Slashdot Mirror
US Gov't Seeks To Keep Megaupload Assets Because Kim Dotcom Is a Fugitive
mrspoonsi writes with this excerpt from Billboard: 'On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Justice told a Virginia federal judge that Kim Dotcom and cohorts have no business challenging the seizure of an estimated $67 million in assets because the Megaupload founder is evading prosecution. The government brought criminal charges against Dotcom in early 2012, but he's been holed up in New Zealand awaiting word on whether he'll be extradited. The government got antsy and this past July, brought a civil complaint for forfeiture in rem, a maneuver to firmly establish a hold over money from bank accounts around the world, luxury cars, big televisions, watches, artwork and other property allegedly gained by Megaupload in the course of crimes. Dotcom is fighting the seizures by questioning the government's basis for asserting a crime, saying "there is no such crime as secondary criminal copyright infringement," as well as challenging how the seized assets are tied to the charges against Dotcom. But according to the U.S. government, Dotcom doesn't get the pleasure of even making the arguments. In a motion to strike, the government cites the doctrine of fugitive disentitlement, which bars a person from using the resources of the court if that person is aware of prosecution and is evading it.
The US Government routinely seizes the assets of its adversaries, even US Citizens in order to force them to appear in court. Just like this... They take your money, knowing full well they have no right to... but, to dispute it, you have to show up in court or testify about yourself in such a way that could lead to further prosecution.
Remember how they busted Al Capone? Tax evasion? They knew for a fact how he got his money, but they also knew that to prove he was innocent he'd have to admit to how he got his money. So, despite violating his rights, the spirit of the law, and perverting the justice system. they got him anyway. Win at all costs...
Google "asset forfeiture" and weep.
Reading Stop and seize makes for a scary experience.
I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
An introduction, for the lazy:
http://www.newyorker.com/magaz...
Under civil forfeiture, Americans who haven't been charged with wrongdoing can be stripped of their cash, cars, and even homes.
http://gothamist.com/2014/01/1...
How The NYPD's Use Of Civil Forfeiture Robs Innocent New Yorkers
Any arrest in New York City can trigger a civil forfeiture case if money or property is found on or near a defendant, regardless of the reasons surrounding the arrest or its final disposition.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10...
“Who takes your money before they prove that you’ve done anything wrong with it?”
The federal government does.
Using a law designed to catch drug traffickers, racketeers and terrorists by tracking their cash, the government has gone after run-of-the-mill business owners and wage earners without so much as an allegation that they have committed serious crimes.
No - BP was under fire because when the part (or multiple components) failed, alarms went off. The oil rig team in charge of responding to those alarms went "God those things are annoying and nothing is ever wrong when they go off, just disable the alarms."
The next time the alarms were supposed to go off, they could not because they were disabled, so nobody responded to an alarm that did not sound.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/jul/23/deepwater-horizon-oil-rig-alarms
Also, congrats on getting me to log-in for something worth of commenting on for the first time in ages.