Megaupload died in January 2012, but the story of the man behind it, Kim Dotcom, continues. The US Attorney General Eric Holder’s May 2013 visit to New Zealand, where Dotcom is currently based, for an annual “quintet” attorney general meeting has raised activity from Dotcom’s side. The meeting is also attended by attorney generals from Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and policing agencies including FBI, the Australian Federal Police, the UK’s Serious Organized Crime Agency, the New Zealand Police, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. It is speculated that Dotcom’s case may surface during the meeting’s discussions.
Though it was likely that Eric Holder would be keeping a low profile, having declined an interview through a spokeswoman and limiting the attendance of his speech at the University of Auckland to students, Kim Dotcom had been wavering between attacking Holder’s trip and expressing interest in what Holder would have to say. In his Twitter feed, Dotcom requested tickets to Holder’s speech and offered to send t-shirts and an ethics manual to where Holder was staying in New Zealand. He encouraged his followers to film Holder with the Megaupload theme song playing in the background, announcing a $500 reward for the best film. Dotcom has stated his wish to understand Holder’s definition of “cybercrime,” one of the topics discussed at the “quintet” meeting.
In Dotcom’s defense, his lawyers Robert Amsterdam and Ira P. Rothken, have recently published a white paper, “Megaupload: the Copyright Lobby and the Future of Digital Rights”, claiming the US case against Dotcom to be “one of the clearest examples of prosecutorial overreach in recent history.” The paper consists of three major claims: that there is no provision in the US law for “secondary” criminal law copyright infringement, no law stating that, as in Megaupload’s case, the person responsible for the website, would be prosecuted along with the uploader. Megaupload was used for “legitimate purposes” and should fall under the “Sony Doctrine”, which states that online services may be subjected to misuse. Megaupload had cooperated with copyright owners in the past, taking down over 15 million files when flagged.
Locally, Dotcom’s legal case has prompted the New Zealand government to propose legalizing domestic surveillance on its citizens and permanent residents through its Government Communications and Security Bureau (GCSB), but only after approval from Prime Minister John Key. The law would allow GCSB to better support the police, the Defense Force, and the Security Intelligence Service. Key has claimed to compromise on legislation for support of opposition lawmakers. Opposing parties have branded this as a “band-aid” solution. Unaware of GCSB’s illegal spying on Dotcom before the armed police raid on his mansion in January 2012, Key had to issue a public apology to the Megaupload CEO last month.
Kim Dotcom is a German born entrepreneur who had founded Megaupload, the internet’s former premier file-sharing site, occupying 4% of internet traffic with 60 million users and 50 million daily visits. Megaupload had cost movie studios an estimated $500 million and generated more than $175 million in criminal proceedings. The US legal case against Dotcom and his six associates for copyright infringement, money laundering, racketeering and fraud started in January 2012. Dotcom remains free on bail in New Zealand as a result of GCSB’s illegal spying and warrants. His US extradition hearing is scheduled for August 2013.
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