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Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom has been facing extradition to the US for serious charges, including racketeering and money laundering, related to his file-sharing service.
Today, he and his lawyers will be breathing a little easier as a New Zealand judge upheld the defence’s request, ordering the FBI to show its hand, revealing the evidence to be used at Dotcom’s extradition trial.
The Crown has so far refused access to the information, despite the defendant’s arguments that it is needed to prepare for the extradition hearing.
So what do the FBI have to reveal? A fuller list is available at TorrentFreak, but it includes
- information connected with covert operations related to the upload and download of files on the Megaupload site
- evidence collected of alleged copyright infringement
- communications between the copyright holders and Megaupload regarding take-down notices.
Mr Dotcom vs the Feds has been a popcorn-munching drama since January this year, when the New Zealand-based Megaupload founder was arrested, found hiding in his $30 million mansion’s panic room.
This police raid – where 18 luxury vehicles were seized, $11 million (NZ) in cash was secured from bank accounts, and 150TB (yes, Terabytes) of data was taken – was later considered illegal, reported Ars Technica.
The defendant and his posse are certainly not shy, retiring types. Some of high-end motors even sported some catch-me-if-you-can licence plates: GOOD, EVIL, MAFIA, HACKER, STONED, GOD and GUILTY.
If you are unfamiliar with the backstory, do check out other colourful anecdotes.
In the meantime, I suspect that the defence eagerly awaits the FBI paperwork, so they can roll up their sleeves and get to work on building a case. I wonder if it will be sent to them buried in a glut of unrelated information? Knowing what has happened so far with his story, it wouldn’t surprise me.
picture of Kim Dotcom courtesy of www.bgr.com
"The Crown has so far refused access to the information,"
Isn't Dotcom's opposition in the extradition case, the entity refusing access to the information, the U.S. Government? We might colloquially refer to that as "Washington" or something, but never "The Crown".
@Jay… The “crown” is the legal system as referred to under a commonwealth nation in a federal case.
Sort of 🙂 The pedant in me, however, requires that I point out that not all Commonwealth nations are consitutional monarchies (Mozambique, for example, is a republic), and New Zealand is not a federation.
"Crown" is a metonym in Anglophone consitutional monarchies – notably those whose monarch is Elizabeth II – for "the state". So you get terminology like "Crown land", "Crown copyright", "Crown prosecutor" and "Crown lager". (Only kidding. The latter exists but is merely a cheeky brand name.)
And since the court case is to see if he should be extradicted to US jurisdiction at all, it's happening under the NZ legal system, not the legal system of the US. Thus, saying "the Crown" is unexceptional here.
I doubt even the evidence will shut up the doubters. Extradite him to America, put him on trial, sentence him to life and move on. This is getting old.
I was really excited for the music publishing site they were going to launch to put more money into the hands of artists and bypass the RIAA more. Something like 90 cents on every dollar going to the artists and only 10 cents to megaupload. Regardless, I hope the defense puts up a good fight and gives the US a run for their (our) money. I don't like when people roll over and give up.
That would be one hell of a pay back for Megaupload. I haven't heard of this, but it sounds like a legal idea. The artist get paid, and Kim collects 10% commission.
The RIAA and the MPAA are causing to much trouble for only 1% or less of the public's actions. Mega upload and other file locker sites are not the problem. File lockers and file sharing are completely different.