Megaupload Founder Kim Dotcom Wins Battle in Ongoing Fight Against US Extradition (reuters.com)

Eccentric Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom has won a major court battle today in his ongoing fight against his extradition from New Zealand to the U.S. From a report: German-born Dotcom faces extradition to the United States relating to his Megaupload site, which was shut down in 2012 following an FBI-ordered raid on his Auckland mansion. U.S. authorities say Dotcom and three co-accused Megaupload executives cost film studios and record companies more than $500 million and generated more than $175 million by encouraging paying users to store and share copyrighted material. Dotcom, who has New Zealand residency, is fighting those charges and the extradition. The Human Rights Review Tribunal awarded Dotcom damages of NZ$30,000 ($21,816) for the "loss of a benefit" and NZ$60,000 for "loss of dignity and injury to feelings."

Comments

and so the system works as intended.

[nimbius]

Just as the judicial system intended.
If you ever find yourself arrested by a heavily armed militia at gunpoint for a victimless, nonviolent charge for which you cannot defend yourself as all your assets have been unilaterally and indefinitely frozen...

if the judge for your case exhibits criminally contemptuous behavior and appears to be working lock-step in compliance with the wishes of a foreign nations special interest group...

If the prime minister of your country spent four days meeting with the special interest trade group of a foreign nation, and that nations own FBI illegally seized all your data...

then rest assured...The Human Rights Review Tribunal will award you a few thousand dollars for being made to feel bad..

Re:and so the system works as intended.

[butzwonker]

Also, he was arrested in 2012. Now it's 2018 and he's still fighting against his extradition to a country that has declared him a fugitive even though has never set a foot on its soil, based on shaky evidence and illegal surveillance.

Re:and so the system works as intended.

[AmiMoJo]

But what TFA fails to mention is that the Attorney General appears to have withheld information that could have helped Dotcom, putting him in contempt and potentially blowing up the whole extradition case.

Of course Dotcom is still screwed, because even if he avoids extradition it will be difficult for him to travel outside New Zealand, and the US won't unfreeze any of his assets, and his business has still be destroyed with no compensation. At least he might avoid a US jail though.

Re:and so the system works as intended.

[TechyImmigrant]

>His business model was founded on undermining the concept of intellectual property.

His business model was selling cloud storage.

Re:and so the system works as intended.

[Calydor]

The business model of ISPs is undermining the concept of intellectual property, then. Without the internet you can't download pirated music and software.

Re:and so the system works as intended.

[youngone]

Then again, New Zealanders probably weren't too happy with their tax funds being used for this inanity.

I am a New Zealand taxpayer and I would much rather my tax money was spent on this sort of thing than tooling up a bunch of police (who should have known better) to kick someone's door in at dawn when two detectives could have knocked politely at a decent hour.
Now that the raid has been ruled illegal it will be hard to argue anything gained in the raid is admissible I would think.
As mentioned, Kim dotcom might be in danger if he travels overseas however, as the US has a track record of kidnapping people and torturing them.

FBI Vast Overreach Stymied

[shubus]

I'm really glad to see this.

Re:Justice

[Anonymous Coward]

This does not in any way mean he's won his extradition fight. If you look at the next line in TFA, it says "The Human Rights Review Tribunal’s decision might be relevant for his high-profile U.S. extradition case, which is with the Court of Appeal." So, no more than "might be relevant".

Re:Still

[Tsolias]

I am glad he used the .com tld and not the .co.nz they have in NZ for companies.
Imagine Kim DotCoDotNiZ

Re:Is he using the Asperger's defense

[kamakazi]

Wow, I have seen loose interpretations of the term "hacker" but I expected better on \.. What exactly is he supposed to have hacked?
This is a guy who saw an opportunity and made money, just another crooked entrepeneur. Really no different than Facebook or Google, except he took data from large corporations, while the latter take data from normal civilians.

Scorecard for March 26th

[b0s0z0ku]

US World Police: 0
Good Guys: 2
(kim.dotcom and Lauri Love won't be thrown into the dungeon of the US injustice system)

I don't condone many of the activities of either, but I don't wish the US "justice" system on anyone either nor condone judicial kidnapping by the US government.

And the files?

[Anonymous Coward]

Can i get my fucking files back now?

Re:Is he using the Asperger's defense

[youngone]

That might be how things work in the US, but here in New Zealand we haven't politicized our judiciary.

Re: Justice

[AutodidactLabrat]

As opposed allowed the Nazis to rule for 1000 years?
Was a good deal. Saved us the 23 million lives the Russians lost saving the world

Re:Justice

[MoaDweeb]

I stand corrected, he is a permanent resident not a citizen.
However in his campaign to not be sent to Uncle Sam he has achieved the following:

- Had the NZ Police pay him unspecified damages for unreasonable use of force in the initial raid
- That the FBI has no right to the information handed to him by the NZ Govt
- The GCSB (local unaccountable spy agency) gave an apology for spying on him which they cannot as a NZ resident.
- Yesterday had the A-G found to be breaching his privacy.

He certainly has kept the NZ lawyer community in business.