Kim Dotcom Can Be Extradited but not on Copyright Grounds
https://sp-security.blogspot.com/2017/02/kim-dotcom-can-be-extradited-but-not-on.html
New
Zealand appeals court has upheld a lower court’s ruling that MegaUpload
operators can be extradited to the US to face charges over the long
defunct file-hosting service.
On the one hand, the judge agreed with Dotcom’s primary argument that online communication of copyrighted content to the public is not a criminal offence in New Zealand. On the other hand, the judge ruled that the defendants could be extradited based on other elements in the case. To be more precise, he was talking about the offence of conspiracy to defraud, which is listed in the extradition treaty between New Zealand and the US that stipulates under what formal criminal allegations extradition shall be granted.
At the same time, the industry observers suggest that it will likely be years before the case is resolved, because Dotcom’s lawyers are going to appeal the case to another court, and then, if necessary, to the Supreme Court of New Zealand.
Kim Dotcom announced the victory on the main argument – that online copyright infringement is not a crime in New Zealand and therefore not extraditable. However, he accused the judge in “hacking” the law and allowing extradition under a fraud statute – even despite the fact that copyright isn't fraud as the US court ruled. At the same time, the entrepreneur remains more confident than ever that he will win – Dotcom believes that the fraud extraction theory will fail the test in front of Court of Appeal judges.
Dotcom reminds that the NZ Government dispatched a small army of 72 anti-terror commandos in choppers with assault rifles to raid his mansion for civil copyright claims, which suggests that it is “corrupt to the core”, and it is hard to argue with that. It’s been more than 5 years ago that the New Zealand authorities, acting on the orders of US prosecutors, conducted a raid on his family, replete with two police helicopters. The US authorities alleged that MegaUpload generated over $175m in criminal proceeds and caused more than $500m in harm to content creators. In response, Kim Dotcom maintains that his portal was no different from any other cloud storage service.
Kim Dotcom is a Finnish and German dual citizen, but he has lived in New Zealand for many years and became a permanent resident. He also became eligible for NZ citizenship a few weeks ago, and is currently pursuing his citizenship so that he can run for a seat in parliament.
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On the one hand, the judge agreed with Dotcom’s primary argument that online communication of copyrighted content to the public is not a criminal offence in New Zealand. On the other hand, the judge ruled that the defendants could be extradited based on other elements in the case. To be more precise, he was talking about the offence of conspiracy to defraud, which is listed in the extradition treaty between New Zealand and the US that stipulates under what formal criminal allegations extradition shall be granted.
At the same time, the industry observers suggest that it will likely be years before the case is resolved, because Dotcom’s lawyers are going to appeal the case to another court, and then, if necessary, to the Supreme Court of New Zealand.
Kim Dotcom announced the victory on the main argument – that online copyright infringement is not a crime in New Zealand and therefore not extraditable. However, he accused the judge in “hacking” the law and allowing extradition under a fraud statute – even despite the fact that copyright isn't fraud as the US court ruled. At the same time, the entrepreneur remains more confident than ever that he will win – Dotcom believes that the fraud extraction theory will fail the test in front of Court of Appeal judges.
Dotcom reminds that the NZ Government dispatched a small army of 72 anti-terror commandos in choppers with assault rifles to raid his mansion for civil copyright claims, which suggests that it is “corrupt to the core”, and it is hard to argue with that. It’s been more than 5 years ago that the New Zealand authorities, acting on the orders of US prosecutors, conducted a raid on his family, replete with two police helicopters. The US authorities alleged that MegaUpload generated over $175m in criminal proceeds and caused more than $500m in harm to content creators. In response, Kim Dotcom maintains that his portal was no different from any other cloud storage service.
Kim Dotcom is a Finnish and German dual citizen, but he has lived in New Zealand for many years and became a permanent resident. He also became eligible for NZ citizenship a few weeks ago, and is currently pursuing his citizenship so that he can run for a seat in parliament.
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SaM
extratorrent
