Tag: Megaupload (page 3)

Kim Dotcom scores another win in New Zealand, and it's an expensive one for the U.S. The U.S. has been fighting a New Zealand court's order to provide discovery in the extradition case, including the information stored on Megaupload servers in the U.S.

The back story: Kim Dotcom (and his codefendants) requested the disclosure of documents and materials relating to the issue of whether the U.S. has a prima facie case against them allowing for their extradition to the U.S. to face charges pending in the Eastern District of Virginia. On May 29, New Zealand District Court Judge Harvey granted several of the discovery requests and gave the U.S. 21 days to turn over the material.[More...]

Kim Dotcom and MegaUpload have beefed up their legal teams . News reports say prominent copyright lawyer Andrew Schapiro of Quinn Emanuel is joining the defense.

But there's a hitch. The Quinn Emanuel lawyers only want in if they can opt if the court decides they can't be paid from the funds seized from MegaUpload.

Checking the docket, Mr. Schapiro hasn't individually entered his appearance yet, but Paul Brinkman and William William Burck, other lawyers from his firm, Quinn Emmanuel, are trying to.

The Quinn Emmanuel lawyers (and long-standing MegaUpload lawyer Ira Rothken) are attempting to enter a special or limited appearance for the purpose of litigating the release of seized assets for attorneys' fees and issues related to the preservation of data on Carpathia's servers. [More...]

A judge in New Zealand today eased the bail restrictions on Kim Dotcom and his MegaUpload co-defendants. Kim DotCom requested:

....internet access, permission to meet with his co-accused to research their court case, permission to go swimming at the pool at his mansion and be allowed to travel to a music studio to finish recording an album.

The judge granted all, with some limits on how often he could visit the recording studio. The Crown did not oppose internet access or going to the pool. The Judge, in granting the motion, said Kim DotCom was not a flight risk: [More...]

Kim and Mona Dotcom are the proud parents of twin girls, delivered Thursday at the National Women's Hospital in Auckland. The twins are healthy, and Mona is doing fine.

They arrived as scheduled by caesarean, weighing in at 2.4kg and 2.8kg. On Friday, he texted: "Two healthy Kiwis were born yesterday. All good. When they asked me if I'd like to keep the placenta (weird question) I said 'yes' and 'please send it to the FBI for forensic analysis so they can verify there is no pirate DNA'."

On a more serious note, he thanked the judges who approved his bail:

"I would like to thank them for the opportunity to be there with Mona for the birth. It meant a lot to us."

The other three Dotcom kids have names beginning with "K": Kimmo, Kaylo and Kobi.

The Herald on Sunday suggested a name and he responded: "Kiwi Dotcom it is. Awesome!"

A justice of the New Zealand High Court has granted Kim Dotcom $60,000. a month to live on while awaiting the outcome of the U.S. extradition request.

In a decision released today, the court said a $20,000 monthly living allowance would come from the interest paid on the $10 million Dotcom has invested in NZ government bonds. The remaining $40,000 will be paid in monthly installments from a $301,000 bank account he has had returned to him.

One of his two 2011 Mercedes was also ordered returned. (He had a 2011 Mercedes-Benz G55 AMG, with the license plate "POLICE” and a 2011 Mercedes-Benz ML63.)

No ruling yet on whether the procedurally defective restraining order will result in him getting all seized property back.

Authorities in New Zealand goofed. They applied for the seizure/restraining order on Megaupload and KimDotCom's assets under the wrong legal provision. On Friday, New Zealand High Court Justice Judith Potter declared the order null and void, and found it had no legal effect.

The Crown admitted the error about a week after Kim Dotcom and Megaupload's assets were seized, and on January 30, submitted a revised version under the correct portion of the statute, which the court granted on a temporary basis. Kim DotCom filed a motion attacking the order during the first week in February.

While Justice Potter has now ruled the first order was invalid, she has yet to rule on whether whether the new seizure order can legally cover assets seized under the old, invalid order. If she rules it cannot, she may order Kim Dotcom and the other defendants' property returned to them. [More...]

Update (3/1): The written decision rejecting the Crown's bail appeal for Kim DotCom has been released. You can read it here. (Update: This video link seems to be working.)

MegaUpload founder Kim Dotcom gave an in depth interview yesterday to TV3 News in New Zealand. I couldn't get the video to play, but the station posted the transcript.

What's remarkable about reading the transcript is that it feels like you are hearing him speak. That's how passionate Kim Dotcom is about his innocence. He explains MegaUpload and copyright laws a lot better than the Government does in its Indictment. And he answers each question directly -- there are no attempts to deflect the interviewer by answering the question he thinks should have been asked instead of the one actually put to him. He really seems to have nothing to hide. In a nutshell: [More...]

Update (3/1): The written decision rejecting the Crown's bail appeal for Kim DotCom has been released. You can read it here.

The Crown, representing the U.S., has lost its appeal to reverse MegaUpload co-founder Kim DotCom's release on bail. I just received confirmation from The High Court's media department via e-mail: "I am able to advise that Kim Dotcom's bail appeal has been dismissed." A copy of the decision should be available soon. When I receive it, I'll post it.

9:00 pm MT: First on Twitter, the New Zealand Business Review: Kim Dot Com Stays Free. NZBR said it was standing room only in the High Court. [More...]

It's a big day for Kim DotCom of MegaUpload. At 4:30 pm New Zealand time (1 hour from now) High Court Justice Tim Brewster will issue his decision on the Crown's appeal of Kim DotCom's release on bail. Hopefully, Kim DotCom won't be returning to jail.

A hearing has been going on all day in another division of the High Court on Kim DotCom and his wife Mona's request to unfreeze assets for living expenses. They say their living expenses are $220,000. a month. The Crown Prosecutor, Ann Toohey, who is representing the U.S., objected to the expenditures as excessive.

DotCom is requesting 28,000 a month for legal and living expenses. The amount of $200,000 is for rent at the mansion. Kim DotCom put $6.5 million into renovations at the property, which he will lose if he can't pay the rent.

Toohey also said she was informed yesterday by the FBI that U.S. prosecutors are investigating Mona DotCom and have made some sort of application: [More...]

After hearing arguments in New Zealand's High Court today on whether to grant the Crown's appeal of the decision granting bail to MegaUpload co-founder Kim DotCom, the Court reserved ruling until 4:30 p.m. tomorrow.

It doesn't sound like the Prosecution had anything more to offer than last week:

The Crown, on behalf of the US Government, argued today that there is a very real risk that Dotcom still has access to offshore funds he is linked with.

But Dotcom's lawyer Paul Davison QC says there is no evidence of this, so his client's flight risk remains low. He said it would make no sense for Dotcom to leave his family or assets behind.

I hope the Judge doesn't reverse the granting of bail. With the extradition hearing not until August, the Crown should have to show more than unsupported speculation he has sources of funds and would likely flee. So far it hasn't.

It's back to the High Court for MegaUpload founder Kim DotCom. The Crown has appealed the order granting him bond, and a hearing has been set for Tuesday.

The Crown Prosecution is not representing the people of New Zealand in this case, it is representing the United States. In other words, the Crown probably couldn't care less that Kim DotCom is on bail, it's just doing what the FBI has requested.

The U.S. has until March 5 to file its extradition request.

Many thanks to the New Zealand Ministry of Justice. I sent an email this morning to their media department asking for a copy of the Kim DotCom bail decision, and they cheerfully obliged. Now that's how to run a government agency!

Here is the decision. (I'm about to go read it to see what I missed here.)