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Megaupload started out being presented as a regular copyright enforcement case. However as the facts of the military-style raid surfaced, followed by details of the many serious legal irregularities, it quickly became very peculiar and atypical. Soon, when former president Barack Obama arrives in New Zealand later this month, Kim Dotcom aims to try to find out what he knew about the case through subpoena.
Kim Dotcom is claiming that an associate was able to hire a friend of the Obamas to ask about the Megaupload case. "Mistakes were made. It hasn't gone well. It's a problem. I'll see to it after the election," Barack Obama reportedly said. With Obama due to land in New Zealand next month, Dotcom says he'll have a court subpoena waiting for the former president.
One of the interesting items that might eventually come from the case is what the difference between Megaupload and its competitors was. So far, there have been no raids, big or small, against Box, Dropbox, One Drive, Google Drive, Spider Oak, and the others.
Source : Dotcom: Obama Admitted "Mistakes Were Made" in Megaupload Case
See also : past soylentnews posts on Megaupload
(Score: 5, Interesting) by PartTimeZombie on Thursday March 01 2018, @08:15PM (2 children)
As a New Zealander I am unhappy with the prosecution of Kim dotcom for the following reasons:
The New Zealand Police arrested a legal resident of New Zealand for something which is not a crime here.
They carried out the raid while armed, which is highly unusual for this country. The police do not routinely carry guns here.
The police leaked the footage of the raid to TV news for broadcast the same night of the raid.
The whole case was conducted on the orders of US authorities, and the New Zealand police did as they were asked without checking if what they were doing was even legal.
If I thought about it longer I could probably come up with a bunch more reasons to be unhappy, but fortunately the Judiciary of New Zealand are fiercely independent, and resent political interference, so I trust the judge as much as anyone involved.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Fluffeh on Thursday March 01 2018, @09:47PM (1 child)
How about the big one where a New Zealand citizen was spied upon using the tech that was there only for "the terrorists!!" and instead was illegally used to help the American entertainment industry protect profits?
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Thursday March 01 2018, @11:44PM
To be fair, he wasn't actually a citizen, but a permanent resident. Not that that makes your point invalid. The police still acted illegally.