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Kim Dotcom: Former Megaupload Execs Sentenced to 2.5 Years in Prison
Posted: 25 Mar 2012 12:22 PM PDT
A month after Kim Dotcom was released from prison on bail, his wife Mona has given birth to healthy twin girls. The twins were born in the National Women’s Hospital in Auckland weighing 2.4kg and 2.8kg. Dotcom and Mona already had three children - Kimmo, Kaylo and Kobi. The Megaupload founder was delighted to report the news and the now five-time father proudly posed with the new Dotcoms. “Two healthy Kiwis were born yesterday. All good,” Dotcom texted TorrentFreak on Friday. “When they asked me if I would like to keep the placenta (weird question) I said yes, and please send it to the FBI for forensic analysis so they can verify there is no pirate DNA,” he added. Kim Dotcom and his twin daughters http://torrentfreak.com/images/dotcom-twins.jpg No names have been mentioned for the latest additions to the Dotcom household, but it’s a safe bet those on the shortlist begin with ‘K’. Dotcom is currently preparing his defense against the indictment of the US Government, which he says will be “enlightening and maybe entertaining.” More news on this will arrive during the coming week. |
Kim Dotcom: US Government is Wrong!!!
Kim Dotcom: The US Government is Wrong, Here’s Why
Posted: 27 Mar 2012 05:17 AM PDT For a man who’s the main defendant in one of the biggest criminal cases ever brought in the US, Kim Dotcom is surprisingly composed. The Megaupload founder is convinced of his innocence, and instead of letting fear or anger get to him, he is excited. Deep into the night, Dotcom digs through heaps of paperwork, collecting evidence that shows how he was framed by the US Government. Talking to TorrentFreak by phone, he gives example after example of why he thinks the indictment twists the truth. While Megaupload’s lawyers are still working on the first motion in response to the indictment, he agreed to exclusively share the first details with us. Stealing from 50 Cent? One of the claims of the US Government is that Kim Dotcom personally shared copyrighted files on Megaupload, so-called ‘direct infringement’. He supposedly shared a link to a 50 Cent song, but the indictment fails to include the necessary context. “A link distributed on December 3, 2006 by defendant DOTCOM links to a musical recording by U.S. recording artist ’50 Cent’. A single click on the link accesses a Megaupload.com download page that allows any Internet user to download a copy of the file from a computer server that is controlled by the Mega Conspiracy,” the indictment reads. Dotcom told TorrentFreak that the file in question wasn’t infringing at all. He explained that he actually bought that song legally, and that he uploaded the file in private to test a new upload feature. He quickly picked a random file from his computer, which turned out to be this song. “The link to the song was sent using the private link-email-feature of Megaupload to our CTO with the file description ‘test’. I was merely testing the new upload feature,” Dotcom said. “The URL to this song had zero downloads. This was a ‘private link’ and it has never been published,” he added. Aside from the above, Dotcom told us that the US may not even have jurisdiction over the issue. The song was uploaded from a Philippine IP-address to a European server. Also, since the upload occurred in 2006, the statute of limitations renders the evidence unusable. Dotcom further said that the Louis Armstrong song mentioned in the indictment wasn’t an infringement either. “I also bought the Louis Armstrong song that was sent to me by a co-defendant via the private link-email-feature of Megaupload. According to the Department of Justice I am an infringer, and this is all they got? One song?” Warner’s Mass Deletions In addition to direct infringements, the indictment also suggests that Mega was actively preventing copyright holders from taking down content. An example given in the indictment is that Warner Bros. at one point was unable to delete content through the abuse tool, because they had hit the limit. Warner Bros. contacted Megaupload about the issue, and an email quoted in the indictment shows that Dotcom refused to raise the limit above 5,000 deleted per day. However, according to Dotcom this version of the truth leaves out some crucial facts. “First of all, Mega’s direct delete feature was provided to content owners voluntary and was not a legal requirement,” Dotcom says. But there is more. “The indictment contained an email in which I suggested to provide Warner Bros. with a limited number of deletes per day. In fact, days later Warner Bros. got the maximum quota of 100,000 deletes per day.” With the limit of 100,000 links per day Warner Bros was certainly not limited anymore. This is also apparent from takedown statistics provided to TorrentFreak. In total they show that Warner removed 1,933,882 links from Mega sites, making it by far the largest deleter of all copyright holders. To provide some context, Disney removed 127,934 links in total, the RIAA removed 17,108 links, Sony removed just 3,003 links in total and the BBC was least bothered with just 132 removals. Google to the Rescue Another controversial part in the indictment is that Mega should not be eligible for DMCA safe harbor protection because it only removed links, and not the actual files. The indictment describes this issue as follows. “During the course of the Conspiracy, the Mega Conspiracy has received many millions of requests to remove infringing copies of copyrighted works and yet the Conspiracy has, at best, only deleted the particular URL of which the copyright holder complained, and purposefully left the actual infringing copy of the copyrighted work on the Mega Conspiracy-controlled server and any other access links completely intact.” The indictment suggests that not removing the actual file is wrong, but as Google pointed out in the Hotfile lawsuit recently, this is exactly what a content provider is supposed to do under the DMCA. Removing the actual file is not standard procedure at all, and could lead to all sorts of problems. The above examples are just the tip of the iceberg. According to Dotcom he can refute pretty much each and every claim in the indictment. Also, Dotcom can do much more than that, and he was willing to share more details with us that shows how Megaupload and Megavideo were not the big bad pirate sites the indictment claims they are. Big Content & US Soldiers Loved Mega Megaupload’s founder shared five emails with TorrentFreak that were sent by representatives from big media companies including Disney, Warner Bros. and Fox. Instead of requesting Mega to take down content, they suggested various partnerships. Warner Bros., for example, asked Megavideo if they could provide a tool to automatically upload content from the movie studio. “We would like to upload our content all at once instead of one video at a time,” Warner’s Joshua Carver wrote. More details on these partnership emails are published in a separate article here. And then there’s the issue of the millions of site users that didn’t use it as a pirate haven. US Government workers had many accounts at Megaupload, as did those at MPAA member companies and those employed by the US Military. Many of these users paid for a premium account and uploaded a variety of content. Talking to TorrentFreak, Kim Dotcom suggested that of the 15,634 soldiers that used Megaupload, many were probably using it to share pictures and videos with their loved ones at home. More details on the government, MPAA and military users are published in a separate article here. A Political Scandal? Having digested the above, it does indeed seem that the US indictment doesn’t tell the whole story, or that it’s one-sided to say the least. This begs the question of why Mega was so aggressively targeted. What we do know is that the copyright lobby, headed by the MPAA, has been one of the main facilitators of the criminal investigation. It’s also not a secret that the MPAA and other lobby groups hire former high ranked Government officials and vice versa. The current head of the MPAA for example is former Senator Chris Dodd, and in recent months alone the MPAA also hired former employees from the Justice Department, the White House staff and the Senate Judiciary Committee. Needless to say, the movie industry group is well-connected in Washington. On the other hand we see that Neil MacBride, the U.S attorney who filed the Mega indictment, has connections to the copyright lobby as well. In fact, he served as the Vice President for Anti-Piracy and General Counsel of the Business Software Alliance (BSA), MPAA’s software counterpart. It wouldn’t be a huge surprise if the Mega investigation was somewhat of a ‘gift’ to Hollywood, a theory which Megaupload’s founder subscribes to. “Mega has become a re-election pawn in the White House / MPAA affair. If I was a Republican presidential candidate I would investigate this,” Dotcom says. However, this gift isn’t as free as it may seem. Dotcom says that the witch hunt against his company is putting the US technology sector at a disadvantage. “The MPAA / White House corruption has weakened US technology leadership. Internet businesses, hosting, cloud, payment processors, ad networks, etc. are going to avoid the US,” Dotcom told TorrentFreak. “There is an opportunity for liberal countries to welcome those businesses with better laws,” he predicts. “The loss of IT business & jobs in the US will substantially outweigh the inflated losses claimed by the MPAA & their billionaire club.” For now, however, Dotcom is mainly concerned with taking the criminal indictment apart. He is confident that he and his legal team will succeed in this and promises fireworks when the complete motion is published. “We did nothing wrong. Watch out for our first motion in response to the MPAA-sponsored Department of Justice indictment. It will be enlightening and maybe entertaining,” Dotcom concludes. |
Kim Dotcom: US Military Had Megaupload Accts
Kim Dotcom: US Military Had 15,634 Megaupload Accounts
Posted: 27 Mar 2012 05:16 AM PDT Ever since Megaupload was dismantled in January there have been concerns about data being held on the site’s servers. While the MPAA and RIAA insist that the site was simply a huge piracy hub, the facts point to a much bigger picture of people using the site for countless legitimate transfers of files simply too big to email. As mentioned earlier this month, Megaupload’s legal team is working hard to reunite site users with their data, an aim also shared by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) with their MegaRetrieval campaign. As part of this process, Megaupload discovered that a large number of Mega accounts are held by US government officials. Today, thanks to fresh information provided to TorrentFreak by Kim Dotcom, we can reveal more details. From domains including dhs.gov, doe.gov, fbi.gov, hhs.gov, nasa.gov, senate.gov, treas.gov and uscourts.gov, the number of accounts held at Megaupload total 1058. Of these, 344 users went the extra mile and paid for premium access. Between them they uploaded 15,242 files – a total of 1,851,791 MB. While a couple of million megabytes of lost data is bad enough, another group – the ladies and gentlemen of the US Military – stands to lose much, much more. From domains including af.mil, army.mil, centcom.mil, navy.mil and osd.mil etc, a total of 15,634 are registered with Megaupload. Of these an impressive 10,223 people paid to upgrade to a premium Megaupload account and between them they uploaded 340,983 files – a total of 96,507,779 MB. There is no suggestion that any of these military operatives or government employees were using Megaupload for infringing uses but it is almost guaranteed that documents, photographs and videos are now at serious risk of deletion. :rofl: . |
Latest Photo -Kim Dotcom’s Mega Legal Warfare
Kim Dotcom’s Mega Liberation Legal Warfare
* Ernesto, Torrentfreak A few days ago Kim Dotcom was kind enough to share some details on his legal defense with us. With the article we also posted caricature of a fired-up Kim. A few people have asked us for a larger version of the pic and so here it is. No copyright notice or credit needed if you plan to use it. Mega Liberation Legal Warfare http://torrentfreak.com/images/warfare.jpg :jump: |
Kim Dotcom, Megaupload- Back Online,
Kim Dotcom Back Online, Prepares To Release Music Album
Posted: 02 Apr 2012 02:01 AM PDT Following his arrest in January, Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom was immediately deprived of his freedom. On February 22nd, just over a month later, he was released on bail but heavy restrictions meant that life would not be getting back to normal. In addition to general limits placed on his movements and activities, Dotcom – someone who lives and breathes the Internet – was banned from going online or even having a cellphone with Internet capability. Today, Dotcom and his three New Zealand-based co-defendants – Mathias Ortmann, Bram van der Kolk and Finn Batato – appeared in the North Shore District Court with requests to have their bail conditions modified. Dotcom’s legal team told the Court that the 38-year-old needed Internet access reinstated so that he can properly mount his defense. Along with his co-accused, Dotcom faces charges in the United States of racketeering, money-laundering and various copyright infringement offenses. To assist with a back complaint, Dotcom also sought permission to use a swimming pool at the mansion where he and his family were living at the time of the raid. They currently live nearby. Dotcom’s fortune was seized by authorities so the former multi-millionaire is now looking to generate revenue wherever he can, as is his human right. To that end Dotcom, who has been honing his skills as a musician for some time, requested permission to finish an album he has been working on. The prosecution naturally objected to Dotcom continuing his work and said that his album, a collaboration with several international artists, was unlikely to succeed. TorrentFreak was given a sneak preview of the upcoming release late last year and we liked what we heard. Despite the complaints, Judge David Harvey said that Dotcom and his associates had behaved commendably whilst on bail. He subsequently granted Dotcom access to the Internet, 90 minutes access to the swimming pool and two trips each week to Roundhead Studios in Auckland to finish his album. The Judge also granted Batato, Ortmann and Van der Kolk permission to travel to Dotcom’s home once a week for a maximum of six hours so that they can work on their defense. An extradition hearing is planned for August this year and in the meantime Dotcom is staying strong in the belief that he can successfully defend the US charges against him. |
VIDEO- Footage of Megaupload Raid Goes Missing
Footage of Megaupload Raid Goes Missing
Posted: 11 Apr 2012 Following a lengthy FBI investigation an anti-terrorist police squad raided Kim Dotcom’s Coatesville mansion in January. Much of this Hollywood-like raid was filmed by Dotcom’s own security cameras, but without it being on the seizure list the security tapes were taken by the police. Claiming it was unlawfully obtained, Dotcom and the Megaupload legal team now want the footage back. Among other things, they want to use the material to proof that the police actions back in January went too far. However, after the police finally agreed that Dotcom’s team could make a copy, the real trouble started. The server rack which also contained the security footage has been taken apart by the police, and the authorities even doubt that they have the “tapes” in the first place. So the question is… Where is the footage, and why has it mysteriously disappeared? Dotcom’s server room http://torrentfreak.com/images/dotcom-server-room.jpg Source & more details in the excellent 3News video here; What happened to the Dotcom Mansion video footage? Security Video Footage Quote:
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US. Objects To Megaupload Hiring Top Law Firm
US Govt. Objects To Megaupload Hiring Top Law Firm
Posted: 12 Apr 2012 05:38 AM PDT http://torrentfreak.com/images/megaupload.jpg Following the raids on Megaupload in January, tens of millions of dollars in assets and funds belonging to the company were seized. Initially a law firm called Sidley Austin LLP had been negotiating on Megaupload’s behalf for the return of such assets and funds held in Hong Kong, New Zealand and Canada. Funds were indeed released from Hong Kong in February (to pay Mega employees) and from New Zealand in March (to pay for Kim Dotcom’s living expenses). At the end of last month, Sidley Austin LLP and Rothken law firm filed a motion in the US to have more funds released to cover Mega’s legal fees. Later Sidley Austin withdrew and a new law firm called Quinn Emanuel Urguhart & Sullivan took their place. The addition of the Los Angeles-based company to Megaupload’s legal team was widely considered a great asset for Kim Dotcom and his co-defendants to exploit. Andrew Schapiro, a partner at Quinn Emanuel, had previously represented several technology and media companies including Google and YouTube, leading the latter to a summary judgment in its $1 billion lawsuit against Viacom. In a new court filing the US government complains that Schapiro’s past record in copyright cases, and that of Quinn Emanuel as a whole, present a series of conflicts of interest. The government says the first conflict concerns YouTube. Last week the U.S. Court of Appeals in Manhattan reversed a lower court’s decision to issue summary judgment in the Viacom v YouTube case, so now that battle is back on. YouTube is also listed as a victim and potential witness in the criminal indictment against Megaupload. Quinn Emanuel can’t have interest in both cases, the government says. The second claimed conflict concerns Google, a company represented by Quinn Emanuel on a number of occasions including some involving the company’s AdSense advertising service. According to the Megaupload indictment, Google withdrew its Adsense service from the now-defunct file-hosting service in part due to copyright infringement concerns. The government intends to call Google as a witness in the Megaupload case. But it doesn’t stop there. The government goes on to list several companies that have been represented by Quinn Emanuel in copyright matters who are also alleged victims in the Megaupload case and who could be called as witnesses. The list includes a who’s-who of Hollywood and TV companies including Disney, Fox, Time Warner, Warner Bros. and HBO, in cases dating between 2006 and 2009. Another, a trademark dispute involving the company Danjaq LLC (holder of copyrights and trademarks relating to James Bond) and Sony dates back to 1998. Software companies make an appearance too. Quinn Emanuel represented Brøderbund Software back in 1986, Intuit (the company behind Quicken) in 1997, and at some point Bulletproof Software. It is claimed that all of these companies had their products distributed unlawfully via Megaupload and could be called to give testimony. “It is unclear how Quinn Emanuel intends to zealously represent defendants Megaupload Limited and Kim Dotcom while also protecting confidential attorney-client information gained in the course of representing other clients [...] particularly where those clients’ interests are directly opposed to those of the defendants,” the government writes. But according to the government the conflicts go even deeper, particularly since Quinn Emanuel are now applying for funds seized from Megaupload to be released in order to pay legal fees. “The possibility of a conflict of interest raised by Quinn Emanuel’s proposed representation of Megaupload Limited and Kim Dotcom is not limited to mere subject matter. The assets seized by the government from defendants may eventually be restored to victims – including possibly the current and former Quinn Emanuel clients listed above – as restitution,” the government adds. In any event, the US government believes that the amount of money already released by New Zealand to Kim Dotcom ($240,000 to be released in monthly installments of $32,000 until the funds are depleted then indefinite monthly payments of $16,000) will not prove restrictive when it comes to hiring a “competent” legal team, “..even if such funds prove insufficient to pay Quinn Emanuel’s billing rates.” The government’s complaints pose a real problem for Megaupload. Will it ever be possible for Kim Dotcom and his co-defendants to recruit a high-quality copyright specialist law firm that hasn’t ever represented any of the potential witnesses in the case? It seems unlikely. Meanwhile, the fight for legitimate users of Megaupload to get their data back continues. “The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) will ask a federal judge on Friday to establish a process that would allow lawful users of Megaupload’s cloud storage service to get their files back,” the EFF reports. Source: Code:
http://torrentfreak.com/us-govt-objects-to-megaupload-hiring-top-law-firm-121012/ |
Kim Dotcom,“Mega Conspiracy” were Running a Criminal Operation
Megaupload Worked on a Multi-Billion Dollar IPO
Posted: 17 Apr 2012 03:51 AM PDTorrentfreak Before Megaupload was shutdown the company was preparing to go public and enter the US stock market with a multi-billion dollar IPO. While the US authorities were conducting their criminal investigation, Megaupload had discussions with some of the ‘Big Four’ auditors and several of the world’s largest investments banks. The top of the financial world was looking at a huge potential tech IPO with a billion dollar valuation, but these plans ended abruptly in January. http://torrentfreak.com/images/wall-st1.jpg According to a US indictment, Kim Dotcom and the rest of the “Mega Conspiracy” were running a criminal operation. They are accused of engaging in a racketeering conspiracy, conspiring to commit copyright infringement, conspiring to commit money laundering and two substantive counts of criminal copyright infringement. These are strong accusations that could potentially result in two decades of jail time for the people involved but according to Kim Dotcom, the charges are “nonsense.” In recent years Megaupload surrounded itself with some of the best lawyers who all guaranteed that the company was operating a legitimate business. In fact, Kim Dotcom informs TorrentFreak that his company was planning to enter the US stock market through one of the largest tech IPOs in history. Megaupload was negotiating with the world’s top accountancy firms to become auditors and large international banks were interested in underwriting the public offering. Aside from an IPO, Megaupload also researched the option of becoming publicly listed through a reverse merger, where it would buy an already listed company. Hong Kong-based corporate advisor Robert Lim was asked by Megaupload management to help advise on this endeavor, and he agreed to give us some more background on the work that was done up until the raids in mid-January. “I started providing advice to Megaupload management on exploring and researching options on becoming publicly listed by IPO or back door listing and other fund-raising options in early 2011,” Lim says. “I understand the management and some of the shareholders had been discussing and exploring these options even prior to this time.” Preparing an IPO is not an easy or quick process, but Megaupload had serious intentions and was talking with several of the “Big Four” auditors. “Megaupload management had discussion with a number of the ‘Big Four’ largest international professional accountancy firms , which handle the vast majority of audits for publicly traded companies. These Big Four firms were invited to be the auditor and to work together with management to build out a road map to prepare Megaupload for an IPO,” Lim explained. “This included any management and corporate restructuring to enhance efficiency and management of the group, and to review and enhance internal controls and corporate governance processes in the company as needed. Basically, some of the essential key things private companies need to do to prepare for public listing.” In other words, the auditors would conduct a thorough review of Megaupload on virtually all aspects, which is not generally something a criminal operation would be interested in. http://torrentfreak.com/images/megahead.jpg Besides cooperating with the top audit firms, Megaupload also approached several of the world’s leading investing banks to assist with the IPO plan. According to Lim the list of banks included those experienced in taking technology companies to the stock market. In an earlier conversation with TorrentFreak, Megaupload’s Kim Dotcom mentioned several of the interested parties by name (withheld from publication). Lim confirmed that the banks Megaupload talked to were very open to the IPO plan, which he believes could have been very successful. “Most of the response was positive. As long as Megaupload provided the commitment and flexibility to follow the necessary road map recommended by the professional firms to prepare the company for an IPO, it should not have been a problem.” Just how successful the plan could have been becomes apparent when the numbers come into play. As a profitable company that generated a healthy profit in its short existence, the company was looking at a multi-billion dollar valuation. “Despite the global economic downturn, the tech sector still seems to be providing the most successful IPOs. Therefore, underwriters said Megaupload had a good chance to be a very successful IPO, with an estimated valuation of at least a couple of billion US dollars,” Lim told us. After all, Megaupload was a reasonably large and very fast growing tech company and also a leader in its sector. Furthermore, unlike many high-profile tech companies going for an IPO including some video file sharing companies that had successful IPOs, Megaupload was profitable. However, this bright future was shattered early 2012 when the US authorities shut down Megaupload and arrested several people connected to the site. Lim was shocked by the news, and he believes that the IPO plan is an indication that the company isn’t really the criminal conspiracy the US authorities claim it to be. “Objectively speaking, for the criminal case it brings up the question if there really was a so-called ‘Mega-Conspiracy’ among Megaupload management. It is clear Megaupload management was seriously exploring options for taking the company to public listing,” Lim told us. “They also knew full well that it would require a lot of scrutiny, due diligence and review of the operations, financials and overall business model of Megaupload not only by the auditors / accountants, lawyers for regulatory filings and IPO underwriters, but also the various regulatory agencies which govern the stock exchanges and public markets.” “This does not fit with the ‘Mega-Conspiracy’ concept that Megaupload management is accused of, including that they knowingly and secretly conspired to do and hide criminal activities in Megaupload,” Lim adds. These revelations do indeed raise many questions, including whether the US government was aware of Megaupload’s plans. It seems likely that the Megaupload legal team will reference the company’s extensive plans to enter the stock market in their upcoming defense. While it doesn’t answer the question of whether Megaupload’s operators are guilty or not, it does show that the company believed it was legitimate and wasn’t trying to hide anything. |
Kim Dotcom Lashes Out Against “Corrupt” US Government
The US judge handling the Megaupload case noted today that it may never be tried due to a procedural error, a comment that has sparked the anger of Megaupload’s founder. Kim Dotcom is furious with the US Government for destroying his businesses and rendering hundreds of people unemployed. According to Dotcom the case is the result of “corruption on the highest political level, serving the interests of the copyright extremists in Hollywood.”
Earlier today the news broke that a Megaupload trial may never happen because the US Government failed to serve the now defunct file-hosting company. While some defendants might respond with relief upon hearing such news, Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom is only becoming more furious at the people who destroyed his businesses. “The US government has terminated Megaupload, Megavideo and 10 other subsidiaries, including a company called N1 Limited that was developing a clothing line,” Dotcom told TorrentFreak. “They destroyed 220 jobs. Millions of legitimate Mega users have no access to their files.” If Judge O’Grady is to be believed all this damage could very well have been for nothing because the authorities simply can’t serve foreign companies. This could lead one to wonder whether the whole setup was to simply destroy Mega’s businesses. This is certainly a theory Dotcom subscribes to, and it’s not the only dirty trick Megaupload’s founder believes the US Government is playing. The US is structurally denying Megaupload the chance to put up a fair fight. “We are refused access to the evidence that clears us, we are refused funds to pay our lawyers, we are refused to pick the lawyers we want to represent us and have any chance for a fair trial,” Dotcom says. For Megaupload the worst part is that the damage can’t be undone. The site has been completely destroyed as well as the plans to become a publicly traded company. “We have already been served a death sentence without trial and even if we are found ‘not guilty’ which we will, the damage can never be repaired,” Dotcom says. And why? According to Megaupload’s founder it is quite clear that the Mega investigation was a ‘gift’ to Hollywood, facilitated by corrupt forces. “This Mega takedown was possible because of corruption on the highest political level, serving the interests of the copyright extremists in Hollywood,” he says. “Mega has become a re-election pawn.” Nevertheless, Dotcom is confident that these forces will eventually be exposed. “It is just a matter of time until the truth comes out. We are working on that and we are making good progress,” Dotcom concludes. RELATED: http://www.dreamteamdownloads1.com/piracy-warez-hackers-internet-news-scams-related/202528-megaupload-trial-may-never-happen-judge-says.html#post247889 and I say....go get em Kim; http://torrentfreak.com/images/liberation.jpg :jump: . |
VIDEOs-Kim Dotcom Races Champ.
Megaupload’s Kim Dotcom Races Kimi Raikkonen
Posted: 27 Apr 2012 02:14 PM PDT NBR.New Zealand Now that Kim Dotcom has regained access to the Internet, he can finally get back to work. One of his priorities is obviously to show that he and Megaupload are innocent, but there are some side projects to take care of as well. In a few weeks he will launch his personal website, which he promised will be very exciting. But there’s more. Posting a video of him and Megaupload colleague Finn Batato racing Formula 1 driver Kimi Raikkonen on the Nürburgring for example. Not your average home-video, as it involved 30 cameras, a 100+ crew, 2 helicopters, 2 camera cars and one fixed wing aircraft. And of course the video wouldn’t be complete without a professionally produced soundtrack. Kim Dotcom, Kimi Raikkonen and Finn Batato on the Nürburgring Norschleife with three highly modified Mercedes Benz AMG CLK DTM supercars. A fun day on the most famous race track in the world. This video shows a full lap around the ring. It took 20 laps to get all the shots for this video. It’s a homage to the Nurburgring, the CLK DTM and Kimi Raikkonen, one of the best drivers in the world. I DID NOT WIN against Kimi. I never could. We had to remove the air from his tires to keep up. And even then it was impossible :-) I used to play Forza and Need for Speed on Xbox Live. Those games inspired me to create a video that looks like the replay of a perfect lap on the Ring. I know it isn’t perfect, but I tried. The production involved 30 cameras, 100+ crew, 2 helicopters, 2 camera cars and one fixed wing aircraft. The song “Take me away” was produced by Kim Dotcom and Printz Board. P.S. The final edit was seized by the FBI during the Megaupload raid. It will be uploaded as soon as it returns (if ever). The current version has a few problems and no color correction. Sorry. UPDATE & VIDEOs Kim Dotcom has posted a clip to YouTube in which he re-creates a races around a track featured in two of his favourite video games: Need For Speed and Gran Turismo. The 12-minute video was filmed at Germany's Nurburgring Nordschleife last year, but has only just been uploaded promote the alleged pirate's new YouTube channel, MrKimDotcom. Never one to do things by halves, the giant German roped in Formula 1 champion Kimi Raikkonen, as well as his Megaupload co-worker and co-accused Finn Batato, and shipped three customised Mercedes over from New Zealand for the race - which he told media was filmed by a crew of 100 people with 30 cameras. Mr Dotcom wins in a photo finish, proving his excellence as a driver, or at least that Mr Raikkonen knowns what side his bread is buttered: While you're on Kim Dotcom's channel, you can also check out a clip of him playing Activision's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 - a game at which he is apparently one of the top ranked players in the world. Not bad considering it was the world's best-selling game last year, with millions of online players: And if you've got a really solid constitution, you can watch Mr Dotcom's musical efforts, overseen by Black Eyed Peas producer Printz Board: It all leaves NBR wondering: when did the giant German find time to run his alleged criminal empire? |
Megaupload’s Kim Dotcom Gets $750,000 Back
Megaupload’s Kim Dotcom Gets $750,000 Back
Posted: 28 Apr 2012 07:50 AM PDT Tech Crunch The New Zealand High Court has decided to return several items of property belonging to Kim Dotcom. The Megaupload founder is allowed to keep his $20,000 a month spending budget and regains use of his Mercedes-Benz G55AMG, a luxury car worth $250,000 that sports “Police” on its license plate. A bank account containing $301,000 was also returned. Dotcom’s wife Mona will have her expenses covered and can have use of a Toyota Vellfire. Despite the partial success, Stuff reports that the High Court chose to uphold the majority of the US District Court seizure order. This means that most of Dotcom’s cars and other goods will remain with the authorities until further notice. Dotcom’s attorney Willie Akel had asked the court to return all properties because the New Zealand authorities didn’t investigate the US request, but Judge Potter said that the Attorney General is not required to evaluate the legitimacy of the US order. A significant portion of the new funds will be used to pay for legal expenses, both in New Zealand and the United States. Among other things, the legal team will try to prevent Dotcom’s extradition. A court will review whether the Megaupload founder has committed an extraditable offense that violates New Zealand law. Earlier this week Dotcom’s US lawyer Ira Rothken said they are confident that this is not the case. “According to our New Zealand counsel we don’t think that would be the case so we’re optimistic that Kim Dotcom will have a good result in New Zealand,” Rothken said. The extradition hearing is scheduled for September. In the meantime Megaupload’s defense team is preparing a response to the US indictment, which is expected to be filed in the coming weeks. Dotcom believes that they have a strong case against an indictment he describes as “nonsense.” The Megaupload founder previously shared several issues that the defense team will bring up in their reply, and he characterized the whole case as a political move. “This Mega takedown was possible because of corruption on the highest political level, serving the interests of the copyright extremists in Hollywood,” he said. Whether Megaupload will have to defend itself is still uncertain though. Last week Judge O’Grady informed the FBI that a trial in the United States may never happen because it is impossible to serve a foreign company with criminal charges. |
VIDEO-Megaupload Kim Dotcom Releases New Song
Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom just released a new song on YouTube.
The track is not about Megaupload this time, but about a recent political scandal in New Zealand. Two weeks ago Dotcom revealed he donated NZ$50,000 to John Banks for his 2010 mayoral election campaign in Auckland. The juicy part is that Dotcom says Banks advised him to split this amount in two so the donations can be made anonymously. Clever, but the problem is that election rules say the origin of a donation has to be declared when the recipient is aware of it. Banks, the current minister for Small Business, denies the allegations, and also says he can’t recall some of the previous encounters with Megaupload’s founder. END Source & more on the scandal HERE, and check out the track below. |
FBI takes Kim Dotcom's data without courts consent
FBI takes Kim Dotcom's data without courts consent
By Owen Williams In a somewhat bizarre move, the FBI has taken Kim Dotcom's data outside of New Zealand without the knowledge or consent of the court and sent it back to the US. RadioNZ reports today that the FBI has taken some of Kim Dotcoms hardware containing crucial data outside of New Zealand without consulting or notifying the courts. Kim Dotcom's lawyer said today that an order was in place to ensure the hardware and data stays in New Zealand, and he thought it was still in effect. According to the report, a Crown lawyer today confirmed in court that some of the seized goods have already been shipped back to the US by the FBI. It appears the Crown intentionally handed the goods over as they were not in the FBI's hands before now. Kim Dotcom, who was in the public gallery, wiped away tears and walked out of court. Kim Dotcom had been requesting the court return him a copy of the data so that he is able to construct a defense, however the courts have not been able to reach a decision yet. Kim also requested that a copy of the personal data on the devices, such as baby photos be given to him, but so far the courts have denied his request. Dotcom had actually offered a deal to the court, in which he would surrender passwords and encryption keys in return for a copy of the data to build his defense. Justice Winkelmann urged the parties to consider the offer, but lawyers for both sides said they could not come to an agreement on how the access would actually work. The Crown said that they thought Kim Dotcom's lawyers had been notified the equipment had been removed. Apparently, they will file proof of this late next week. The news that the FBI has taken the hardware comes amidst a two day review of whether or not the warrant used by police to raid Kim Dotcom's house was too widely worded and breached his privacy. Dotcom's lawyer in the US said that "the New Zealand judicial system should stand up to American agencies" and that "he is concerned that the FBI will take all the evidence to the US and that will affect his client's extradition hearing." If the FBI really has taken the data back to the US, as well as some of Dotcom's hardware, it will be extremely hard for him to build a compelling defense without any evidence to support himself. Despite this, the FBI may have gotten themselves into trouble and could have issues using evidence from Dotcom's data if they have indeed breached a order not to remove the hardware from New Zealand. The bail hearing for Dotcom is not until August, when it will be decided if he will be extradited to the US to face charges of piracy. |
Megaupload’s Kim Dotcom Refuses to Give Up Passwords
Megaupload’s Kim Dotcom Refuses to Give Up Passwords Ernesto, Torrentfreak 23 May 2012
Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom is demanding access to 135 computers and hard drives that were seized from his home in January, so the data can be used for his defense. Until then, he refuses to give up passwords to encrypted data stored on the machines. Dotcom’s legal team is challenging the legality of the search warrants at the High Court in Auckland and is accusing the US Government of an unfair fight. http://torrentfreak.com/images/liberation.jpg Megaupload continues its legal battle, both in the US and New Zealand. This week Dotcom and his legal team were at Auckland’s High Court to request a judicial review of the legality of the search warrants that were used to raid his Coatesville mansion in January. During the hearing Dotcom’s lawyer Paul Davison demanded access to the data stored on the 135 computers and hard drives that were taken into custody. The lawyer argued that the data is needed to mount a proper defense. Not only to fight the extradition, but also to show that “excessive police action’ was used during the raid. The raid was captured by CCTV data which is stored on the computers in question. The FBI, however, is objecting to the data handover because some of the files are encrypted. Megaupload’s founder is refusing to hand over the passwords to these files before he’s guaranteed access to the data himself, supervised by the court if needed. During the hearing Dotcom and his legal team also learned that the data stored on the computers has already been sent to the U.S. authorities. Previously the court had offered assurances that this would not happen without prior warning. Davison responded to these revelations by saying that the process was “off the rails” and that the rights of Megaupload’s founder have been “subverted”. Talking to Radio New Zealand, Dotcom’s lawyer Ira Rothken suggests foul play, and alleges that the U.S. Government is trying to get valuable evidence out of New Zealand to obstruct a successful defense. “Our concerns are that the United States will have New Zealand take all the data and all the hard drives that have been confiscated and remove them from the New Zealand jurisdiction, essentially making it so the New Zealand judiciary cannot exercise New Zealand’s views, New Zealand’s values in fairness and due process, and bring it all over to the United States so that it cannot be used in the extradition hearing.” The hearings had an emotional affect on the Megaupload founder. When his lawyer recalled how Dotcom was “ripped from his family” in January in a raid which may not have been legitimate, he had to wipe tears from his eyes. Outside the court Dotcom commented on his emotional reaction. “It’s just remembering what happened to us which I think was unfair and over the top. It just got to me. I’m just a human being, you know?” he told reporters. Now that the hearings are over it is up to Judge Winkelmann to decide whether Megaupload’s founder can have access to his personal data, and to decide on the possible judicial review into the legality of the search warrants. Meanwhile, the U.S. criminal case has gone relatively silent. Dotcom told TorrentFreak that his legal team is working hard on a reply to the indictment where the “Mega Conspiracy” is accused of engaging in a racketeering conspiracy, conspiring to commit copyright infringement, conspiring to commit money laundering and two substantive counts of criminal copyright infringement. Whether Megaupload will have to defend itself in the U.S. is still uncertain though. Last month Judge O’Grady informed the FBI that a trial in the United States may never happen because it is impossible to serve a foreign company with criminal charges. |
Re: Megaupload’s Kim Dotcom Refuses to Give Up Passwords
Just read this a bit earlier.
The whole thing stinks from the word go. Pushed to rapidly do something about it from the copywrong industry, none of it appears to have paid attention to the law in the process. Yet the end result has been to wipe out a business that wasn't liked. Just because you don't approve or like a business is no sign it is illegal nor is it a sign of it's doing something wrong. I think the real issue wasn't Megaupload but the combo of it was fixing to turn public with an IPO and that it was fixing to threaten the bread and butter of the music industry by taking away it's profits by offering the artists a better deal than they could get under contract from the majors. Almost all of these cyberhosts have been ruled legal if they go to court. The copywrong industry is seeking another way to control the threat of Piracy. A threat that has never been proven to be a threat. But the old guard of the copywrong groups can not get beyond the word pirate to deal with any means to set up a paying and profitable site. It's been the whole the banana that they can't compete with free. Yet everything I have read has said you can if you make the effort. The trick here is that you have to offer it at a reasonable price in the form the public wants, how it wants it, the way it wants it, and make it worth the purchase. Do that and they will beat the door down, ignoring file sharing to get it. There are tons of examples of this. It's just too much effort for the gatekeepers and you wind up with actions like what has been done to Kim Dotcom. Megaupload as a business is destroyed, without ever having a day in court. It will never have the chance to prove it was legal. A million dollar company is gone along with the jobs it supplied. Worse, against all rules of law setup by both countries, the laws were circumvented to do things that were strictly against the law. I honestly expect it was purposely done; not an accident. Again you have demonstration of just how moral the copywrong groups are when it comes down to money. |
Kim Dotcom Theory on Corporate Cyberlocker Use Supported By Survey
Kim Dotcom Theory on Corporate Cyberlocker Use Supported By Survey
Posted: 16 Jun 2012 Ernesto While Hollywood paints file-hosting sites as the new piracy havens, a new study shows that these services are indispensable to many employees. A survey among 4,119 respondents from a wide range of companies shows that 66% use free file-sharing sites to share and store work documents. Among those working in professional services the percentage is as high as 87%. After the shutdown of Megaupload, Hollywood was quick to point its finger at other “rogue” sites, such as US-based cloud storage service Mediafire. The irony is that while the movie companies claim these sites are destroying their business, a majority of corporate employees depend on them. This widespread legitimate use also applied to Megaupload. Founder Kim Dotcom told us last year that movie industry insiders and employees at the world’s top corporations were all using the service. “Among our 180 million users is a large number of celebrities, musicians, film makers, actors, etc. and they love Mega. We have hundreds of premium accounts from employees of the companies the RIAA and MPAA represent. In fact 87% of the fortune 500 companies have premium accounts with us,” Dotcom said. While the numbers above say little about the legitimacy of the files being shared by these users, a new survey reveals that it is common for employees today to use file-sharing sites (e.g. cyberlockers) to share and store work-related documents. The survey conducted by Skydox polled the use of free file-sharing sites among 4,119 workers at companies in the U.S. and U.K. Two-thirds (66%) of the employees admitted to using free file-sharing sites for work. Among these ‘sharers” 45% said their IT departments are aware of their usage of these services. . http://torrentfreak.com/images/corporate-sharing.jpg A breakdown of the result in different work sectors shows that file-sharing services are most used among employees in professional services (87%), closely followed by financial services (84%). Health care (57%), the creative sectors (55%) and government employees (54%) score below average. The above doesn’t only emphasize the huge legitimate potential of cyberlockers. The widespread use of these services in the work setting also sheds a new light on the ongoing fight of Megaupload users to get their files back. This week the EFF argued in court that the U.S. Government disadvantaged many former Megaupload users by shutting the site down without warning. By seizing the servers, they deprived millions of users access to their files. The EFF is supported by retired Judge Abraham David Sofaer who is very critical of the Government’s actions. “It’s really quite outrageous, frankly,” Sofaer told Threat Level in an interview this week. “I was thinking the government hadn’t learned to be discreet in its conduct in the digital world. This is a perfect example on how they are failing to apply traditional standards in the new context.” Ignorance might play a role here. Judging from previous criminal investigations the U.S. Government is relying heavily on how the copyright holders portray certain websites. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the investigators were simply unaware of the many legitimate users, including thousands of government workers. . |
Re: Kim Dotcom Theory on Corporate Cyberlocker Use Supported By Survey
It doesn't take a lot of thinking to realize the truth of this; that unlike the claims of the US DOJ there were and are legal uses for the service that do not involved infringement, making the claim that all money was stolen from the entertainment industries and should not be given back, as false and hollow.
You can not send big files through email. Too many spammers and too many malware artists have ruined that method. You really don't have a lot of choice on how to transfer several gigs of data from work to home or back. File cyberlockers are pretty much it. What gave the music industry 'The Willies' wasn't that it was trading files (which they really dislike but wasn't enough on its own to actually push the case). It was the threat that Megaupload could become their rival and was doing well at what they were doing. Megaupload had already made a song, paid the well known artists to do it, and released it for free. Testimony by those artists they used the service to pass their data around where they needed it to be. Worse and more importantly, Megaupload was offering deals to those artists that needed exposure. Put it up on Megaupload, offer it for free, get paid by the download amounts through advertising. The artists would get more money paid them than through regular contracts with big labels. A threat if ever there was one to big labels. And Megaupload was planning a whole new venture out of that. The artist could hold on to their copyright with no contract and make more money through greater exposure. Then there was the threat of going public with an IPO. Once that was done, it was a recognized international company. Shutting it down would have really become much, much, harder. From the actions, not the words, you can see the 'We gotta do something right now...today...about this, pressure on the government. Be hanged the laws and what they say, we want action. |
PHOTO-Apple Founder “Woz” Visits Kim Dotcom
June 21, 2012, Ernesto
While the U.S. Government portrays Kim Dotcom as a dangerous criminal, others have no problem being associated with the Megaupload boss. Figures in the glitzy world of pop aside, Apple founder Steve Wozniak is a prime example. When Kim Dotcom was on house arrest, “Woz” came over to show his support. In January, the U.S. Government announced that it had initiated one of “the largest criminal copyright cases ever brought by the United States.” That case was brought against Megaupload and its key employees, including founder Kim Dotcom. This ‘criminal’ label might have deterred some from associating with the larger than life entrepreneur, but it certainly didn’t prevent Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak from getting in touch. When Dotcom was released on bail a few months ago, ‘Woz’ flew over for a visit. “Woz came to see me at my house when I was still on house arrest. He is such a great legend and totally supportive,” Dotcom told us. “He was involved in the foundation of EFF and they are now helping Mega users to get their files back.” “When I get my assets back I will become a major EFF supporter. That’s for sure,” Dotcom concludes. Kim and Woz http://torrentfreak.com/images/kimwoz.jpg |
Kim Dotcom: Artists Rejoice, Megabox is Not Dead
Kim Dotcom: Artists Rejoice, Megabox is Not Dead Posted: 21 Jun 2012 Ernesto December last year, a month before the criminal proceeding against Megaupload became public, Kim Dotcom first revealed his plans to launch a new service to transform the music business. In a guest post for TorrentFreak, the Megaupload founder described the Megabox project as “..a site that will soon allow artists to sell their creations direct to consumers and allowing artists to keep 90% of earnings.” “You can expect several Megabox announcements [in 2012] including exclusive deals with artists who are eager to depart from outdated business models,” he added. When Dotcom and his colleagues were arrested earlier this year, many people believed that the Megabox project would fade away. In fact, some theorized that Megabox was one of the main reasons why the recording labels and by extension the U.S. Government wanted the Megaupload team to fold quickly. However, Dotcom now reveals that he hasn’t give up on the project. On the contrary. Megabox is coming soon http://torrentfreak.com/images/megabox.jpg On his brand new Twitter account Dotcom shared a picture of Megabox with the message that “it is coming.” In a phone conversation Dotcom confirmed to TorrentFreak that the project is indeed making progress, and he promised to share further details in the days to come. It’s certainly not dead, as the major music labels might have hoped. Megatweet http://torrentfreak.com/images/megabox-tweet.png While waiting for more details on Megabox, there’s plenty of other material to keep the masses entertained. Dotcom is clearly in fighting mode judging from the stream of tweets he’s been sending out. Aside from the pictures of his wife and kids, the Megaupload founder also shared a preview of his upcoming website featuring the keywords “MPAA”, “Scandal” and “Obama.” In a previous interview with TorrentFreak, Dotcom already hinted at government corruption. “This Mega takedown was possible because of corruption on the highest political level, serving the interests of the copyright extremists in Hollywood,” he said. “Mega has become a re-election pawn.” A recent tweet affirms this belief and shows that Dotcom is keeping a close eye on the relationship between Vice President Joe Biden and his former colleague, MPAA boss Chris Dodd. “Watch out lovebirds! I know what you did,” he notes. Lovebirds http://torrentfreak.com/images/lovebirds.jpg While it’s not clear what Dotcom is getting at exactly, it’s no secret that Dodd and Biden are close friends. Also, U.S. attorney Neil MacBride who’s in charge of prosecuting Megaupload served as chief counsel for Biden when he was senator. Dotcom did inform TorrentFreak that there’s will be some interesting revelations in the coming weeks. So stay tuned for fresh Megabox news, and a whole lot more. . |
Kim Dotcom’s Extradition Hearing Delayed Until 2013
Kim Dotcom’s Extradition Hearing Delayed Until 2013
Kim Dotcom, the founder of Megaupload, the now-defunct site at the center of what is believed to be the largest copyright infringement case in United States history, will have to wait until next year for his extradition hearing. The hearing, which would see Dotcom and alleged co-conspirators Mathias Ortmann, Finn Batato and Bram van der Kolk protest their extradition to the United States, was originally scheduled to take place next month in Auckland. Following agreement between Dotcom’s lawyer Paul Davison QC and the prosecution, it has now been rescheduled for July 2013. “It was inevitable that the hearing for August was going to be vacated because we have two existing cases in the High Court,” William Akel, one of Dotcom’s lawyers, told Reuters. Dotcom, however, took to Twitter to voice his complaints. Quote:
Earlier, a judge criticized the shipping to the U.S. of hard drive copies taken from Dotcom’s computers by the FBI, describing the act as “unlawful”. Last week, local prosecutors acting on behalf of the U.S. government argued in the High Court against an earlier District Court ruling that said Dotcom and the rest of the so-called “Mega Conspiracy” should be allowed access to the evidence set to be used against them in the extradition hearing. Prosecutors said there was no need for Dotcom, Mathias Ortmann, Finn Batato and Bram van der Kolk to see the evidence because they are not being tried in New Zealand. Their lawyers disagree, stating that it is crucial the information is examined in order for their clients to mount a fair defense. |
Kim Dotcom Will Go to the US in Exchange for Legal Funds
Kim Dotcom Will Go to the US in Exchange for Legal Funds
Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom has always been confident that he and his fellow defendants will walk free, if they are given a fair trial. However, that last part is something he and his lawyers believe the US is trying to prevent. In recent months Megaupload’s legal team has tried to get funds unfrozen so that legal bills can be paid, but thus far without success. Yesterday, there was yet more bad news when the extradition hearing was delayed from next month till March 2012. This means that even more legal costs will have to be paid in between. “I have accumulated millions of dollars in legal bills and I haven’t been able to pay a single cent. They just want to hang me out to dry and wait until there is no support left,” Dotcom told NZHerald in a comment. In an ultimate attempt to speed things up, Dotcom is offering the US Government a remarkable deal. He and his fellow defendants will go to the US voluntarily in exchange for a fair trial, legal funds, and money to pay for personal expenses. “Hey DOJ, we will go to the US. No need for extradition. We want bail, funds unfrozen for lawyers & living expenses,” Dotcom posted on Twitter. While this would certainly save the US considerable legal costs, Megaupload’s founder doesn’t think they will respond positively to the offer. By limiting defense funds the US is creating an advantage it doesn’t want to give up. “They will never agree to this and that is because they can’t win this case and they know that already,” he says. According to Megaupload’s founder the entire investigation is a gift to Hollywood. Last week Dotcom revealed that Vice President Biden was the person who ordered the Megaupload shutdown and in the coming days he will release a song with a special message for President Obama. |
Re: Kim Dotcom Will Go to the US in Exchange for Legal Funds
I had mentioned in one of my answers before that if handled right, Kim was going to look like the hero, because of all the shady deals involving the take down. It's beginning to shape up that way too.
The US has purposely stalled pushing this extradition in hopes of the waiting game doing what they can't do, which is starve Kim out. Since they have all his money locked up, he has no hope of defending himself without it. Of course the US would happily provide him with legal representation but that's just a give-a-way conviction. No lawyer will do more than stand there without pay as far as really fighting for him and his innocence. Make no mistake here, Kim is not a saint by any stretch of the word. But the US has done nothing in it's actions but play into his hands, making him come out smelling like roses. I seriously doubt the US will take him up on the willing extradition because if they do, they then have to prove in court their claims and I don't think they have it without involving illegalities that any competent lawyer would catch. It's even questionable that the case can start once it is shown that the US didn't follow it's own laws in the raid by notifying the company officers prior to the raid. That's distinctly a domestic process and can't be done out of country without the aid of that country and it is apparent that lots of political pressures were applied to New Zealand police force to begin with. I'd be willing to bet the New Zealand diplomat to the US wasn't informed prior to the raid. Some thing that should almost always happen prior to legal actions of this nature. It just all smells of corruption and back room dealing. |
Kim Dotcom’s Extradition Judge Sees U.S. as “The Enemy”
Kim Dotcom’s Extradition Judge Sees U.S. as “The Enemy”
Posted by Ernesto http://torrentfreak.com/images/sam-pirate.jpg New Zealand’s District Court Judge David Harvey made some interesting comments recently with regard to U.S. attempts to change copyright law worldwide. Judge Harvey, who’s handling Kim Dotcom’s extradition case, is not a fan of these practices as became clear at the launch of the “Fair Deal” campaign. Commenting on the U.S. backed Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, which will push for harsher copyright legislation, he said the following. “There are all sorts of ways this whole thing is being ramped up and if I could use Russell [Brown's] tweet from earlier on: we have met the enemy and he is [the] U.S.” Auckland University law professor Bill Hodge told NZHerald that judges should be free to make comments, but that Judge Harvey’s remarks are “unhelpful”. Whether the U.S. authorities ask for a new judge because of this apparent “bias” has yet to be seen. Last week Dotcom’s extradition hearing was delayed until March 2013. |
Dotcom Extradition Judge Steps Down
Dotcom Extradition Judge Steps Down After “U.S. Enemy” Comment
Posted: 18 Jul 2012 12:24 AM PDT For the greater part, Kim Dotcom and his co-defendants will have been pretty happy with Judge David Harvey, the man overlooking their increasingly controversial extradition case. Things had been going well, with the Judge ruling favorably towards the Megaupload founder and his friends on a number of occasions, but last week he apparently overstepped the mark. It happened during the NetHui conference after the launch of “Fair Deal”, a campaign opposing amendments to New Zealand copyright law that could become part of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement. In common with ACTA that went before it, TPP negotiations are being held in secret and being used by the U.S. entertainment industries to push for tougher copyright law. One of issues surrounds the circumvention of DVD region codes which currently allows New Zealanders to watch DVDs from other regions without committing an offense. TPP seeks to remove that freedom, and Judge Harvey made it clear he wasn’t happy with that. “Under TPP and the American Digital Millennium copyright provisions you will not be able to do that, that will be prohibited… if you do you will be a criminal – that’s what will happen,” Judge Harvey said, adding: “..we have met the enemy and he is [the] U.S.” Quickly, NZHearld quoted Auckland University law professor Bill Hodge describing the comment as potentially “unhelpful” but clearly the pressure has been building since. This morning, Chief District Court Judge Jan-Marie Doogue announced that Judge Harvey had decided to step down from the case over the comments. “He recognizes that remarks made in the context of a paper he delivered on copyright law at a recent internet conference could reflect on his impartiality and that the appropriate response is for him to step down from the case,” she said. Over the past few months, Judge Harvey has ruled several times in favor of Dotcom and his co-defendants. Back in April, he praised Dotcom and his associates on their “commendable” behavior, going on to reinstate Dotcom’s Internet access, his swimming sessions, and visits to a recording studio to finish his album. He went on to grant Mathias Ortmann, Bram van der Kolk and Finn Batato permission to travel to Dotcom’s home once a week for a maximum of six hours so that they could work on their defense. And in May and against U.S. wishes, Judge Harvey ordered the disclosure of all documents related to crimes the “Megaupload conspirators” had allegedly participated in. The extradition case, scheduled for 2013, will now be heard by Judge Nevin Dawson. RELATED; http://www.dreamteamdownloads1.com/piracy-warez-hackers-internet-news-scams-related/223554-kim-dotcom%92s-extradition-judge-sees-u-s-%93-enemy%94.html#post279512 |
Re: Dotcom Extradition Judge Steps Down
Here's a judge that if it even sniffs of impropriety will step down. Measure these actions and compare them to the trial of TPB in Sweden.
There you had an investigator working for the copyright folks, on their dime, before he had completed the investigation. You also had a judge involved not in one but in two different copyright groups, one in which he got paid as a speaker along with the prosecuting attorney for TPG case. No one stepped down there, despite the obvious conflict of interest, going much much further than to mangle a famous quotation that at the outside might be construed as impartial. There is also the ex-RIAA employee, now a judge, allowing the only case to go forward on copyright trolling. No stepping down there, despite being shown in public as to what can be no less than an obvious conflict of interest. I tend to think someone in the US put a lot of pressure on the New Zealand diplomatic corps to do something. At the same time, I don't see VP Biden stepping out of this either. In fact, Kim Dotcom lays the command to action straight to the feet of Biden, who is best friends with former Senator Chris Dodd, now head of the RIAA. Oh and if you were not aware, Biden was the prosecuting attorney against Napster. It sure appears to those on the outside, that the US government is corrupt to the core. |
Re: Dotcom Extradition Judge Steps Down
Looking at the US, it seems weird, to a lot of people, in the rest of the world, that the corporate world is sponsoring all these politicians to get a seat in the government.
To return the favor, are these politicians working for these corporations now, while they suppose to work for the country and the people? A logic conclusion can only be that this is corruption. Why would one spend millions on campaigning, when the job doesn't pay that much? For an idividual, what is the point of even going to vote. It is amazing to see how these people, in power, put pressure on other countries to do things their way. Not to mention how illegal their practices are. Not every country has got the same opinion and laws about copyright. But they don't respect that. The movie and music industry is trying to maximize their profits with these practices. But people today, in these difficult economical times, are very critical. They don't waste money on inferior movies and music. There was an article in the newspaper, last month, that for the moment, about 50% of the movies are remakes. Yesterday, i read, that for the first time, people are buying more older music than the latest music. That is not only related to the price but also to the quality of today's music. The moment the industry produces higher quality products and change their business model to comply with the new technology, they will make enough money, so that they don't have to harass the individual. |
Re: Dotcom Extradition Judge Steps Down
For a long time, I've not seen much need to go to the movies. Take your pick as to why.
I no longer buy nor rent movies. I no longer buy nor rent music. Most of it isn't worth the download it takes to get it in. And then there is the trouble I have with the entertainment industry acting like spoiled kids. I don't support companies I don't agree with their business practices. I went on boycott with the start of sue'em all. I went from renting about $500 a year in movies and an additional $500 a year in music to nothing. Don't own a TV anymore and don't miss it. My main point here is that the entertainment industry has crapped in it's own food bowl. They've spend years earning that reputation and I no longer care if they remain in business. In fact I would at present, given the way they act, sooner see them in bankruptcy in hopes that what arose out of the ashes might be something a little more benign. There is no need of piracy except for one telling fact. The industry has failed to meet market demands and the customer will find a way around those failings. Any warez site would give it's left nut to be legal. In 15 or 20 years I have yet to hear of one single site being licensed. A complete money source ignored because it doesn't allow the control they demand and it's not the only one. The whole rig-a-mo-role has basically been to tell the customer they don't want the money and to then think it is not acceptable when the customer finds another way. |
Re: Dotcom Extradition Judge Steps Down
Quote:
You are entirely right about the corruption, & dishonesty in the US and the financial backing of American Politicians, to get certain ones into power to further them and their own greedy ends. For example, how on earth can American Presidents/Vice Presidents be allowed to own their own private companies when they are in power, and award certain contracts to them, as and when they desire? (1 eg.. Cheney and the Invasion of Kuwait). They used 9/11 to make a LOT of money in various ways, then organise with many countries, to supply them with all details of folk, their bank accounts, ccards etc, within. So many countries complied..DUH! Now they are using these new "Copyright Laws", as an excuse, to take their nosiest into the internet and take control of Social Media and other Sites,, (another new law recently came into power, that they could spy on all of them including Skype, without applying for warrants). Yet America were the first to break Copyright Laws; America Broke Copyright Rules First What the heck is wrong with the American people? cant they see what the heck is going on here. America will become a closed "State", with full control of its people, this started this some years ago. This Judge that stood down & the High Court in the UK and other Judges in some countries in the world, are getting a little tired of all of this. Give it time,,,, all these new laws on copyright will eventually weaken/fizzle out. American is BROKE and in great debt to many countries. How the heck will they be able to continue with all these different lawsuits they have going on, in many countries. They need different lawyers to work for them in all those countries, and those lawyers will need paying. The US have many legal battles going on, in many countries, on Copyright Laws. How will the US be able to pay for them??? Keep printing more $$$.?? Money talks... NOT Hollywood and the "good old monetary boys" in the US Remember..... In history, every great Empire has fallen, the US was never an Empire, but it is falling too. The whole country is in a shambles, old electricity wiring, bridges, roads collapsing...I could write a book. But I did start some threads on it a long time ago here, I must update them.. End of America America's Ghost Towns I admire that Judge, (David Harvey), for having the guts to criticise the US first and then stand down. He has morals, I think others will follow his example....need I say more? The FBI are losing the biggest case = against Megaupload and they know it, so they are trying to change the "Rules of the Law" pertaining to it; US Tries To Change the Rules :umm: No wonder so many decent Americans are moving here, to Ireland, Aussie & other countries....I dont blame them. . |
Dotcom Fails to Halt Extradition +US Govt Wants to Keep His Millions
Kim Dotcom Sings: Are You Going to Fix This Mr. President?
Kim Dotcom has just released his long-awaited new song ‘Mr. President’, directed at United States President Barack Obama. In the song Megaupload’s founder says that Hollywood is taking over politics and that the Government is killing innovation. Dotcom released the song and video on his newly launched website, and both can be shared for free. “The war for the Internet has begun. Hollywood is in control of politics. The Government is killing innovation. Don’t let them get away with that.” These are the opening words of Kim Dotcom’s newly released track ‘Mr. President’. The song is directed at U.S. President Barack Obama who, according to Dotcom, played an important role in the destruction of Megaupload. Despite being involved in what the Department of Justice describes as “the largest criminal copyright cases ever brought by the United States,” Kim Dotcom has not chosen to lay low. Instead, he is fighting the forces behind the criminal investigation both off- and online. “Our Internet Freedom is under attack on President Obama’s watch,” Dotcom told TorrentFreak this morning commenting on the release of the song. “President Obama should have a look at the situation and reassure his voters that Internet freedom and innovation are his priorities. He should consider helping millions of Mega users to get their files back. Obama should motivate Hollywood to innovate and adopt to today’s light speed Internet environment instead of freezing innovation and progress,” Dotcom adds. Kim Dotcom’s Mr. President Megaupload’s founder previously said that Vice President Joe Biden was the one who ordered the shutdown of the file-hosting service. According to Dotcom the Mega investigation was a ‘gift’ to Hollywood, facilitated by corrupt Government forces. By targeting Megaupload and teaming up with Hollywood, the U.S. Government chose a path of destruction that will kill many new and innovative businesses on the Internet, Dotcom believes. This needs to change. “There needs to be a dialog leading to solutions. Aggression and destruction will hurt the US economy. The innovators of tomorrow will avoid doing business in the US. Shutting down one of the leading cloud storage sites, ignoring due process, the rule of law and the constitutional rights of our users is not the way to go,” Dotcom told us. “Are you going to fix this, Mr. President?” Dotcom is encouraging everyone who stands by him to copy and share the song. Or as Kim sings: Quote:
Kim.com http://torrentfreak.com/images/kim-website.jpg END The Pirate Party are gaining many votes and seats in Parliaments around the world.! (They were the movement that got ACTA defeated in the European Parliament recently.) The US were the first to break copyright laws, read the sticky in this section about it. The White House staff were also caught recently downloading Movies etc, from Warez Sites..... :rofl: . |
Re: Video-Kim Dotcom Starts a REVOLUTION & Sings to the US President
The real Kimdotcom;
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...im_Schmitz.jpg Kim Dotcom in 1996 - Born Kim Schmitz (1974-01-21) January 21, 1974 (age 38) Germany |
Re: Video-Kim Dotcom Starts a REVOLUTION & Sings to the US President
I tend to think that one of the big reasons why, among other reasons, this is all going on, is because the US is dropping in the export business. One of the few that remain, showing up around the world is the entertainment industry. Of course the entertainment industry is after every last penny it can wring in every direction.
In reality, the entertainment industry as a whole is less than 10% of the GNP. Every once in a while they get slapped back in their corner and told to behave when they pinch the big boys of the economy. GE, AT&T, and a few other major corporations did this to one of the proposed bills that came out before DMCA. After throwing money at lobbying for a while they went in with that bill and promptly found out they weren't as big and bad as they thought they were. The bill died quickly and quietly with nary a sound. More and more it appears to me that Kim is being managed. There is someone in the background giving him advice on how to use the publicity he is generating to maximum effect. This is why Kim doesn't look as much a criminal as a hero on the net. In the process he's making the DoJ look like the Keystone Cops. Tweeking the POTUS may not be the smartest move but then it looks like he's gambling a lot on forcing the US to either move up the extradition process or drop it. The pinch he's in is that the US has the money confiscated and locked down. Without it, Kim can't develop a fair defense and that is what the DoJ is trying to prevent. "Because we say so" is not a legal charge that can be used in court. But by not really putting out much info on this they have left Kim's defense team in limbo until they have data and charges to work with. |
Re: Video-Kim Dotcom Starts a REVOLUTION & Sings to the US President
Quote:
He is slick........ he doesnt need help in what he is "putting out there" and releasing in different ways. He has a lot more money than that confiscated by the US & is making a lot more $$$ in various ways, thanks to all the media interest in his latest prosecution. ;) |
Kim Dotcom's Co Is a "Murderous, Cocaine-Dealing Army".
Movie Effects Pulled in US Case - Lawyer
By John Weekes, New Zealand Herald Sunday 29 Jul, 2012 http://media.nzherald.co.nz/webconte...om_220x147.jpg Kim Dotcom's online business was compared in a US court to a murderous terrorist army. Photo / File photo Kim Dotcom's company has been likened to a murderous, cocaine-dealing rebel army. At the federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, the US authorities also argued a case to freeze Megaupload's assets forever. Dotcom's lawyer said it was clear American prosecutors watched too many action movies. Judge Liam O'Grady did not issue a ruling after the hearing but said he would send out a written decision in "days, rather than weeks". Dotcom's US lawyer Ira P Rothken said the comparison with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia was a last-minute stunt. "It's just becoming more and more clear that the Motion Picture Association of America is having influence on the United States, that this prosecution and the raid is looking more and more like a Hollywood production with special effects. "This stunt, trying to throw up metaphors with a foreign terrorist organisation, or using this case that sits on the periphery of the issue in order to try to influence the judge, we don't agree with that approach." Rothken said the Virginia 4th Circuit Court of Appeals would be likely to hear the next case. "As we get past the facade and get to the real evidence, we're finding government illegal conduct and ultimately we that think that Megaupload and Kim Dotcom and the others are going to prevail." Dotcom's New Zealand lawyer Greg Towers said the Virgina hearing yesterday was about lifting the indictment against Megaupload - because the indictment could never be served. "Under the US law, it's necessary to serve the papers, and tell them exactly what it is they're charged with," Towers said. "Megaupload, the company, has never had any existence in the US." Prosecutors said Megaupload's argument led to the "incredible" conclusion that foreign companies could commit crimes in the US and secure immunity from prosecution just by having no American address, USA Today reported. They also stated the issue could be solved if Dotcom had a new address - ....at an American prison. END Looks like the US group are trying everything they can to keep all the $$$ belonging to Kim. I think they know they are losing the case.....JMO . |
Re: Kim Dotcom's Co Is a "Murderous, Cocaine-Dealing Army".
when you have to resort to pulling fast ones, normally it's because it wouldn't stand the light of day. The approach to accusing Megaupload to 'a murderous, cocaine-dealing rebel army' is a bit much.
Show me the bodies over this. Where are they buried? A cocaine-dealing rebel army? I would say with all the publicity over the years that might be right up Hollydud's alley. Seems you are always hearing of actors with cocaine habits both with movies and with music. Lindsey Lohan anyone, as a minor example. She can't keep her crap straight to get through court and that's only one of many. So if it's a cocaine dealing rebel army, then show me the guns and cocaine. Seems to me, Megaupload wasn't about either of those. So why are those examples being used in court? There's no evidence that either are involved in this case and more and more it looks like just what it is. Graft and corruption alive and well in Washington. Saying 'you're guilty because I say so' doesn't cut it in court. You actually have to have evidence. So far there has been a whole lot of accusations and no evidence showing the illegal raid had any justification. So the US wants to freeze the assets forever, eh? Fat lot of good that does the US other than show it too, has what begins to look like a drug lord's operation. Meaning that law itself has nothing to do with the actions. We again return to the stage show where this ought to be because we say he's guilty and the company he ran is guilty. I'm really having problems with this type of operation. |
Re: Kim Dotcom's Co Is a "Murderous, Cocaine-Dealing Army".
RELATED;
Hollywood: Dotcom a 'Career Crim' By David Fisher, nzherald.co.nz Thursday 26 Jul, 2012 http://media.nzherald.co.nz/webconte...om_220x147.jpg Kim Dotcom - career criminal? According to the Motion Picture Association of America, he is. Photo / File photo Kim Dotcom has been labelled a "career criminal'' by Hollywood ahead of a landmark hearing in the internet piracy case. The Hollywood studios' lead executive in the fight against internet piracy also attacked moves by the Megaupload founder to have the case aligned with a battle for internet freedom. Motion Picture Association of America vice president for internet content protection Marc Miller said: "The case is not about internet freedom. It is solely about a career criminal and his associates who ran a website that was built upon stealing and distributing the hard work of creators who make creative works that audiences love.'' The briefing by Mr Miller came ahead of a hearing in the United States which could unlock NZ$88 million held in the Hong Kong-based company's frozen bank account. Lawyers acting for Dotcom's Megaupload company has applied to have the case against the company tossed out because it has never been formally served with legal papers. Megaupload's lawyers have said there is no legal basis for a corporate defendant to be served with criminal papers outside the United States. Mr Miller said the move was a "technical legal procedural issue'' which would not have any impact on the charges against Dotcom and his former colleagues. He said success by Megaupload would also have no impact on the original indictment, which charged Dotcom with criminal copyright "Even if this particular motion were to be granted ... it would not affect the other defendants in the case, the individual defendants, Kim Dotcom himself or the other corporate entity.'' Mr Miller said he was aware of Dotcom's use of social media to promote his view on the case. He said Dotcom's comments about internet freedom had no merit. "This case is truly about a criminal enterprise by a career criminal who has been convicted at least three times previously for criminal offences in his life. "It had one purpose. All of these individuals had one purpose, and that was to generate profits for the people who operated it, including the founder Kim Dotcom who has been convicted of crimes previously in Europe. "It was a business model founded on using the creative work of others and monetising other people's content.'' Mr Miller also dismissed concerns around the legal obstacles which had emerged in the case. The US has suffered a number of defeats and issues in New Zealand courts with the wrong restraining order used to seize assets and search warrants ruled as too broad. He said the case was possibly the largest internet piracy case ever heard. "Certainly there will be procedural issues which will be tackled and addressed in a case of this significance and I wouldn't read any more into it than that.'' Dotcom, who is facing extradition to the US, has taken to social media to make known his views over the charges. He launched kim.com last Friday, listing 10 points on the case. He also launched a music video called Mr President, calling for internet users to unite against efforts to control the internet. In five days, it picked up 640,000 YouTube views. |
Re: Kim Dotcom's Co Is a "Murderous, Cocaine-Dealing Army".
Quote:
However...... if they had half a brain, they would have discovered the real criminal history of Kim, like I did, and he is a slippery guy and has done some bad things, but NOT murder (or any that I know of :uhh:) Kim is not his real name either, he changed it some years ago by deed poll to Kim Dotcom, but I bet those idiots dont know that either. :laff: |
Re: Kim Dotcom's Co Is a "Murderous, Cocaine-Dealing Army".
Funny isn't it, just recently a published report from the RIAA said it was off line swapping that was the real big piracy concern. That cyberlockers had something like a 3 to 4% of the total piracy picture. Yet to hear this mouth talk to the news, it's like the company was solely responsible for the cratering of all IP that ever existed in the US.
All that tells me is that the propaganda department's left hand doesn't know what the department's right hand is doing. That counter messages are going out all the time. You can see this in some of the take downs that happen on YouTube. The majors put up a sampler to drive hype only to have the legal side take it down. If there is anything in all this I get from it, it's that you can't believe what you read. That propaganda is so far and wide spread that it has reached into all sources of local and network news. That anything you hear has a bias and an intent to guide you towards their viewpoint. Funny you never hear any facts in all this pointing to the opposite, even when they exist they are ignored. One is a fool in today's world to believe what you read and hear in the media. |
Kim Dotcom Dismissed As Fraudster
Kim Dotcom Dismissed As Fraudster By Twitter and Facebook
Ernesto, 31 July 2012 The U.S. Government has accused Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom of conspiracy to defraud , and now two tech giants appear to be having trouble trusting Dotcom as well. Despite faxing over official government-issued ID, he still can’t get Twitter to believe he’s the real deal. Furthermore, Facebook won’t accept ‘Dotcom’ as a valid surname for a personal account. So, inspired by Reddit, we have something that will hopefully do the trick, at least with Twitter. RELATED: Kim is a FRAUDSTER . |
The Truth-PHOTOS & Info-The REAL Kim Dotcom (Megaupload)
PHOTOS & Info- The REAL Kim Dotcom (Megaupload)
Report Compiled by Ladybbird from Various Sites, including: Tonteria/Buszfeed/Huffington Post. PLEASE give me, and this site credit if you C & P it to post elsewhere. ;) The Real Kimdotcom; http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...nPCsin1996.jpg Kim Dotcom in 1996 - Born Kim Schmitz (1974-01-21) January 21, 1974 (age 38) Germany Rebel Kim http://www.dreamteamdownloads1.com/d...VSpx0qdQo//9k= http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...im_schmitz.jpg Charatan Kimble Kim Dotcom, born Kim Schmitz on January 21, 1974, also known as Kimble and Kim Tim Jim Vestor, is a German-Finnish businessman who rose to prominence during the dot-com bubble and was convicted of insider trading and embezzlement in its aftermath. 1. He made $42 million from Megaupload in 2010 alone. http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enha...7184021-13.jpg Megaupload has made $175 million since 2005. 2. Megaupload reportedly gets 50 million visitors a day. http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enha...7185140-14.jpg Megaupload was at one time the 13th biggest website on the internet. The site made money from ads and by charging customers for premium accounts. 3. He's 6'7" and reportedly weighs over 300 pounds. http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enha...7184374-47.jpg 4. He's really into bubbles: http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enha...7182477-68.jpg http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enha...7182524-10.jpg http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enha...27182555-1.jpg 5. He wears his clothes in hot tubs: http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enha...27182415-5.jpg http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enha...7182575-18.jpg 6. He's a ladies man: http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enha...7184164-15.jpg http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enha...7184552-17.jpg 7. He owns a $30 million mansion near Auckland, New Zealand: (Although many sites are reporting this,,,, it is believed that ... dotcom doesn't own the mansion he rents it, he couldn't buy it due to legal issues- Ladybbird) http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enha...7183228-44.jpg http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enha...27183286-8.jpg 8. He also owns these giant giraffe statues: http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enha...7183209-57.jpg 9. He's not a vegetarian: http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enha...7184306-47.jpg 10. He tried to eat Bruce Willis: http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enha...27182113-7.jpg 11. He has a car with the license plate: "GUILTY". http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enha...7182149-16.jpg He also had a Rolls Royce with the license plate: “GOD". Other luxury cars have plates that say: "MAFIA," "EVIL," and "STONED." He drives around on golf courses in his Mercedez-Benz 12. His nickname is "Dr. Evil". http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enha...7184780-43.jpg 13. He likes posing like this: http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enha...7183893-95.jpg http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enha...7183946-11.jpg Pictures via Tonteria Kim already has convictions for other serious things before he ever started his Mega Group. I chose not to post the full info. on that, but here is a brief summary: Kim Schmitz (aka Kimble, Kim Tim Jim Vestor, Kimdotcom) Kim Dotcom, is a German-Finnish businessman who rose to prominence during the dot-com bubble and was convicted of insider trading and embezzlement in its aftermath. He legally changed his surname to Dotcom circa 2005 Schmitz, a convicted criminal, found a world of press ready and willing to bite on his stories of hacking, some of which are almost a direct rip off another charlatan (se7en). He leveraged this media attention into press for his promises of financial ventures that seemed to go nowhere. Each time he pops up, the media seems to conveniently forget his history and past in a meaningful way. Rather, the media latches on to the highlights that make the story interesting, not the history of lies and failure. This may be one of the better cases demonstrating that media outlets want sensationalism, not the truth. * 2012-01-18 - Kim [Schmitz|Dotcom|Tim Jim Vestor] (aka Kimble) Indicted for in Criminal Enterprise "Mega Conspiracy" * 2012-01-18 - Kimble's Criminal Past * 2011-08-04 - The mystery man behind Megaupload piracy fight (CNET) * 2010-2011 - Boy Sees House, Boy Wants House, Boy Gets House, Boy is Kimble, Boy Loses House (Various sources) * 2002-05-28 - Kimble/Schmitz gets 20 months suspended sentence (The Reg) * 2002-01-21 - Osama Hunter-Hacker Busted (Wired) * 2001-12-12 - kimschmutz.de - An entire web site dedicated to debunking Kimble * 2001-10-25 - Bin Laden hack-meister in defacement, financial debacles (The Reg) * 2001-10-24 - 'Millionaire' German Hacker Nearly Bankrupt - Report (Newsbytes) * 2001-10-11 - Hacker's war on terrorism draws tepid response from experts * 2001-03-07 - The Ex-Hacker Who Would Be Tech King (Business Week) * 2001-02-02 - The fact and fiction behind Kimble * 2001-01-28 - Kim Schmitz aka Kimble (telegraph.co.uk) and a challenge regarding his past claims and a letter to CCC asking if they can confirm Kimble's stories * 2001-01-31 - Schmitz is no white knight for LetsBuyIt (Greenpeace / Citibank refute Kimble claims too) END Below Info From Wikipedia Early career As a teenager, Dotcom became known in his native Germany for claims to have cracked corporate PBX systems in the United States, and tried to parlay it into a career in data security. That effort led to his arrest on charges of using and selling stolen calling card numbers. In 1994, Dotcom founded a computer security company called DataProtect. In 1999, DataProtect and IVM engineering presented the "Megacar", a Brabus-tuned Mercedes-Benz S-Class W220 which, among other features, had a Windows NT server, a 17.3" SGI flat panel display and combined 16 GSM modules to provide mobile broadband Internet access. In 1998, Dotcom was convicted of computer fraud and handling stolen goods, and subsequently sentenced to juvenile detention for two years. According to a report by News & Record, he had traded stolen calling card numbers he bought from hackers in the United States. He achieved early notoriety by being the subject of an advanced-for-its-time flash animation video called Kimble Special Agent. The name is a reference to Richard Kimble, the main character of the television series The Fugitive. Dotcom later sold 80% of the shares of DataProtect to TÜV Rheinland in 2000, during the dot-com bubble. The latter went bankrupt at the time of the subsequent market crash in 2001. A large framed man, he is 2 meters(6'6") tall and weighs more than 130 kilograms (290 lb). Insider Trading and Embezzlement In 2001, Dotcom purchased €375,000 worth of shares of the nearly bankrupt company LetsBuyIt.com and subsequently announced his intention to invest €50 million in the company. Unknown to others, Dotcom did not have the funds available to invest, although the announcement caused the share value of LetsBuyIt.com to jump by nearly 300%. Dotcom sold his shares a few days later for €1,568,000. Dotcom had also arranged and obtained an unsecured loan of €280,000 from Monkey AG, a company for which Dotcom had served as Chairman of the Board. The funds were to be paid to Kimvestor AG. As a result, both Monkey and Kim vestor went bankrupt. Dotcom expressed remorse, stating that he had been "dazzled" and had not recognized that he would be unable to repay the loans. In January 2002, Dotcom was arrested in Bangkok, Thailand, deported to Germany, and subsequently sentenced to a probationary sentence of one year and eight months, and a €100,000 fine, the largest insider-trading case in Germany at the time. Dotcom also pleaded guilty to embezzlement in November 2003 and received a two-year probation sentence. Megaupload and Related Companies: Main article: Megaupload Megaupload.com Megaupload Limited businesses On March 21, 2005, Dotcom founded Megaupload Limited, a Hong Kong-based file hosting and sharing business that eventually became the 13th most popular site on the internet[33] with over 150 employees, US$175 million revenues, 50 million visitors daily, and estimated to be responsible at its peak for 4% of all internet traffic. The Megaupload business' domain names were seized and the sites have been shut down by the U.S. Justice Department on January 19, 2012, following their indictment and arrests of the owners for allegedly operating as an organization dedicated to copyright infringement. END |
Kim Dotcom Was Assaulted By Police
Kim Dotcom Was Assaulted By Police During Raid, Court Hears
Posted: 07 Aug 2012 02:30 AM PDT Kim Dotcom has been giving evidence in the Auckland High Court today. The hearing, which is scheduled to run for three days, follows on from a court ruling in June that found the search warrants used to conduct the January raid against the Megaupload founder’s home were invalid. This week his lawyers will argue that the raid was unreasonable. Dotcom told the court that at the time of the raid he was in bed installing a Windows update on his computer. Dotcom said he heard a helicopter outside and thought it may have been some guests arriving for his birthday celebrations. However, he realized that something was wrong when the downdraft of the helicopter’s rotors started kicking up stones onto the glass of his Coatesville mansion. After hearing banging on his door, Dotcom said he fled to a pre-arranged safe room in the house. He stayed in this “red room” until police arrived. “I heard loud banging noises. I was just scared and worried. I thought I’d better wait for them to come to me rather than popping out and scaring someone who might shoot me,” he said. Dotcom said he had access to a firearm in the “red room” but in the interests of safety and to simply ward off would-be attackers rather inflicting more permanent damage, the first two rounds in the gun were rubber bullets. Dotcom denied allegations he refused to cooperate with police and told the court that he had his arms in a “surrender” position when the police entered the room. Apparently that passive attitude didn’t help. “And then they were all over me. I had a punch to the face, boots kicking me down to the floor, a knee to the ribs. One man was standing on my hand,” he said, added that he was then pushed to the floor and his wrists cable-tied. “It was really tight. I was screaming,” he said. Dotcom told the court that the force used was completely unnecessary and if only the police had asked he would have complied straight away. “If someone had knocked on the door and said they had a document with charges I would have let them in,” he said. The hearing, which is due to last until Thursday, will also hear from New Zealand’s Special Tactics Group, the elite anti-terror force that carried out the raid against the Dotcom mansion. However, whether their conduct will be revealed by the images and CCTV footage captured on that January day remains to be seen – according to Stuff.nz the New Zealand prosecutors are seeking to have all footage from the raid suppressed. It is believed that a transcript of police-recorded audio will be allowed. Kim Dotcom and his alleged co-conspirators were due to appear in court on August 6 in an extradition hearing scheduled to last 3 weeks. However, due to legal issues the hearing has now been delayed until March 2013. |
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