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Kim Dotcom has found a way to attract more attention and potentially embarrass the U.S.... live streaming video of his court battle:
Internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom will be allowed to livestream his legal bid to halt his extradition to the United States, a New Zealand judge ruled Tuesday. Dotcom and three of his colleagues are appealing a December lower-court decision which allows them to be extradited to the U.S. to face conspiracy, racketeering and money-laundering charges. If found guilty, they could face decades in jail.
Dotcom's lawyer Ira Rothken told The Associated Press he was pleased with the decision. "It provides everybody in the world with a seat in the gallery of the New Zealand courtroom," Rothken said. "It's democracy at its finest." Rothken said the livestreaming would begin Wednesday on YouTube. He said there would be a 20-minute delay to prevent any evidence that was protected by the court from becoming public. The appeal is expected to last six weeks.
The case could still take years to be resolved:
Arguments for Mathias Ortmann and Bram van der Kolk are expected to take around eight days but the whole process is forecast to be a drawn-out affair. In the District Court the extradition hearing was supposed to take four weeks but actually took ten. This time around the actions of the District Court will be picked over in fine detail, concentrating closely on numerous matters of law. The United States Department of Justice isn't expected to begin its arguments for another three weeks or so. The hearing continues tomorrow but it's unlikely that any final decision will arrive even this year. Dotcom and his rivals in the US both seem prepared to take this battle all the way to the Supreme Court in New Zealand if necessary. That could take years.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by dyingtolive on Tuesday August 30 2016, @11:01PM
I don't like the guy, personally, but I'm rooting for him through this whole stupid mess.
Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
(Score: 4, Informative) by PartTimeZombie on Tuesday August 30 2016, @11:35PM
I don't like the guy either, he's a total weirdo, and a pretty obvious narcissist, but I'm also pretty mad at how the NZ Police (which I pay for through my taxes) have been perfectly happy to be stooges for the CIA or whichever of the US agencies is running this whole thing.
I'm also mad at the total lack of any real analysis of this whole saga by any of the New Zealand news media. Not surprised however.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday August 31 2016, @12:04AM
I'm with you.
Yeah, I'm an American, but it really bothers me that our government can run roughshod over other nation's sovereign rights. Worse, is the fact that our government acts in the interest of corporations. These issues are of little interest, and have no affect on the people, who the government is supposed to represent.
Kim Dotcom may or may not be guilty of a lot of things, but pretty much all of them involve copyright infringement. Copyright is a civil issue, not a federal criminal issue.
Stooges? There are a lot of them right here, in our government.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 31 2016, @03:38AM
I think the fact that they are having these hearings shows that their sovereign rights are not being run roughshod over.
(Score: 3, Touché) by fido_dogstoyevsky on Wednesday August 31 2016, @06:34AM
I think the fact that they are having these hearings shows that their sovereign rights are not being run roughshod over.
When I see that he's been released and doesn't meet with an accident I'll moderate you "Insightful" (might be some time, you'll need to remind me).
It's NOT a conspiracy... it's a plot.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 31 2016, @06:25PM
Really? So, the US government didn't take all his money?
(Score: 2) by Absolutely.Geek on Thursday September 01 2016, @04:11AM
As a NZ citizen I was appalled when NZ AOS (Armed Offenders Squad, basically SWAT) busted into Kim's house and took him by force. The guy is a big fat slob; he wasn't armed or posing any sort of threat, basically there was no where for him to go and running wasn't an option.
All that was required was a polite knock on the door and a "please accompany us to the station while we execute this search warrant"....but no lets go in all gunned up and looking stupid in front of the world media.
I don't care if Kim is guilty or innocent; the law was broken by the police in this instance and they just got a pass on it like always.
Don't trust the police or the government - Shihad: My mind's sedate.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 31 2016, @04:01AM
"I don't like the guy"
I do. We need more narcissists.
This qualification of yours tramples on his accomplishments (if it is possible to trample fat boy).
(Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Wednesday August 31 2016, @04:14PM
C'mon guys. My offhanded remark about how I feel about the dude is hardly insightful, or anything else other than just babbling my opinion, really.
Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!