Kim Dotcom Can Have His Stuff Back, Court Rules

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Kim Dotcom Can Have His Stuff Back, Court Rules

A New Zealand court has denied a request to extend the freeze on Kim Dotcom's assets.

In the lead-up to the 2012 raid on Kim Dotcom's mansion in New Zealand, restraining orders were granted that put a freeze on his assets and allowed authorities to seize properties like cars and artwork. But those orders are due to expire on April 18, and while the Crown made application to extend them, the New Zealand High Court rejected the request.

The basis for the rejection lies in the reason for extension application. The original restraining orders were granted as part of the criminal prosecution, but the request for extension is based on a "future action for civil forfeiture," according to RT.com, and Dotcom's lawyer successfully argued that New Zealand's Criminal Proceeds Act does not allow restraining orders to be extended based on new grounds. The "future action" presumably ties in to lawsuits filed against Dotcom by various Hollywood studios and the RIAA, alleging that he earned huge profits by promoting copyright infringement through the now-defunct Megaupload service.

[tweet t=https://twitter.com/KimDotcom/status/456323151735951360]

Dotcom was predictably happy with the ruling. "The NZ asset ruling is HUGE. We've just filed a case in Hong Kong against unlawful seizure of #Megaupload. The U.S. case is falling apart!" he tweeted. "Our assets were seized for 800 days and still I was able to fight back even with my hands tied behind my back. Imagine what I can do now!!!"

Although not quite "now," actually. The order freezing Dotcom's assets will remain in place for another 14 days to give the Crown time to appeal the ruling.

Source: RT [https://twitter.com/kimdotcom]


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major_chaos

Ruining videogames
Feb 3, 2011
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You know what? good for him. There was a time where I might have considered this a evil vs. evil situation, but the longer it goes on the more willfully dickish the law enforcement seems and the more amusing and likable I find dotcom. So I'm rooting for him, I hope he gets away scott free and leaves the people responsible footing the bill.
 

FalloutJack

Bah weep grah nah neep ninny bom
Nov 20, 2008
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I've been viewing this as a group of by-the-letter-of-the-law doofusses throwing their weight around at the smug-but-essentially-harmless site owner. There is law, but there is also pointless power grabs, leading to a gray-on-gray sort of situation. There really isn't a good or bad to this, except that the lawmen are being kind of hamfisted and dickish about it.
 

Eric the Orange

Gone Gonzo
Apr 29, 2008
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ya'know I'd be more behind the plight of free internet if it wasn't spearheaded by guys like Kim Dotcom whose every action makes me hate him more.
 

Hairless Mammoth

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Jan 23, 2013
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I don't think the case is falling apart. He just got his personal stuff back. They probably recorded all the evidence they wanted from that a while ago. Kim, you're getting too optimistic, and you look like a jackass in that tweet.

If the trial doesn't go their way, I just know the MAFIAA [http://mafiaa.org/] is going to pressure US and NZ politicians to get their way somehow. Dotcom is just the first(actually second counting the Pirate Bay guys) of many targets in the eyes of Big Media.

I just hope the innocent people of the world don't get caught in the crossfire. Imagine if all file hosts were blocked in many countries or had to allow the FBI to search their data bases for pirated material. Or some other horrible practice most every government agreed to let happen at the behest of overpaid media execs.
 

Raziel

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Jul 20, 2013
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Hairless Mammoth said:
I don't think the case is falling apart. He just got his personal stuff back. They probably recorded all the evidence they wanted from that a while ago. Kim, you're getting too optimistic, and you look like a jackass in that tweet.

If the trial doesn't go their way, I just know the MAFIAA [http://mafiaa.org/] is going to pressure US and NZ politicians to get their way somehow. Dotcom is just the first(actually second counting the Pirate Bay guys) of many targets in the eyes of Big Media.

I just hope the innocent people of the world don't get caught in the crossfire. Imagine if all file hosts were blocked in many countries or had to allow the FBI to search their data bases for pirated material. Or some other horrible practice most every government agreed to let happen at the behest of overpaid media execs.
That is just what I worried about. If the government fails to successfully prosecute someone who appear really guilty like this, then I think there is going to be a huge boost to those people who are trying to pass the really horrible copyright laws like SOPA.
 

votemarvel

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Nov 29, 2009
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Will they go after sites like OneDrive, run by Microsoft, where it is quite possible to share files with others?

Don't file sharing sites have systems in place for people to claim copyright infringment?
 

Voulan

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Jul 18, 2011
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It's hard to form an opinion on Dotcom. On the one hand he's looking to install a new Internet fibre cable here in New Zealand so that our Internet will no longer be akin to something you'd get in a third world country, but he's also a bit of an eccentric personality that makes him look a bit dickish. I really have no idea what to think.
 

FogHornG36

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Jan 29, 2011
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Good, if they can't put a case together agenst him you are just flexing your muscles and trying to threaten anyone into obeying you even if its not the law.
 

ron1n

New member
Jan 28, 2013
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I too thought he was a bit of a dick initially, but if you watch the interview VICE did with him, I actually thought he came across as a pretty decent guy. Eccentric, and a bit over-the-top yes, but still down to earth at the same time.
 

Strazdas

Robots will replace your job
May 28, 2011
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votemarvel said:
Don't file sharing sites have systems in place for people to claim copyright infringment?
God, i hope they dont. See, the way the law works currently, is that i could file a complaint agianst escapist copyrighting whatever content, and they would have to take it down, no questions asked, and only after taking it down prove they are not breaking copyright, while afterwards the claim is lifted i could just put the same identical claim again the next day. and yet i would get 0 reprecution for it, because its always the burden on the one i claim about and never mine to prove copyright even if i dont actually hold any. this has lead to a lot of troll companies claiming copyrights they dont own to witchunt certain websites and ruin their traffic, sucesfully.
 

Nemu

In my hand I hold a key...
Oct 14, 2009
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Great, now if only -I- could recover the files of personal stuff that I lost in this mess.
 

MXRom

New member
Jan 10, 2013
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I always wondered why only Megaupload was singled out, and not rapidshare or depositfiles. Or why the FBI waited to raid his assests until SOPA was being debated in Conress...
 

Auberon

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Aug 29, 2012
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Feel free to put on tinfoil hat and play the Megabox-card, as most techsites speculated. If Kim tries that again, I fully expect Navy SEAL at his door with full retinue of tanks, aircraft carriers and what-have-you as if they got every terrorist leader ever in one place.