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Kim Dotcom Raid - What Really Happened
chill writes "People have been discussing the raid on the Dotcom mansion for months, but now more details and video footage of that morning have begun to emerge from the trial. From the article: 'At 6.46am on January 20, the raid was underway. The helicopter carrying members of the elite special tactics group flew into the Coatesville home of Dotcom.
"Ground units, Gates are open," someone says into the radio.
Dotcom's pregnant wife their three children, some guests and about a dozen staff were also there.
All is quiet below.
Within seconds four armed members of the special tactics group ran towards the main door.
The helicopter immediately took off. The main justification for using it at all was that Dotcom's security staff could have stopped police vehicles at the gates. But as the chopper flew out, ground forces were already arriving just seconds behind.'"
On Bernie Madoff.
But who really robbed people for tens of millions?
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
...to stage a raid on a high-profile target like this...
First, shock-and-awe factor, in the real terms of cowing the target of the raid and ancillary subjects so that they don't do something dangerous to the authorities, like grab weapons. This can be especially important for security staff that might not be wired quite the same as everyone else.
Second, disruption of other elements of critical thinking. If there are things to be destroyed, from the perspective of the target of the raid, this might disrupt that plan.
Third, and in my opinion, most likely, to make a show of force for others. My guess is that this raid didn't require air support, a number of practiced officers could have detained or arrested people on the ground, even security, quickly enough, if enough people were involved in the raid in the first place. It is possible that this was more cost effective in not requiring as many officers to breach and secure, but helicopters aren't cheap either.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
Firstly, the NZ Police for being such a nice lapdog. Pretty funny when NZ stands up over something as silly as a nuclear free zone, but then does this.
Secondly, this is the time of when the government needs to smack the government, HARD, and award Kim damages. Nothing else is really acceptable.
If you ignore ACs because they are anonymous - you're an idiot.
Is it me or that was the type of raid that could/might have been used to capture Osama Bin Laden ?
Wer war der Thor, wer Weiser, Bettler oder Kaiser? Ob Arm, ob Reich, im Tode gleich
As a New Zealander, I'm frankly outraged that the US has this kind of influence down here. It's about to get a LOT worse as the Trans-Pacific Partnership gets finished off and pushed through... Most people won't have even heard of it until the deal is done. Dodgy, dodgy secret deals with US corporations, and my country stands to gain absolutely nothing but the unjust legislative offspring off the MAFIAA.
This post was made in complete sincere seriousity; as such any attempts to derive humour are doomed to instant failure.
This whole thing is just a huge dog & pony show by Hollywood and the FBI. Its the exact same tactics they use when they catch someone downloading illegal content.
Early on, they made a huge "example" out of the first offenders. Huge fines, drag them into court, media everywhere, blah blah blah. Now, the majority of the cases settle for a few thousand bucks and everyone moves on.
Well, this is their first hosting provider that they (HollywoodFBI) have gone after, and they want to put on a big show so that everyone else knows they mean business. They'll bring in helicopters & troops & go after your kids and pregnant wife if you don't play by their rules.
No man is an island, But if you take a bunch of dead guys and tie them together, they make a pretty good raft.
It's not too far from Australia. Australia is the place full of dust, dangerous creepy-crawlies, passed-out drunk men, and aged, leathery women with voices capable of shattering crystal. On second thoughts, New Zealand is in fact not far enough away from Australia.
Can't believe I just spent 10 mins reading this guy's wikipedia entry yet this is the most important piece:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/jun/28/kim-dotcom-judge-raid-illegal
It's clear that the FBI acting on behalf of the MPAA/RIAA had an overzealous NZ police force keen to impress.
The really interesting item for me was how UMG submitted an invalid takedown notice on a video on Youtube on baseless grounds. I'm surprised that some of the artists didn 't sue the record company.
Wearing pants should always be optional.
Heh. Yeah, if there's one group that stands their ground against entities with deep pockets, it's the Republicans.
Corzine. Hundreds of millions in 'segregated' funds. Currently enjoying new multi-million dollar offices on Wall St.
It helps to be a friend of the President of the United States and a leading member of the Democratic party.
“Jon Corzine one of the best colleagues I had in the Senate and one of the best partners I have in the White House.”
President Barack Obama, Oct 21, 2009.
Kim Dotcom was on the way to launch Megabox which would flip the ratio of money the artists get versus what is held on to by the labels. Color my cynical but this upcoming service seems to be the only major difference between Mega Upload and the other file storage services. He claims to be planning on still going through with the launch. If so it will cut the labels out of the loop by allowing artists to sell more or less directly to the public. Good riddance I say.
Beta is broken and the link to classic doesn't work. Stop wasting our time or there won't be anybody left here.
Why not vote on the third guy then? I mean, your country has to have more than two guys who want the job, right? Or is it somehow forbidden to have a political party that's neither republican nor democrat?
The system is rigged in such a way that there is no effective third party. Neither of the parties with true power will change this as it means giving away a share of their power. The voters are confused with constant republican v democrat non-issues and believe that any vote for any other party is just a wasted vote.
In essence US democracy has reduced to a republican/democrat alliance that is garenteed power forever, it's a dictatorship with the illusion of free choice.
And until people start voting for the third parties it will stay that way, ironic isn't it? I'm not American, but I see this explanation every time. It's true, if you are liberal and vote for a third party you do risk giving the Republicans a win, and of course the same applies the other way around.
However it's sure the parties who are in power would analyze why they lost, and if they found it was due to an increase in voters supporting third parties it would be sure to make a change in their tactics, and the more people would move to third parties, the more the current parties will be forced to make a change.
While the problem is certainly more exaggerated in the US, it's not unique to you. For example here in Finland the strong parties have been trying to find ways to make it difficult for anyone to start a new party, and to find ways how a party with wide acceptance in some area will benefit from that in another area. Still, occasionally somebody finds a way to break their lock and it definitely makes a difference.