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posted by cmn32480 on Thursday October 01 2015, @02:29AM   Printer-friendly
from the when-is-enough-enough dept.

Kim Dotcom's oft-delayed extradition hearing began on Monday 21 Sep, nearly three years and 10 months since the infamous raid of Dotcom's New Zealand mansion. Over that time span, Dotcom's legal team has managed to drag out the affair through 10 extradition hearing delays and various other legal maneuvering. And according to some number crunching from the New Zealand Herald (confirmed by the Crown Law Office, the NZ prosecutors representing the US there), Dotcom's trials and tribulations have cost NZ taxpayers nearly NZ$5.8 million in legal fees (or approximately $3.7 million).

The total cost is just one of the eye-dropping[sic] Dotcom-related numbers the Herald outlined this weekend. To start, it's been 1337 total days since the raid. And in total, 29,344 hours of legal work has been made possible through taxpayer investments; two-thirds of those hours have gone specifically towards the extradition request according to the paper. With the base rate for Crown solicitors set at NZ$198/hour, the Herald puts the current cost at the NZ$5.8 million figure above. Dotcom took to Twitter to note that such a calculation means NZ has spent almost the equivalent of half of its 2014 budget for Crown prosecutions on Dotcom alone. (In contrast, the Herald reports Dotcom has spent an estimated NZ$10 million, roughly $6.4M, on his defense.)


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  • (Score: 1) by anubi on Friday October 02 2015, @05:35AM

    by anubi (2828) on Friday October 02 2015, @05:35AM (#244317) Journal

    I beg you, kind sir, to run for office.

    You offer insight into this medical mess I have not seen from anyone I have seen so far.

    I had the same experience with dental... however I actually had a dental plan - and paid monthly premiums for about five years - before I needed it and got a really rude awakening.... aka "not covered"... when I needed it.

    I have been leery of "insurance" ever since. It has been my observation that only liability insurance makes sense. And then, its not they will pay... its that they are big enough to hire enough lawyers to defend their position, so no one is gonna get paid. Kinda like having a protection racket. Those guys are big enough that they won't be ramrodded like a little guy with no backup will.

    What are those "three simple questions" to "determine eligibility" for those senior insurance policies that well-known TV celebs hawk on late night television? I am of the strong belief those "three simple questions" are so that if their lawyers can dig up any alternative interpretation of what you answered, they can keep the premiums you have paid so far and unhook themselves from the insured peril. I believe they will use your answers to those "three simple questions" to decline your eligibility to receive any compensation - and that will be done at the time the policy is needed... not at the time the stream of premium payments is established. Insurance companies are not in business to give money away. Where does the money for all those big buildings, executive salaries, office support staff, advertising, and TV celebs come from? Premiums!

    The TV pitchmen roll that "just answer three simple questions" out just as smooth as others hock up "FREE! ( just pay shipping and handling )"... and you know every time that TV ad-head hocks up that phrase, your credit card charge will nearly double from the price shown on the TV screen.

    I see premiums kinda like buying fancy dinners and investments for the suit-and-tie crowd. Unless I "win the lottery" and have a genuine covered peril, I just lost all those years of paying premiums.

    --
    "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]