Megaupload & Mr. Dotcom An internet millionaire with New Zealand residency

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Megaupload & Mr. Dotcom An internet millionaire with New Zealand residency

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Started 12 years ago by Anonymous
Latest reply from Anonymous

Anonymous
Unregistered

http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/6288082/US-shuts-down-file-sharing-site-Megaupload-com
Dotcom, 37, who ran the world's largest file-sharing site from his $30 million mansion in Auckland, was refused bail when he appeared in the North Shore District Court this afternoon. Three co-accused were also refused bail.
Police tonight continued to search the Megaupload.com founder's house, where they have restrained electronic equipment, artwork and an eclectic fleet of luxury vehicles including a Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe and a 1959 pink Cadillac.

The vehicles are valued at around NZ$6m, while up to NZ$11m in cash was restrained in various accounts.

MANSION RAID 'NOT AS SIMPLE AS KNOCKING ON THE DOOR'

More than 70 police, including the armed offenders squad, searched Coatesville's $30 million "Dotcom" mansion and nine others in Auckland early this morning as part of the swoop.

Wormald said it was a complex operation that was planned with the help of four FBI agents who flew to New Zealand this week.

"We were aware there were a number of people there. We had a range of issues we had to deal with...in getting from the gate to the door. It wasn't simply a case of going up and knocking on the door."

"Police arrived in two marked Police helicopters. Despite our staff clearly identifying themselves Mr Dotcom retreated into the house and activated a number of electronic locking mechanisms.

"While Police neutralised these locks he then further barricaded himself into a safe room within the house which officers had to cut their way into.

"Once they gained entry into this room they found Mr Dotcom near a firearm which had the appearance of a shortened shotgun.

Dotcom's lawyer initially opposed the appearance of cameras in court, but Dotcom spoke out from the dock, saying he didn't mind photos or video.

"Because we have nothing to hide."

Megaupload has boasted of having more than 150 million registered users and 50 million daily visitors, according to the FBI indictment. At one point, it was estimated to be the 13th most frequently visited website on the Internet.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/6293542/Megaupload-attempting-to-get-back-online

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Schmitz
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203750404577173243494465660.html

Inside the Lavish Life Of Web's Mr. Dotcom

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10779963

An internet millionaire with New Zealand residency

http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/guns-artwork-seized-chrisco-mansion-piracy-crackdown-mn-108143

Expensive artworks and illegal firearms are among items seized following an early morning raid on the former Chrisco mansion.Officers, who swooped on the $30-million property in two helicopters
The raid is part of a US-led crackdown on internet piracy.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/01/20/meet-kim-dotcom-king-of-megauploads-media-empire/

Police seized 18 luxury vehicles valued at $4.9-million, including a Rolls-Royce Phantom drophead coupe and a pink 1959 Cadillac, as well as art and electronic equipment.

Many of the cars sported vanity licence plates — the one on the Rolls was “God,” while an AMG Mercedes carried “Hacker” and another was labelled “Mafia.”

Banking authorities also froze about $8.9-million in various accounts.

Mr. Dotcom — an imposing 6-foot-7 and weighing 300 pounds — is alleged by U.S. authorities to be involved in one of the largest cases of copyright theft ever.
earned him a half-joking nickname in Hollywood: Dr. Evil.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1201/S00107/megauploadcom-shut-down-four-arrested-in-new-zealand.htm

MegaUpload Back? Don’t Be Fooled by Scammers

Posted 12 years ago #
Anonymous
Unregistered

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10780514

Dotcom's lavish life of parties and luxury

Kim Dotcom's mansion underwent a multimillion-dollar renovation, including a pool filled with imported spring water and a $15,000 custom-made ladder, bizarre artwork, secret underground passages and a strict ban on photos.

Dotcom's master suite had a television at the foot of the bed believed to be the biggest in New Zealand.

Dotcom birthday party targeted
A dawn raid that landed internet mogul Kim Dotcom in jail was timed for his birthday celebration so his party guests could also be locked up.

Posted 12 years ago #
Anonymous
Unregistered

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57362416-93/what-megaupload-founders-stand-to-lose/

Are you surprised about the feds shutting down MegaUpload? One truly shocking nugget of information to emerge from the federal indictment is the unbelievable list of property and money subject to forfeiture from the defendants.

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/filesonic-shutters-another-file-sharing-site-bites-the-dust/67670

Posted 12 years ago #
Anonymous
Unregistered

http://www.stuff.co.nz/6309954/Dotcom-to-neighbours-Don-t-forget-the-cocaine

http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/6308387/Kim-Dotcom-denied-bail-to-appeal

http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/6306240/Anonyupload-link-denied

An outfit claiming to be Anonymous says it is moving to replace defunct fire-sharing website Megaupload, following the latter's demise at the hands of the FBI.

However, a post on an Anonymous Twitter feed warns that the Anonyupload website may be a scam and says the hacking group has "no affiliation" with it.

Posted 12 years ago #
Anonymous
Unregistered

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10783134

Kim Dotcom's bail appeal denied

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/image.cfm?c_id=1&gal_objectid=10783521&gallery_id=123669#8570000

World exclusive: Inside the Dotcom mansion

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/image.cfm?c_id=1&gal_objectid=10783521&gallery_id=123515#8524332

Inside the life of Kim Dotcom

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10783378

Posted 12 years ago #
Anonymous
Unregistered

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10786447

Dotcom in even more US trouble

The hearing also revealed the difficulty faced by the US in seizing Dotcom's belongings in Hong Kong. Taxpayer-funded prosecutor Anne Toohey, working for the US Government, said a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow coupe was among the assets which had yet to be seized.

The news appeared to surprise Dotcom, who pledged to make the car available.

He said he would not desert his pregnant wife, Mona, who was due to give birth to twins, and their three children, by skipping bail. "I have absolutely no reason to run away."

Posted 12 years ago #
Anonymous
Unregistered

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/6459466/Bailed-Dotcom-headed-home

Bailed Dotcom headed home

Judge Dawson granted bail to his Coatesville house with the conditions that he did not have access the internet, no helicopter be allowed to travel to the property, that he would not travel more than 80km from the property and that he give police 24 hours notice of any appointment that required him to leave the property, except for medical emergencies.

Dotcom had "survived" prison, Davison said.

"It hasn't been comfortable but he has managed to cope with it."

Davison said the United States' case against Dotcom had no validity to it.

"[It] doesn't have any substantial basis to it at all."

He could not say whether the case would be concluded this year.

In court, Davison said the condition that his client had no access to internet was unrealistic.

It was an international case where Dotcom needed to be in contact with lawyers in the United States to prepare his case.

"It's like saying he shouldn't have access to a telephone, it's such a fundamental means of communication."

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10787226

Posted 12 years ago #
Anonymous
Unregistered

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10789188

Dotcom on TV: 'I'm no criminal'

http://www.3news.co.nz/Kim-Dotcoms-first-TV-interview-Im-no-piracy-king/tabid/817/articleID/244830/Default.aspx

JC: Explain that to me, how big is that?

KD: That is about 800 file transfers completing every second. We are a relatively small company; you can’t expect us to police that kind of traffic.

JC: So every member of the Motion Picture Association, every film studio who is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America had direct delete access to Megaupload.com to take out copyright-infringing material – is that the case?

KD: Absolutely.

JC: And yet the FBI indictment against you alleges, and I quote, “Copyright infringement on a massive scale with estimated harm to copyright holders well in excess of 500 million US dollars”.

KD: Well that’s complete nonsense. If you read the indictment and if you hear what the Prosecution has said in court, it’s at least $500 million of damage were just music files and just within a two-week time period. So they are actually talking about $13 billion US damage within a year just for music downloads. The entire US music industry is less than $20 billion. So how can one website be, you know, responsible for this amount of damage, it’s completely mind-boggling and unrealistic.

JC: So are you really suggesting that you are a sacrificial lamb of some description?

KD: Well, there’s no other explanation for me because we’ve done nothing wrong. I’m no criminal, this website has not been set up to be a piracy haven.

Where does piracy come from? Piracy comes from, you know, people, let’s say, in Europe who do not have access to movies at the same time that they are released in the US. This is a problem that has been born within this licensing model and the old business model that Hollywood has where they release something first in one country but they show trailers to everyone around the world pitching that new movie but then the 14-year-old kid in France or Germany can’t watch it for another six months, you know? If the business model would be one where everyone has access to this content at the same time, you know, you wouldn’t have a piracy problem. So it’s really, in my opinion, the government of the United States protecting an outdated monopolistic business model that doesn’t work anymore in the age of the internet and that’s what it all boils down to. I’m no piracy king, I offered online storage and bandwidth to users and that’s it.

Posted 12 years ago #
Anonymous
Unregistered

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2156428/kim-dotcom-scapegoat

& how come google got a way with utube piracy well may be we all like google.

Posted 12 years ago #
Anonymous
Unregistered

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/6547471/Secrecy-over-Dotcoms-residency-application

BILLIONAIRE WITH A LOT TO OFFER ):-

Good character requirements were waived because Dotcom invested $10 million; was a high net worth individual; his conviction was more than 16 years earlier and didn't involve harming anyone; wanted to buy New Zealand's most expensive home which no one else wanted; and would contribute to New Zealand through investment, consumption and philanthropic activities.

Dotcom gave $50,000 to the Christchurch mayoral fund following the earthquake, another $50,000 to a rugby player who was left in a wheelchair after an on-field injury and forked out $600,000 for a fireworks display in Auckland harbour.

Posted 12 years ago #
Anonymous
Unregistered

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/file-sharing/news/article.cfm?c_id=199&objectid=10789678

How Dotcom won fight for number plates

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10791722

Dotcom: US officials among biggest Mega users

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10791249

Dotcom wife tells of terror of arrests

"Although I am doing the best to cope, this is difficult without Kim being at home and his support."

It is the first time Mona Dotcom - who is due to give birth to twins this month - has been heard from since she married Kim Dotcom in 2009.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10791891

Papers reveal Dotcom's ultimatum to NZ officials

Dotcom was convicted in 1998 of computer fraud and dealing in stolen phone cards.

In 2002, he was convicted of manipulating the stock price of an internet startup. Both times, he was fined but avoided jail time.

Posted 12 years ago #
Anonymous
Unregistered

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/03/mpaa-megaupload-user-litigatio/

Megaupload: MPAA wants data kept for lawsuits, scammers target users

The Motion Picture Association of America has requested that Megaupload's host, Carpathia, retain about 25PB (yep, that's petabytes) of data.

Carpathia claims storing those files costs the company about $9,000 per month.

This information seems to conflict with earlier reports where the court supposedly gave Carpathia and Cogent its blessing to delete files.

Carpathia said it is spending $9,000 daily to retain the data

Posted 12 years ago #
Anonymous
Unregistered

http://www.v3.co.uk/v3-uk/news/2161671/police-blunder-megaupload-founders-usd200m-fortune-returned

Police blunder could see Megaupload founder's $200m fortune returned

so far he got his car back and may he get off

Kim Dotcom, the controversial founder of file-sharing website Megaupload, could have $200m of dollars in assets returned, after a New Zealand court ruled that police had made procedural errors when applying to seize the property.

Judge Judith Potter ruled on Friday that the restraining order placed on Dotcom was “null and void”, according to the New Zealand Herald.

The judge decided that the police had applied for the “incorrect order” when seeking to get a restraining order against Dotcom.

The order – which allowed local police to seize around $200m worth of assets – did not give Dotcom the opportunity to fight the seizure in court. His defence team has challenged the error and asked the court to issue an order to return his property.

The judge has granted a temporary order against Dotcom, while she reviews Dotcom's assets should be returned to him.

Posted 12 years ago #

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