugitive and had his assets frozen, all because he is blamed for the actions of his users, through a charge called “conspiracy to commit copyright infringement.”

Dotcom has denied this culpability from the start, but the court's most recent decision was to grant the extradition order: hence the appeal. Now he will argue to the High Court why the decision to send him to America was unjustified and ultimately why the entire legal proceeding is invalid. Dotcom's legal team is confident they can overturn the original decision.

However the live streaming aspect of the case is a wholly new and interesting layer to the proceedings. The U.S. and NZ governments vehemently opposed the idea, but have since lost out. Dotcom hopes that many of the tactics used by both governments and their respective intelligence agencies, will come to light as part of the trial.

dotcommitnick

Dotcom, computer security consultant Kevin Mitnick (L) and Dotcom's lead lawyer, Ira Rothken (R).

He also wants the technical aspects of the case to be well known. Instead of relying on media reports of what happened during MegaUpload's shut down, he wants the technological people of the world to be able to hear the evidence fore and against him first hand, so there can be no misconception. Dotcom hopes that will help him build support outside of the court room.

Dotcom's hearing is already under way, but is expected to take a further six weeks. The live stream will begin this Wednesday and will run throughout its entirety.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: This is excellent news for Dotcom and should give everyone a better insight into the case. The question is, will it actually help the trial, or just lead to a more public confirmation of the extradition order?

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MegaUpload website now advertising cams and dating ads https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/megaupload-website-now-advertising-cams-and-dating-ads/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/megaupload-website-now-advertising-cams-and-dating-ads/#comments Fri, 26 Aug 2016 11:35:08 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=304301 When Kim Dotcom was arrested in 2012, his assets seized along with his website, MegaUpload.org, all of the servers and their files, the associated services and the data of many millions of users, it shut it down with the purpose of preventing what it saw as further piracy. But nobody expected the site to eventually be used …

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When Kim Dotcom was arrested in 2012, his assets seized along with his website, MegaUpload.org, all of the servers and their files, the associated services and the data of many millions of users, it shut it down with the purpose of preventing what it saw as further piracy. But nobody expected the site to eventually be used by advertisers.

While Dotcom continues to battle his extradition and a return of his assets, the website MegaUpload.org does indeed appear to have been taking over. Visiting it is probably NSFW, so be careful, but if you do, you'll see a number of scantily clad ladies, along with links to cam sites, adult dating and personal sites and hook up services.

megauploadsite

But surely the FBI still maintains ownership of the site, since it was seized?

As TorrentFreak explains, this is actually something that has happened before. All MegaUpload domains are still owned by the FBI, but they point to name servers which occasionally expire and the federal authority isn't particularly great at remembering to update them.

So when they expire, occasionally someone catches on and takes ownership, therefore making it possible to put adverts on any seized sites that point to that particular name server. Sites like MegaUpload.org.

Of course these defunct, seized and shut down domains don't exactly generate a lot of traffic, so it's not like the people who have taken control are going to generate much income from them. However it does make the FBI look rather unprofessional, especially considering Dotcom hasn't been to trial for his criminal charges as of yet, which means his property was not only seized, but is now in control by someone else, completely unrelated to his trial.

And they're making money from it, no matter how miniscule.

KitGuru Says: As much as you can see this as a simple mistake or lapse in concentration from the FBI's part – it certainly has better things to do than maintain one domain – but considering when seized, these domains should remain in its control, it does throw a bit of egg on its face. 

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The extradition may be televised: Dotcom wants to livestream trial https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/the-extradition-may-be-televised-dotcom-wants-to-livestream-trial/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/the-extradition-may-be-televised-dotcom-wants-to-livestream-trial/#comments Wed, 24 Aug 2016 11:25:31 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=303981 Kim Dotcom's extradition appeal with the New Zealand High Court isn't far off now, with a planned six weeks set aside for the hearing. Because of international interest in it, Dotcom has requested it be live streamed around the world, but the government wants to stop that and has counter-requested that the court not allow …

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Kim Dotcom's extradition appeal with the New Zealand High Court isn't far off now, with a planned six weeks set aside for the hearing. Because of international interest in it, Dotcom has requested it be live streamed around the world, but the government wants to stop that and has counter-requested that the court not allow it.

MegaUpload, Mega and Baboom founder Kim Dotcom, lost his original extradition trial at the tail end of 2015. He announced shortly after a plan to appeal, because otherwise he would be deported to the United States, where he would likely stand trial for copyright infringement, money laundering and other various charges related to the running of his original file locker.

Now with the appeal approaching, Dotcom wants as much publicity on it as he can get, hence asking the court for a live-stream to be broadcast around the world. He believes that he will be exonerated in the appeal and that the extradition order will be overturned. It would certainly be egg on his face if he televised a confirmation of the original trial.

However in what may be an early indication of a lack of confidence that that would occur, the New Zealand Government has made a counter request to the court that it not allow the streaming of the appeal process. Dotcom took to Twitter to mock that request.

If the livestream is given the go ahead, it will likely present a good opportunity for Dotcom to increase his exposure and highlight some of the issues with the trial that he feels are still unknown in the public eye. If it isn't, he'll be able to continue mocking the government and courts for being afraid.

It sounds like a win win for the German national.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: I don't plan to sit through six weeks of trial footage to find the nuggets, but I'm sure they'll be in there and someone will turf them up.

Image source: Dotcom/Twitter

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John Mcafee and Kim Dotcom in he-said, she-said Twitter battle https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/john-mcafee-and-kim-dotcom-in-he-said-she-said-twitter-battle/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/john-mcafee-and-kim-dotcom-in-he-said-she-said-twitter-battle/#respond Thu, 18 Aug 2016 08:25:16 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=303294 When it comes to pointing fingers and entertaining their fan bases online, Kim Dotcom and John McAfee are two of the best at it, but now there's a problem between them. Whether you are on their side in their respective legal and business ventures or not doesn't matter, in this case, they claim it's all …

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When it comes to pointing fingers and entertaining their fan bases online, Kim Dotcom and John McAfee are two of the best at it, but now there's a problem between them. Whether you are on their side in their respective legal and business ventures or not doesn't matter, in this case, they claim it's all the other guy's fault.

Supposedly, this latest beef between them began when MGT capital, a security investment firm headed by McAfee, approached Kim Dotcom to invest $30 million in cash and stock in his planned MegaUpload 2.0 file locker. Dotcom claims however, that the company has no value yet and that MGT wanted to use the announcement as a way to generate the value of the investment.

By his own words, Dotcom then turned the offer down. Likewise a follow up $500,000 investment to announce a letter of intent to do business together.

Dotcom went on to accuse MGT Capital and John McAfee of being involved in ‘pump and dump' trading with the firm, hoping to raise its stock value with an announcement, only to sell it on once it spikes.

As you might expect, outspoken individual and once-upon-a-time Libertarian presidential hopeful, John McAfee, didn't take this very well, especially when Dotcom started calling him a bully.

According to TorrentFreak though, this back and forth didn't start because of an investment offer, it came about because Eric Anderson (Eijah), head of DemonSaw, a company endorsed by McAfee, was planning to work with Dotcom on MegaUpload 2.0. Or so it seemed. He has since announced that he's not leaving MGT Capital and has a great relationship with McAfee.

According to Dotcom though, he was scared into making such a statement. Supposedly when Dotcom gave the job to Eijah, McAfee wasn't happy.

https://twitter.com/KimDotcom/status/765975369602084864

McAfee went on to threaten Dotcom, claiming that within the next 24 hours, he would start a war that cannot be undone.

Now we await the first salvo.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: As much as this seems like Twitter nonsense drama, it's interesting to look at the different kinds of professionals Dotcom is looking to surround himself with for his new project. You also have to wonder if McAfee is a little hard up if he's potentially trying some schemes to generate funds for the firm he now heads. 

Image Source: Gage Skidmore/Flickr

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U.S. continues to hoard Dotcom’s millions, rejects appeal https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/u-s-continues-to-hoard-dotcoms-millions-rejects-appeal/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/u-s-continues-to-hoard-dotcoms-millions-rejects-appeal/#comments Mon, 15 Aug 2016 11:03:00 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=303055 Kim Dotcom has failed to reacquire the millions of dollars in funds that the U.S. government seized after taking down his site and having him arrested in New Zealand back in 2012. Following a lengthy appeal, the court has refused his claim and upheld the judgement that by remaining outside of the U.S., he is …

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Kim Dotcom has failed to reacquire the millions of dollars in funds that the U.S. government seized after taking down his site and having him arrested in New Zealand back in 2012. Following a lengthy appeal, the court has refused his claim and upheld the judgement that by remaining outside of the U.S., he is a fugitive of the law.

The U.S. government has claimed the legal right to withhold Dotcom's cash stocks, properties and other assets for years now, because it claims they were purchased through profits acquired from money laundering and copyright infringement. Although that is legally arguable, it's managed to maintain its grip on his cash and assets through the fugitive moniker.

The assets have a total value of some $67 million (£52 million) across a number of bank accounts, vehicles and luxury items (as per TorrentFreak).

The failed appeal by Dotcom's legal team is certainly a set back for the German national, but Dotcom and his defence, headed by Ira Rothken, has yet to give up. Moving forward, they would seek a review of the appeal court's decision and would petition the Supreme Court if the review approves the current decision.

“This opinion has the effect of eviscerating Kim Dotcom’s treaty rights by saying if you lawfully oppose extradition in New Zealand, the U.S. will still call you a fugitive and take all of your assets,” Rothken said in a statement.

He went on to call the U.S. tactics imperialistic and with no legal bearing.

That may not be the only Dotcom case that ends up at the Supreme Court though. The MegaUpload founder is also facing extradition after he lost the trial last year, but plans to appeal that decision and will take it to the Supreme Court also, if required.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: As much as there is likely to be a case that Dotcom was at least aware of copyright infringement on MegaUpload, it is very worrying that the U.S. can call someone a fugitive and just take their money, without much legal standing or recourse.

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Alleged KickAssTorrent founder hires Kim Dotcom’s lawyer https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/alleged-kickasstorrent-founder-hires-kim-dotcoms-lawyer/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/alleged-kickasstorrent-founder-hires-kim-dotcoms-lawyer/#comments Fri, 29 Jul 2016 08:18:51 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=300906 If there is one big advantage to taking on a famous and inflammatory client, it's that if you do a good job, people will hear about it. That's what seems to have happened with Kim Dotcom's lawyer, Ira Rothken, who has now been hired by the man accused of founding and running KickAssTorrents. KickAssTorrents (KAT) …

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If there is one big advantage to taking on a famous and inflammatory client, it's that if you do a good job, people will hear about it. That's what seems to have happened with Kim Dotcom's lawyer, Ira Rothken, who has now been hired by the man accused of founding and running KickAssTorrents.

KickAssTorrents (KAT) was, until very recently, the most popular torrent site in the world. For years it built up a strong community and even recently launched on the dark web to further hide its base of operations and prevent takedowns. However using real world police work the authorities were able to track down Atem Vaulin, who they claim was responsible for the site.

Vaulin has been in a Warsaw jail ever since and was given council by a local Polish lawyer. However since he's set to take on the U.S. government, Vaulin decided to hire on a big gun, so he acquired the services of Ira Rothken, who through one means or another has kept Kim Dotcom from being extradited to the United States for more than four years.

kickasstorrents

Vaulin stands accused of copyright infringement, conspiracy to commit copyright infringement and money laundering, with speculative statistics suggesting his website was responsible for the loss of a billion dollars in revenue from the entertainment industry.

This is where Rothken comes in, as he argues that there is no such thing as secondary copyright infringement, or “conspiracy to commit.” This is the same charge that Dotcom has been hit with, but Rothken has repeatedly argued that just because site users committed infringement, it does not implicate the site's owner.

“It is a glorified set of hyperlinks, very much like you would get from a search engine like Google,” he said in a chat with Ars. “This case of KickassTorrents, we’re not able to find any cases especially criminal case where a hyperlink was considered direct wilful infringement. We believe that the US case here is without merit and ultimately the folks involved with that will win as a matter of law.”

He went on to claim that the U.S. takedown of KAT was an attack on Bittorrent technology, not an individual lawsuit designed to prevent piracy.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: If Rothken can keep Dotcom in New Zealand AND Vaulin in Poland, he's set himself up as the go-to legal counsil for any such cases in the future.

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Dotcom ordered to pay £10 million for MegaVideo piracy https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/dotcom-ordered-to-pay-10-million-for-megavideo-piracy/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/dotcom-ordered-to-pay-10-million-for-megavideo-piracy/#comments Tue, 19 Jul 2016 09:53:19 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=299809 Kim Dotcom might still be hoping to avoid extradition to the U.S. in his New Zealand trial, but another has been ongoing in Italy for far longer. The six year old court case saw TV company Reti Televisive Italiane (RTI), which has been awarded £10 million by the judge, for copyright infringement on the MegaVideo …

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Kim Dotcom might still be hoping to avoid extradition to the U.S. in his New Zealand trial, but another has been ongoing in Italy for far longer. The six year old court case saw TV company Reti Televisive Italiane (RTI), which has been awarded £10 million by the judge, for copyright infringement on the MegaVideo platform.

Although MegaUpload was the jewel in Kim Dotcom's internet crown back in 2010, he also operated a secondary site, MegaVideo, which stored and allowed the sharing of online-videos. As with every resource ever made that facilitates something like that, piracy was a problem, something that RTI wanted stopped, so it sent takedown notices.

However that put MegaVideo in a tough spot, because RTI didn't provide any URLs. The argument since, as part of its six year court case, was that RTI didn't need to provide URLs – Dotcom and MegaVideo disagreed.

The judge though did not, it seems, as after all this time the court decided to award RTI a full $13.4 (£10.15) million for the alleged infringement. However this isn't even close to what RTI was hoping for, as its initial request of the court was for as much as $110 million.

megavideo

Source: Softronic

Although MegaVideo didn't defend itself – being a defunct organisation and with its founders and developers elsewhere overseas – the court did consider whether it could be claimed that the site was protected by being a host and therefore not responsible for its users. However because MegaVideo categorised videos and used advertising based on certain content, it was found culpable for some of the content that the users uploaded (thanks TorrentFreak).

It's somewhat surprising that the URLs for the infringing content were seen as not necessary by the court, as tracking them down could have been rather difficult.

Regardless though, it will be interesting to see what pressure (if any) this puts on Dotcom and his fellow MegaUpload/Video founders. Who is responsible for paying the bill when the company and its funds no longer exist?

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Kim Dotcom is said to still be worth in the tens or even hundreds of millions, so perhaps he can handle a judgement like this, but nobody likes having to pay out that much.

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Kim Dotcom might launch yet another file locker site https://www.kitguru.net/professional/development/jon-martindale/kim-dotcom-might-launch-yet-another-file-locker-site/ https://www.kitguru.net/professional/development/jon-martindale/kim-dotcom-might-launch-yet-another-file-locker-site/#respond Wed, 06 Jul 2016 10:53:08 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=298558 For all his bluster, pomp and failed political ambitions, Kim Dotcom has done a few things well over the years, namely making file lockers. MegaUpload and more recently Mega, were big successes and though he's not involved in either any more, he may build a new one, with a name that he says will make …

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For all his bluster, pomp and failed political ambitions, Kim Dotcom has done a few things well over the years, namely making file lockers. MegaUpload and more recently Mega, were big successes and though he's not involved in either any more, he may build a new one, with a name that he says will make people happy.

Dotcom currently still resides in New Zealand, preparing his appeal for his extradition trial, the result of which would see him deported to the U.S. to face trial. However in the mean time Dotcom has been busy launching music services like Baboom and apparently building a new file locker website too.

The initial announcement for the site was made – where else – on his official Twitter account, where he detailed some of its features: “100GB free storage, on-the-fly encryption, sync all your devices, no transfer limits.” That last point is something he recently criticised Mega for enabling.

He capped the Tweet off by reminding everyone that next year will be the fifth anniversary of his arrest at his New Zealand mansion in 2012. Presumably that's the intended launch date.

When asked by fans about the service, he said that it would be far better than mega, offering a lot of improvements and would be much easier to use. That's an interesting statement to make since Mega has proved to be a fairly intuitive tool for people, though Dotcom has distanced himself from the encrypted file locker in recent years, suggesting it had money problems and had been taken over by a hostile Chinese investor.

When TorrentFreak reached out to the legally embattled entrepreneur, it was told that a new file locker was indeed under development and that Dotcom was excited about the innovations it will contain. While he remained coy about specific features beyond what he had already detailed in the above Tweet, he did highlight how important personal privacy and security still was for him.

Dotcom also said that this would be his best creation yet, utilising eight years of knowledge in the file locker business to bring it to life.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Dotcom has promised a lot over the years and only delivered on a few projects, but traditionally his file lockers have been strong services that are well received. Would you jump on board a new Kim Dotcom file locker?

Image Source: Dotcom/Twitter

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Kim Dotcom and Mega trade barbs over service’s future https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/kim-dotcom-and-mega-trade-barbs-over-services-future/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/kim-dotcom-and-mega-trade-barbs-over-services-future/#comments Mon, 25 Apr 2016 10:14:32 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=290516 Kim Dotcom, the endlessly legally embattled founder of the MegaUpload and Mega file lockers, has recently changed his tune on the latter's viability as a service, calling on users to back up files and warning that it's no longer a safe place to store data. Riled up by his negative comments, Mega has now released …

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Kim Dotcom, the endlessly legally embattled founder of the MegaUpload and Mega file lockers, has recently changed his tune on the latter's viability as a service, calling on users to back up files and warning that it's no longer a safe place to store data. Riled up by his negative comments, Mega has now released several statements of its own, lambasting the founder for his own failures.

Mega was founded in Janaury 2013, a year after Kim Dotcom's arrest, as a way to correct the mistakes of MegaUpload and provide better protection for its users. It was part of a wave of encrypted services which have come about in recent years, as the breadth and depth of government spying has become apparent.

Over the years since though, Dotcom rescinded ownership and moved away from many of his founded services, so that his criminal proceedings wouldn't impact them, but that has led to what he described as a hostile takeover of Mega, with a Chinese businessman now said to be in charge. Indeed Bill Liu, who Dotcom claims is secretly head of the operation, is one of China's “top five most wanted criminals.”

Last week Dotcom urged users to back up their files if they stored them on Mega, claiming that years without credit card payments meant it was losing a million dollars a month and may not be able to survive much longer.

Mega has denied all of these claims however, stating that Liu is not involved in any capacity more than an investor and that Mega has “plenty of funds.”

“This year, MEGA has already committed 24 PB additional storage capacity to service our 40 million registered users, and we will continue that expansion,” the company said on its official blog.

Dotcom however came back again and stated that Mega's post is entirely false and that in meetings of his own with the current CEO, the company head admitted there were real problems.

But Mega then came back again, lampooning Dotcom for previously promising services like his encrypted “MegaNet,” would arrive in 2014, then 2016 and we still have yet to see it (thanks TorrentFreak).

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: This is a big case of he-said-she-said, which you would perhaps think would be beyond a company that was financially stable. If it was doing well, would Dotcom's public statements really matter? His sway isn't quite what it once was. Especially with his potential extradition looming.

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Kim Dotcom is still battling to get his money back https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/kim-dotcom-is-still-battling-to-get-his-money-back/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/kim-dotcom-is-still-battling-to-get-his-money-back/#respond Mon, 28 Mar 2016 09:14:06 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=288125 Kim Dotcom, the founder of Mega, MegaUpload, Baboom and the Internet Party, has been in and out of court for over four years now, hoping to avoid being sent to the U.S. to stand trial for various charges relating to his long-shut-down file locker operation. While he looks set to be sent there eventually, he's …

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Kim Dotcom, the founder of Mega, MegaUpload, Baboom and the Internet Party, has been in and out of court for over four years now, hoping to avoid being sent to the U.S. to stand trial for various charges relating to his long-shut-down file locker operation. While he looks set to be sent there eventually, he's still brawling in the court rooms in the hope of recovering much of his forfeited fortune.

When Dotcom was arrested back on 20th January 2012, on charges related to conspiracy to commit copyright infringement, money laundering and fraud, the authorities also launched a civil suit against him, claiming many of his assets were generated through the alleged crimes.

Using fugitive law as justification, Dotcom's cars, computers and bank accounts were all seized, leaving him still well off, but hardly the ‘Mega' millionaire he was before.

Over the years since, Dotcom has spent much of his time in courts battling against extradition, but also attempting to recover those funds – much of which went on continuing his and his family's residence in New Zealand. He previously claimed that he required $200,000 NZ dollars (£95,000) a month in living expenses, though has since reduced that figure by moving out of the multi-million dollar mansion he stayed in for many years.

luna

Meanwhile, Dotcom got a new puppy

But now he wants more of his money back. There is still an estimated $67 (£47) million held by the U.S. government, because of Dotcom's status as a fugitive. However the German national's lawyers are now arguing that Dotcom is not a fugitive, as he has only been legally defending his extradition so far, rather than the crimes he stands accused of.

By confiscating his assets from him, his lawyers argue that his rights to legal defence have been removed.

“The DOJ in our view is trying to abuse the Fugitive Disentitlement Doctrine by modifying it into an offensive weapon of asset forfeiture to punish those who fight extradition under lawful treaties, and a provocation for international discord,” said head of Dotcom's defence team, Ira Rothken (via TorrentFreak).

The outcome of this and Dotcom's appeal against the decision to send him and his fellow defendants to the U.S. is down to the Fourth Circuit appeals court. There is still some time before a verdict is expected, but when it comes, it could set precedent for how the U.S. acts with alleged criminals overseas, and how it uses the fugitive law to strip assets from them prior to a trial.

KitGuru Says: Any legal experts among you care to weigh in on Dotcom's chances here? He's had some serious heavy hitters lined up against him this whole time. Can he win an appeal and keep himself away from the U.S.' shores?

 

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Dotcom gets at least one more summer in New Zealand https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/dotcom-gets-at-least-one-more-summer-in-new-zealand/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/dotcom-gets-at-least-one-more-summer-in-new-zealand/#respond Wed, 10 Feb 2016 12:29:01 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=283450 The appeal for internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom's extradition trial has been set of August, so the MegaUpload founder will have at least a few more months to prepare and  can finish out this summer there. This comes despite demands from the U.S. that his appeal be fast tracked to hurry along his extradition, should the …

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The appeal for internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom's extradition trial has been set of August, so the MegaUpload founder will have at least a few more months to prepare and  can finish out this summer there. This comes despite demands from the U.S. that his appeal be fast tracked to hurry along his extradition, should the appeal fall through.

This all relates to Dotcom's original arrest back in January 2012 for operating the file locker website, MegaUpload. Authorities in the U.S. and New Zealand accused him of profiting from copyright infringement and money laundering, charges that if convicted could have Dotcom put away for many years.

He was ultimately arrested and his property seized. Over the four years since, he's avoided the trial for as long as possible, but was eventually given the nod by a judge at the end of 2015 to be extradited to the U.S., along with his fellow defendants. Now we await the Dotcom appeal trial, which the judge has set for August, denying requests from the prosecution that it be hurried along (as per TorrentFreak).

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Source: Kim Dotcom/Twitter

When the appeal finally does take place, beginning on the 29th August, it is expected to last several weeks, meaning Dotcom could be New Zealand until October, which is edging into another New Zealand summer. If anything else delays it, it could be 2017 before we know whether Dotcom will be leaving the shores of his southern-hemisphere home for good.

Even if the appeal goes against him, Dotcom can then take it through the High Court, the Supreme Court and even request special consideration from the minister of justice. This is a long road that isn't even close to being over.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: It's quite amazing how lengthy this legal process has been. Do you think he will be able to avoid going to the U.S. forever?

 

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Kim Dotcom releases $24 million music video, ‘Good Life’ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/kim-dotcom-releases-24-million-music-video-good-life/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/kim-dotcom-releases-24-million-music-video-good-life/#respond Wed, 20 Jan 2016 11:45:35 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=281391 Kim Dotcom might not be living the good life so much these days, having moved out of his mansion and facing extradition, but he did once. Back before his arrest in 2012, he did just about whatever he wanted, when he wanted, as his recently re-released song, ‘Good Life' attests to. Featuring footage shot before the downfall …

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Kim Dotcom might not be living the good life so much these days, having moved out of his mansion and facing extradition, but he did once. Back before his arrest in 2012, he did just about whatever he wanted, when he wanted, as his recently re-released song, ‘Good Life' attests to. Featuring footage shot before the downfall of MegaUpload, Dotcom claims that the video cost as much as $24 million to make.

It starts with shots of the Dotcom rented mansion in New Zealand, which the German entrepreneur recently vacated after several years of residence. Many of the man's cars are seen on its driveway, most heavily customised and used in races like the Gumball 3000 and in private events held by Dotcom on the Nürburgring (as per NZHerald).

The video also shows a purported $10 million yacht holiday that Dotcom took several years prior, as well as various activities, all with sweeping camera shots from helicopters and some relatively impressive CGI too.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDiili2Gs-0′]

Part of the associated costs with this video however come from the perfection that Dotcom reportedly levied against those involved in its production, retaking shots over and over to achieve the perfect effect. Such are the days of an internet millionaire; as Dotcom himself says in the song, “sleep all day, party all night, have whatever you want, whenever you like.”

But if all of this was shot back in 2011, why did Dotcom only just release it? Partly because of his extradition trial proceedings, partly because of his founding of the Internet Mana political party. Flaunting wealth, especially when attempting to raise awareness of often underprivileged Maori minority would not have been a smart political play.

Apparently though now Dotcom hopes to use the video to inspire people. Its description reads: “A fat kid and school dropout from a poor family made his dreams come true. You can do it too.”

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Do you feel inspired? Or perhaps just a little green? That yacht does look like a lot of fun. 

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Courts rule Kim Dotcom to be extradited to the U.S. https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/courts-rule-kim-dotcom-to-be-extradited-to-the-u-s/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/courts-rule-kim-dotcom-to-be-extradited-to-the-u-s/#comments Wed, 23 Dec 2015 09:27:17 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=278923 Kim Dotcom is to be sent to America to faced charges on conspiracy to commit copyright infringement, money laundering and fraud, as per the whims of the New Zealand court that presided over his extradition trial. Although the German entrepreneur has promised to appeal, him and his co-defendants have all been found eligible under New …

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Kim Dotcom is to be sent to America to faced charges on conspiracy to commit copyright infringement, money laundering and fraud, as per the whims of the New Zealand court that presided over his extradition trial. Although the German entrepreneur has promised to appeal, him and his co-defendants have all been found eligible under New Zealand law and its extradition treaty with the U.S., to be sent across the Pacific.

Dotcom has been battling to avoid the extradition trial for years, having had it pushed back many times since his original arrest on 20th January 2012. While that often caused him financial worry, perhaps it wasn't such a bad tactic as despite much public support, Dotcom is now set to be extradited, along with his fellow defendants; pending his appeal.

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Meanwhile Dotcom is busy making lemonade with life. Source: Dotcom/Twitter

The charges he is alleged to have committed, all relate to his founding and operation of now defunct file-locker website MegaUpload.com. It has been said by U.S. authorities that Dotcom and staff were aware of piracy taking place on the platform and even encouraged it, using the unlawful sharing of copyright protected content to help grow the site and benefit from it financially.

Despite the obvious seriousness of this situation, Dotcom remains confident he won't be sent overseas. According to his lawyer, the legal standing for the extradition and even the original charges in the U.S. is “weak.” The appeal will be filed for based on a lack of understanding of the court on certain matters such as U.S. copyright law, ISPs and internet based services like MegaUpload. He has said he expects to take it to the High Court and possibly even the Supreme Court if needed.

Dotcom himself said that he and his team had: “a good read of today's court decision. Its weak and a Christmas gift in disguise. Woohoo!! #Appeal”

KitGuru Says: Ending up in the U.S. would not be good for DotCom. His team seems confident though. Do you think he turns this around at the High Court?

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Kim Dotcom given access to Hong Kong funds https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/kim-dotcom-given-access-to-hong-kong-funds/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/kim-dotcom-given-access-to-hong-kong-funds/#respond Wed, 02 Dec 2015 12:30:57 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=277004 One of the biggest pieces of contention in the Kim Dotcom extradition saga, has been whether the MegaUpload founder should have access to the money he made during the file-locker's life. While not all of it has been returned to him, the New Zealand High Court has now given access to funds stored in Hong …

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One of the biggest pieces of contention in the Kim Dotcom extradition saga, has been whether the MegaUpload founder should have access to the money he made during the file-locker's life. While not all of it has been returned to him, the New Zealand High Court has now given access to funds stored in Hong Kong bank accounts.

This is something that has been a big problem for Dotcom for some time. He has repeatedly claimed to be running out of money, requesting additional funds for legal fees and living expenses from various judges and courts – albeit after funding a new political party, various internet services and while living in an enormous rented mansion.

Still, he's been granted it before and now he's been granted it again, this time with access to Hong Kong money, where MegaUpload was previously headquartered. However the funds are not for fun and jollies, but exclusively to pay for living expenses and legal fees – Dotcom's two biggest outgoings at this point.

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Source: Kim Dotcom/Twitter

When his assets and those of MegaUpload were seized alongside the New Zealand raid on his home in January 2012, the total value was placed at HK$300 million (£25 million). Part of the liquid cash in that stockpile will now be made available to the legally embattled entrepreneur.

This comes despite the prosecution trying to block it, claiming that Dotcom lives a “Rolls Royce lifestyle,” citing his monthly bills as being in the tens of thousands of NZ dollars (as per South China Morning Post) .Dotcom has in the past claimed the reason his expenses are so high, is because he wishes to maintain the lifestyle his children are used to.

The prosecution's previous rejections of Dotcom's requests for his seized funds, relate to the fact that that money was earned during the operation of MegaUpload, an entity that it claims was used to earn illegal funds. Dotcom also stands accused of money laundering if extradited to the U.S..

With the MegaUpload defendents' extradition trial now complete, all involved await the judge's decision on whether to deport them to the United States for further court action.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Even if some of the success of MegaUpload was because of piracy, it had millions of users. Some of the money made from the site should surely be seen as legitimate?

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Dotcom case ends, U.S. attempts last-minute evidence submission https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/dotcom-case-ends-u-s-attempts-last-minute-evidence-submission/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/dotcom-case-ends-u-s-attempts-last-minute-evidence-submission/#comments Mon, 23 Nov 2015 11:42:09 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=275998 The long awaited extradition trial of legally-embattled Kim Dotcom and his co-defendants has finally come to close, but not before the prosecution attempted to submit a last-minute piece of evidence, despite its side of the case having ended weeks ago. Regardless, this marks the beginning of the end of a story that began almost four …

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The long awaited extradition trial of legally-embattled Kim Dotcom and his co-defendants has finally come to close, but not before the prosecution attempted to submit a last-minute piece of evidence, despite its side of the case having ended weeks ago. Regardless, this marks the beginning of the end of a story that began almost four years ago, when Dotcom's New Zealand mansion was raided by a large number of heavily armed police forces.

On 20th January 2012, one day before Dotcom's birthday, his home was raided by a number of police vans, cars and helicopters, dropping off police armed with sub-machine guns and grenades, who eventually found the MegaUpload founder in his hidden panic room. He was arrested and most of his property, including computers and cars, were confiscated.

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Dotcom has continued to take pictures with fans and supporters outside of the court. Source: Dotcom/Twitter

Since then he's faced monetary issues and launched a failed political campaign to oust the then (and still) Prime Minister John Key. Throughout the many intervening years his legal team repeatedly pushed off the extradition trial, presumably to run out the clock on some of the charges, but you get the feeling that at this point Dotcom just wants to get the results and deal with the consequences.

However his legal team had to deal with what it described as an ‘ambush' as they looked to wrap up the case over the past few hours. The Crown, representing the United States in the case, had asked to submit new evidence before the case's conclusion, despite its case ending weeks before.

Although the defence argued against it, the Judge will now decide if the evidence is worth hearing and will make his decision on whether Dotcom and his fellow defendants will be extradited to the U.S. later this week. If he does grant the prosecution's wish, Dotcom could face decades in jail if convicted in an American court. He stands accused of fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to commit copyright infringement.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Any legal experts among you care to explain how common the practice of late evidence introductions are? It seems like a sneaky tactic to sway a judge's favour at the end of a trial, but perhaps it's less nefarious than that?

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U.S. asks judge throw out Kim Dotcom evidence, gets declined https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/u-s-asks-judge-throw-out-kim-dotcom-evidence-gets-declined/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/u-s-asks-judge-throw-out-kim-dotcom-evidence-gets-declined/#respond Thu, 05 Nov 2015 11:29:33 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=274223 The United States government has thrown its weight around during the extradition trial of legally embattled file locker founder Kim Dotcom, with a request sent to the judge presiding over the trial to throw out all evidence provided by Dotcom's defence. Announcing however that he wants a “fair extradition,” the judge declined the request and …

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The United States government has thrown its weight around during the extradition trial of legally embattled file locker founder Kim Dotcom, with a request sent to the judge presiding over the trial to throw out all evidence provided by Dotcom's defence. Announcing however that he wants a “fair extradition,” the judge declined the request and has pressed forward with the trial as intended.

This week saw the beginning to Dotcom's official defence, with his legal team pointing how certain charges against the MegaUpload founder and his co-defendants had run out and that without those, others weren't applicable. They also argued that based on a ruling in a court during the '80s, that copyright charges did not warrant an extradition.

It was all of this, plus any coming evidence, that the U.S. wanted the judge to throw out, but that's not going to happen.

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Dotcom is still taking time to snap pictures with fans outside the court though

“The US Govt seriously asked the Judge to rule that all of our evidence is inadmissible because in their submission it was not relevant,” Dotcom said to TorrentFreak. “The Judge has said that he wants a fair extradition hearing and has therefore rejected the US Govt position.”

Dotcom's defence is expected to wrap up this week and then it's just the tense wait to see what he judge thinks. It should be encouraging for Dotcom's camp though that the judge is keen to see the man given a fair trial.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: It's going to be very interesting to see where this case goes. It could set a big precedent for attempts to go after file locker owners in the future.

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Kim Dotcom begins extradition defence https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/kim-dotcom-begins-extradition-defence/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/kim-dotcom-begins-extradition-defence/#respond Tue, 03 Nov 2015 11:55:35 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=273936 Larger than life internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom has been in the sights of U.S. and New Zealand authorities for years as they attempted to deport him to America to face charges of conspiracy to commit copyright infringement and money laundering. While he managed to postpone the necessary extradition trial for more than three years, he …

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Larger than life internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom has been in the sights of U.S. and New Zealand authorities for years as they attempted to deport him to America to face charges of conspiracy to commit copyright infringement and money laundering. While he managed to postpone the necessary extradition trial for more than three years, he was recently hauled into a court room to face the music and after several weeks of hearing the other side's take on things, now his legal team is winding up their arm for the first jab back.

The early hours of this morning marked the second day of Dotcom's defence, with his lawyers arguing that none of the charges levied against him warrant being extradited to another country. While the crown – representing the United States – has painted Dotcom's actions as fraudulent and therefore worthy of extradition, there is now precedent for copyright related charges to force the deportation of a New Zealand citizen, claims his defence.

To back up this statement, the lawyers were able to cite the case of Dowling v. United States – 1985 – which eventually ruled that copies of copyright protected property were not considered “stolen, converted or taken by fraud,” and therefore did not warrant extradition.

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Meanwhile… Source: Dotcom/Twitter

As TorrentFreak explains, this could prove to by the keystone for Dotcom's defence. Since all of the charges against him and most of his fellow MegaUpload defendants are related to copyright infringement in some manner, if none of them are considered extraditable offences, regardless of guilt, Dotcom is unlikely to be sent anywhere.

Dotcom's defence also pointed out that one of the copyright charges against Dotcom had passed its time limitations, so was unable to be applied to the case. Several other charges were only provable if that charge was also considered valid, which should invalidate them too, they argued.

“Unless the United States can show an offence of criminal secondary copyright infringement in the United States as a matter of law, this court must reject this application for surrender,” his lawyer said (via TVNZ).

As it stands Dotcom and his fellow defendants are alleged to have encouraged copyright infringement on the MegaUpload file locker site, which helped them earn more than $250 million NZ. If convicted of money laundering and conspiracy to commit copyright infringement, they face potentially decades in jail.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Now the tactic of delaying the extradition trial seems to make more sense. Dotcom was trying to run out the clock, even if it did almost bankrupt him in the process.

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MegaUpload defence claims U.S. trial tactics ‘unfair’ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/megaupload-defence-claims-u-s-trial-tactics-unfair/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/megaupload-defence-claims-u-s-trial-tactics-unfair/#comments Mon, 05 Oct 2015 10:03:34 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=270592 The extradition trial of the MegaUpload operators, including Kim Dotcom, versus the United States, has been ongoing for just over a week now, with most of that time spent giving the New Zealand Crown Court – representing the U.S. – its opportunity to paint an unflattering picture of the site and its administrators. With the …

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The extradition trial of the MegaUpload operators, including Kim Dotcom, versus the United States, has been ongoing for just over a week now, with most of that time spent giving the New Zealand Crown Court – representing the U.S. – its opportunity to paint an unflattering picture of the site and its administrators. With the defence now given a chance to speak, they've argued as part of a stay application that tactics to limit Dotcom and his fellow defendants' funding unfairly weighted the trial against them.

The case against Dotcom and various other MegaUpload employees is a complicated one. They stands accused of crimes in the United States, where the government wants to send them. However, they must be extradited first, which means proving their guilt to a certain extent in New Zealand, but relating to U.S. law. With that in mind, Dotcom's team wants to hire U.S. legal experts to help advise on the case, but they can't (they argue), because the courts have frozen Dotcom's funds.

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You can't say Dotcom's defence aren't snappy dressers though. Source: Dotcom/Twitter

As it stands, they can only hire New Zealand citizens to aid the case, which isn't enough to provide adequate defence they claim. That “means that the hearing is fundamentally unfair,” argued Dotcom's legal representative, Grant Illingworth (via 3News).

“From our point of view what we say about American law is purely guess work and we would be in grave danger of being held to being negligent and incompetent. In any other case we would seek expert advice,” he said, claiming that tactics used against Dotcom and his fellow defendants amounted to an abuse of process.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Can any legal experts among you explain why Ira Rothken, a U.S. based lawyer that heads up Dotcom's legal defence team can't be called on for ‘expert advice' in this instance?

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New Zealand can’t find Kim Dotcom’s extradition notice https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/new-zealand-cant-find-kim-dotcoms-extradition-notice/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/new-zealand-cant-find-kim-dotcoms-extradition-notice/#comments Wed, 30 Sep 2015 10:16:12 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=270052 Kim Dotcom's long awaited extradition trial has been ongoing for the past week, giving those who have followed his continued delaying tactics a light at the end of the tunnel: whether he goes or stays, at least soon there may be some resolution to the problems that have tied up user files in servers all …

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Kim Dotcom's long awaited extradition trial has been ongoing for the past week, giving those who have followed his continued delaying tactics a light at the end of the tunnel: whether he goes or stays, at least soon there may be some resolution to the problems that have tied up user files in servers all over the world for almost four years. However the latest development is a bizarre one, as the Crown Court can't seem to find the documents that called for Dotcom's extradition in the first place.

This came to light because as part of the hearing, witness for the Crown, Fiona Parkes, produced copies of the origianl extradition order as evidence. However they were not date stamped, so dotcom's lawyer Ron Mansfield, requested the originals. She did not have them, nor did she know if the originals still existed.

Yesterday also saw a gaff for the prosecution, when a Justice Ministry employee was unable to confirm if the arrest warrant had been looked over by a member of their department before the raid on Dotcom's mansion in January 2012, as per RadioNZ. This could be a big problem for the Crown, as the active Justice Minister is meant to see copies of warrants and supporting evidence prior to them being acted on.

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Kim Dotcom continues to take it exceedingly seriously

Despite these setbacks, the Crown – representing the United States – continues to claim that Dotcom and his fellow MegaUpload operators made millions of dollars through encouraging copyright infringement on their file locker site and even handed out money to those that shared such content, to help seed the site during its early days.

Dotcom denies that any of that took place.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: It seems hard to imagine how Dotcom could be extradited considering all of the miscarriages of justice that have taken place since his arrest. Still, stranger things have happened and the U.S. is very determined to get him stateside.

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Dotcom’s appeal to delay US extradition hearing denied https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/dotcoms-appeal-to-delay-us-extradition-hearing-denied/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/dotcoms-appeal-to-delay-us-extradition-hearing-denied/#respond Mon, 14 Sep 2015 10:00:43 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=267651 Kim Dotcom has been fighting a non stop legal battle with the US for years now over Megaupload. Dotcom and a few other people involved with Megaupload were trying to appeal for more time to prepare for an upcoming US extradition hearing, but their request has been denied by the Court of Appeals. The court …

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Kim Dotcom has been fighting a non stop legal battle with the US for years now over Megaupload. Dotcom and a few other people involved with Megaupload were trying to appeal for more time to prepare for an upcoming US extradition hearing, but their request has been denied by the Court of Appeals.

The court claimed that it is confident in a fair hearing, which will now go ahead as planned next Monday. The US is after Dotcom, Mathias Ortmann, Bram van der Kolk and Finn Batato specifically, who all face charges of copyright infringement, money laundering, racketeering and conspiracy.

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As TorrentFreak points out, the hearing has already been rescheduled ten times. Dotcom apparently wanted it to be rescheduled again in order to get funding for expert witnesses outside of New Zealand. In its judgement, the Court of Appeals said that if the US has deprived the defendants of American expertise, then they would need to properly argue that point during the extradition hearing.

“If Judge Dawson decides the actions of the United States have deprived the appellants of American expertise they need properly to defend the extradition application, then inevitably he will have to adjourn the extradition hearing. If the Judge decides such expertise is not needed, and holds the appellants are eligible for extradition, then the combination of judicial review and the right of appeal in the Extradition Act will provide the appellants with ample remedies should they not accept the outcome.”

The hearing is set to take place next Monday. As you would imagine, Kim Dotcom isn't too pleased about the appeal decision, branding the New Zealand court as a “US owned dancing bear”.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: It seems that Dotcom has exhausted all other options and now the extradition hearing will go ahead as planned. Now we'll just have to wait and see how it all plays out…

Via: TorrentFreak

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