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Kim Dotcom Says Legal Fight Has Left Him Broke
mrspoonsi writes Kim Dotcom, the founder of the seized file-sharing site Megaupload, has declared himself "broke". The entrepreneur said he had spent $10m (£6.4m) on legal costs since being arrested in New Zealand in 2012 and accused of internet piracy. Mr Dotcom had employed a local law firm to fight the US's attempt to extradite him, but his defence team stepped down a fortnight ago without explaining why. Mr Dotcom said he would now represent himself at a bail hearing on Thursday. He denies charges of racketeering, conspiring to commit copyright infringement and money laundering. He told a conference in London, via a video link, that his lawyers had resigned because he had run out of money. "The [US authorities] have certainly managed to drain my resources and dehydrate me, and without lawyers I am defenceless," he said. "They used that opportunity to try and get my bail revoked and that's what I'm facing."
i don't believe him.
Should have spent that money on assassins instead of lawyers who just want to run the clock out so they can take all your money.
If you can't actually beat 'em, just bankrupt 'em or drive 'em to suicide!
I love the modern concept of "justice"
the above is my personal opinion and does not necessarily reflect that of the little voices in my head
It was his album.
- Otaku no naka no otaku, otaking da!!!
try selling your mansion.
"Those who do not want to imitate anything, produce nothing." -- Salvador Dali
He needs money, maybe he can do something to make money, like, you know, start up a web site to share stuff? In North Korea? He's a match for their glorious leader's ideology.
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
Sure, the legal costs to defend himself are totally what did it... Not the $4million failed political campaign he ran this year, or the failed music album, or the extravagant lifestyle he lives...
I agree with your sentiment, but he doesn't even own that
Change you name to Kim Putin, and no one will mess with you.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
If I was a billionaire, I would kick him a few mil. Its fun to have someone stand up to these turkeys. He did appear to be winning and putting egg on the face of the americans for a while there.
We must remember that the USA tried to pluck a citizen from another country by strong arming their justice department. As a non US citizen, fuck all that shit. US law isnt world law and god forbid that ever becomes so. It is so enough already as it is!
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Wife leaves him, he's broker
Wife stays with him, he's got some cash stashed away
If you live in New Zealand, where we are bombarded with dotcom's every move, you would know that he:
- moved most of his shares and assets into a trust his wife and children are beneficiaries of and that he has no legal association with.
- became estranged from his wife, (though she still lives on the same property).
In other words, if the MPAA wants the rest of his assets they will have to heartlessly go after an innocent looking young mother apparently trying to come to terms with a broken marriage.
He will likely apply for legal aid now and the NZ tax payer will have to fund the rest of his legal bills.
...is he able to get a public defender?
Did he make this declaration from the mansion we last heard from him from?
What's the address of it? I'll call him a whaaaaambulance.
The Kim Dotcom Bubble .. has popped ?
Wouldn't be nice if the US Government went after the assets of the bankers on Wall Street who commit fraud and launder money in the same way they've gone after Kim.com.
A parasite (he didn't get a fleet of flashy cars by donating disk space to anyone) gets sucked dry by a bigger, nastier parasite.
Sorry, but if you live by a dog-eat-dog creed, don't expect tears when your pet poodle is a predator's desert.
I'm sympathetic with ISOhunt, who got crippled by the UK government, as I'm willing to bet that people after illegal ISOs searched elsewhere. They're a major source of information on ISOs for F/L/OS software, though, which is entirely legal. They got a raw deal on that, because of the bad name the *AA have given torrents. Blocking the others won't do the UK any good, but that's not the point. Nor is it the point that these services index, not host. The point is that it doesn't matter whether the links point to legitimate or illegitimate content, they're tarnished not by what they index but by the mode of transport used.
Kim DotCom is another matter. He raked in an awful lot of money by doing very very little. He'd make a great bank CEO or politician, such is his level of verminicity. Had he done essentially the same, with far less profit (it's ok for him to live, just not ok for him to own half the cars in New Zealand), far less arrogance (like I said, a bank CEO or politician), and far less swagger (maybe, just maybe a touch of humility), I might pity him more. The humble earn at least some respect for being humble. It's rare enough.
If he'd presented his service as "common carrier", then that too would be worth respect. That's legal, that's all about NOT looking at what's there and NOT being shot in the process. DotCom's approach was to be a braggart. Sorry, but that kills any respect.
As judges are renown for disliking the arrogant, swaggering braggart type, that might well have cost him every court case contested. Even on the rare occasion that justice is blind, it still has a sense of smell and arrogant, swaggering braggarts stink.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
Is it envy? Watching what probably is a huge miscarriage of justice and just saying "well, duh -- he is a dork anyway so he prolly deserves it"?
Hello?
The justice system running amok *is the problem*, and the fact that it is running amok on someone you don't happen to like (I don't either, jftr) just doesn't matter. He deserves the same justice you and me deserve.
Perhaps he shouldn't have spent $3M trying to corrupt the government with his failed political party.
It all worked out in the end, the incumbent party he was trying to take down gathered even more votes that the previous election.
I just don't understand what the leader of North Korea is doing in New Zealand....and I had no idea he was behind a copyright infringement service, but I guess that means that all the rumours of him being "evil" are true?! :-o
He could change his name to Kim Clinton. Probably have over $100M in the bank in a couple of years.
Sure, there were blunders and probably a few laws were broken during his prosecution, but to all the fools rooting for Kimble here I say: About time justice finally caught up with this guy who's been a career criminal for most of his life, sold out his friends to the law before to get a better deal for himself, and has dodged prison by changing country too often already.
I hope they put him away for good.
And I hope his fanclub here will learn the difference between downloading movies for free and rooting for freedom. It really is such a shit that "free" in english means two completely different things.
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org