US Wins Appeal In Battle To Extradite Kim Dotcom

Dr Max sends this excerpt from an AP report: "U.S. prosecutors won a New Zealand court victory Friday in their battle to extradite Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom and three colleagues accused of facilitating massive copyright fraud through the now-defunct online file-sharing site. The appeals court overturned an earlier ruling that would have allowed Dotcom and the others broad access to evidence in the case against them at the time of their extradition hearing, which is scheduled for August. The appeals court ruled that extensive disclosure would bog down the process and that a summary of the U.S. case would suffice. Dotcom says he's innocent and can't be held responsible for those who chose to use the site to illegally download songs or movies."

Comments

Misleading Title

[Nailer235]

The title - while literally true - implies that a court has decided that Kim Dotcom can now be extradited. In fact, the issue decided by the court was much more limited: it held that Kim only has limited access to evidence during the future extradition hearing. While this does make it more likely that he will be extradited, the issue has NOT been decided yet.

Re:I wonder if New Zealand can do other tricks too

[mwvdlee]

The only thing the US has won here, is a denial for Kim Dotcom to access all available evidence while he would still have an opportunity to affect that evidence.
It has little to do with the actual extradition request itself.

Re:I wonder if New Zealand can do other tricks too

[pscottdv]

That's the dirty little secret about federal charges in the U.S. Federal court rules don't require the prosecution to hand over their evidence until the trial unlike state courts where the accused has a chance to see the evidence against him- or herself and prepare a defence. And the minimum penalties are always enormous.

That's why federal charges are so highly feared in the U.S. and it's why almost all federal cases are pleaded out.

http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21570742-how-mandatory-minimum-sentences-distort-plea-bargaining-thumb-scale

The article is about a different issue, but it describes the problem.

Re:I wonder if New Zealand can do other tricks too

[Dunbal]

Keep that in mind for when you are a vassal state. America is only 300 million people, not even a huge population anymore. It used to dominate economically but haven't you heard? China has now surpassed the US as the largest trader in the world. While the US is celebrating 0.7% growth, China is growing 8-10% every year. They're not even close to being done yet. Don't worry mandarin is not too hard to learn.

Re:I wonder if New Zealand can do other tricks too

[ShanghaiBill]

Don't worry mandarin is not too hard to learn.

As someone who has learned to speak Mandarin, I can say that this is not true. I have heard that it takes about 20 weeks of full time study for a native English speaker to be able to communicate in basic Spanish, but 80 weeks to reach the same level in Mandarin. I think this is about right. Mandarin is hard. The grammar is simple, but there are a lot of homophones and weird idioms, and worst of all is the tones. Young kids can learn them, but they are almost impossible for an adult whose brain has already congealed. After years of study, I can order in a restaurant and understand tech-talk, but I struggle with casual small talk, and I almost never understand the jokes.