Megaupload's legal battle with labels and the DOJ: the full story

Kim Dotcom is being Megauploaded to the US for trial

Dotcom has been warring US extradition for 12 years.

Photo by MICHAEL BRADLEY/AFP via Getty Images

Kim Dotcom is being extradited to the United States to look long-standing transgression charges relating to his defunct file-sharing work Megaupload. The bid was signed by New Zealand Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith according to Reuters, who said that “Mr Dotcom should beryllium surrendered to the US to look trial.”

As the laminitis and erstwhile CEO of Megaupload, Dotcom (born Kim Schmitz) was accused by US authorities of having outgo movie studios and grounds companies implicit $500 cardinal by enabling users to stock pirated content. The German-born Internet mogul moved to New Zealand successful 2010, and has been warring extradition since section police, astatine the behest of the FBI, raided his Auckland mansion successful 2012 implicit charges of racketeering, wealth laundering, and copyright infringement. The Department of Justice unopen down Megaupload that aforesaid year.

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Breaking down Kim Dotcom’s bizarre, conspiracy-theory filled week

The conspiracy mentation around murdered Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich isn’t weird truthful overmuch arsenic sad: it drags a man’s reasonably caller decease into the spotlight successful bid to beforehand the thought of a “deep state” plot, based connected grounds that’s either speculative or factually wrong. But it’s brought unneurotic a unusual conjugation of well-known subscribers — including the net entrepreneur Kim Dotcom.

Dotcom, laminitis of defunct unreality retention tract Megaupload, isn’t conscionable a high-profile proponent of the Seth Rich cover-up story. Last week, helium claimed to beryllium astatine the halfway of it. But successful promising to stroke the lid disconnected the conspiracy, helium mostly succeeded successful proving however overmuch accepted governmental divides person shifted, and however easy you tin crook governmental paranoia toward mundane publicity stunts.

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Megaupload laminitis Kim Dotcom tin beryllium extradited to the US to look copyright charges

Fiona Goodall/Getty Images

Megaupload laminitis Kim Dotcom is acceptable to beryllium extradited to the United States to face charges including copyright infringement, wealth laundering, and racketeering, a tribunal successful New Zealand has decided. District tribunal justice Nevin Dawson gave the verdict contiguous astatine 2PM section clip (8PM ET), decreeing that the US had fulfilled requirements to get Dotcom, positive associates Mathias Ortmann, Finn Batato, and Bram van der Kolk extradited to look further clip successful court, fines, and imaginable jailhouse time.

Dotcom was primitively indicted successful the United States backmost successful 2012, with the Department of Justice claiming that Megaupload — the web retention work helium created and operated — outgo euphony and movie studios successful excess of $500 cardinal dollars arsenic radical utilized it to download pirated songs and movies. He was arrested successful a high-profile armed raid connected his Auckland location soon aft the charges were leveled against him, but it's taken almost 4 years for the New Zealand courts to scope a determination connected whether to nonstop Dotcom to America.

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Megaupload's Kim Dotcom takes the stand, fends disconnected inquiries into finances

Kim Dotcom astatine extradition proceeding

Greg Sandoval

Kim Dotcom, laminitis of the present defunct file-storage work Megaupload, made his agelong awaited quality successful a New Zealand tribunal connected Thursday.

Indicted by the United States connected transgression copyright violations successful January 2012, Dotcom testified astatine a proceeding to find whether helium and 3 different erstwhile Megaupload executives volition beryllium extradited to the US to basal trial. For astir 4 years, tons of ineligible jockeying has prevented the proceeding from getting to court, and adjacent present Dotcom's attorneys question yet different postponement.

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Megaupload authoritative wraps up arguments to extradite Kim Dotcom

Greg Sandoval

For 2 weeks, Kim Dotcom and 3 different erstwhile Megaupload staffers accused of transgression copyright infringement were bombarded by accusations from New Zealand prosecutors.

To perceive prosecutors archer it, Dotcom is the Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman of amerciable record sharing. The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) alleges that the defendants operated Megaupload arsenic a transgression endeavor designed to nett from the amerciable swapping of movies, euphony and bundle by users. A proceeding is underway to find whether New Zealand volition extradite Dotcom, Mathias Ortmann, Bram van der Kolk, and Finn Batato to the US. Much is astatine involvement for the four, who whitethorn yet look lengthy situation sentences.

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Kim Dotcom getting copies of information seized successful Megaupload raid

Kim Dotcom, erstwhile proprietor of file-sharing and retention tract Megaupload, is being reunited with the information from servers that were seized by constabulary successful 2012. According to The New Zealand Herald, New Zealand's Court of Appeal has ruled that constabulary indispensable supply copies of the information connected each physics devices that were confiscated successful the raid connected Dotcom's mansion "as soon arsenic reasonably practicable." It's the latest determination successful a protracted conflict betwixt Dotcom, New Zealand courts, and the US government, which is attempting to extradite him to look transgression copyright infringement charges.

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Justice Department publishes 191 pages of grounds against Kim Dotcom and Megaupload

Kim Dotcom mega lawsuit screencap

The US Department of Justice unsealed a summary of the grounds it has collected against Kim Dotcom, Megaupload, and different alleged conspirators connected Friday. The 191-page papers lays retired details connected however Megaupload and its associated sites, employees, and operations — termed the "Mega Conspiracy" — operated and, according to the DOJ, committed racketeering conspiracy, copyright infringement, and wealth laundering. The probe concludes that Megaupload made implicit $150 cardinal successful revenues from premium memberships implicit the years, positive implicit $25 cardinal successful advertizing revenues. Those revenues are said to beryllium a nonstop effect of Megaupload's willful promotion of copyrighted materials.

Perhaps the astir absorbing revelation from the papers are details connected the files stored for Megaupload and its users. According to the DOJ, erstwhile it shut down the tract connected January 19, 2012, determination were astir 14.9 cardinal videos connected Megavideo.com. Only 8.6 cardinal of those videos were viewed astatine slightest once, with a full of 34.9 cardinal views for each of the videos. The papers says that astir 12.8 percent of each viewed videos had received astatine slightest 1 Digital Millennium Copyright Act take-down request. Additionally, the DOJ claims that 43 percent of each views connected Megavideo.com — astir 15 cardinal streams — were of contented that had received a take-down notice. URLs uploaded by members with astatine slightest 1 take-down petition against them accounted for astir 78 percent of each streams, according to the DOJ.

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File-hosting services instrumentality large deed with ruling against Hotfile

Hollywood-sign5

Hotfile enables customers to store integer files connected the company's servers and past stock those files with others. The studios accused Titov and Hotfile of encouraging users to stock pirated films with each other. This helped the tract amass a ample audience, enabling Titov to nett from advertisement income and subscription fees, according to the MPAA.

Ira Rothken, the lawyer starring Megaupload's worldwide defense, tells The Verge that the conflicting RapidShare and Hotfile rulings amusement that erstwhile it comes to copyright and cloud-storage services, the courts are inactive trying to benignant it out, and astatine this constituent the Hotfile determination isn't precise important for his clients. He adds, however, that the tribunal battles beryllium wherever specified disputes should beryllium resolved. "The healthier spot for these types of disputes is successful civilian court," Rothken says, stating that they "should ever beryllium dealt with connected the civilian level arsenic determination are nary transgression copyright statutes that screen this area."

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Megaupload takedown whitethorn person accrued ineligible movie downloads, says study

Kanye West Loves Megaupload

Despite Kim Dotcom's protestations, there's nary uncertainty that a batch of radical utilized Megaupload to download pirated content. Now, a caller study from Carnegie Mellon's Initiative for Digital Entertainment Analytics suggests that the shutdown could person accrued income and rentals of ineligible movie downloads. After studying 2 studios crossed 12 countries implicit 18 weeks, authors Brett Danaher and Michael D. Smith estimated that integer revenues were betwixt 6 percent and 10 percent higher than they would person been were Megaupload inactive a going concern.

The results besides suggest that wide available, ineligible alternatives to piracy are portion of the solution; portion determination are countless alternatives to Megaupload, it seems the fashionable site's extremity was capable to thrust a important fig of radical to legitimate, convenient means. This dovetails with an statement that survey co-author Smith has made earlier — helium previously wrote that "Hollywood is leaving wealth connected the table" by delaying movies and imposing merchandise windows astir the world. Smith believes that making ineligible contented much invaluable than pirated contented to the user is the reply to studios' woes, and if his latest survey is thing to spell by, some improving the accessibility of integer income and stifling the convenience of piracy tin spell immoderate mode to achieving this goal.

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Kim Dotcom promises 50GB of escaped retention for Mega work launching connected Saturday

Kanye West Loves Megaupload

Kim Dotcom's Mega, the follow-up to Megaupload, is yet acceptable to spell unrecorded this weekend, and the flamboyant entrepreneur has taken to Twitter to stock immoderate details astir the caller service. Mega volition seemingly springiness each users 50GB of escaped unreality storage, making it a perchance compelling rival to the likes of Dropbox (2GB free) and SkyDrive (7GB free) — if you're not disquieted astir the work getting unopen down similar its predecessor, that is.

Dotcom says that his lawyers are moving connected a mode to get MegaUpload users entree to their antecedently stored files and premium status, but it seems intolerable close now. On the positive side, Dotcom says that the work is "like clip travel," calls it a triumph for innovation against the US government, and promises to "take you to the future." We'll spot if Mega tin backmost up Dotcom's large words this Saturday.

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Kim Dotcom's extradition proceeding won't hap until March 2013 owed to grounds legality dispute

floyd mayweather likes megaupload

Last period a New Zealand tribunal ruled that the US acted extracurricular of the instrumentality with an invalid warrant erstwhile searching Megaupload laminitis Kim Dotcom's home, and present we're starting to spot the fallout — the extradition proceeding has been enactment disconnected until adjacent year. According to the AP, the proceeding has been moved from adjacent period to March 2013 due to the fact that of the ongoing quality implicit grounds legality. Dotcom himself expressed vexation implicit the postponement, accusing the US of "dirty delays," and his lawyer told Wired that the arguable fig is looking guardant to his time successful court. For now, though, he'll person to hold things retired astatine his extravagant New Zealand mansion.

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FBI wants to crook implicit 40 pages from 22 cardinal Megaupload emails successful extradition hearing

Kim Dotcom

As the FBI and Kim Dotcom hole for the upcoming proceedings implicit cyberlocker Megaupload, the combat continues implicit what grounds Dotcom volition beryllium allowed to spot and contiguous successful his defense. Though a New Zealand justice ordered the FBI to copy 150TB of imaginable grounds from the Megaupload servers it seized, it's inactive not wide however overmuch — if immoderate — Dotcom volition beryllium fixed entree to. Now, the FBI has seemingly "cherry-picked" a specified 40 pages retired of 22 cardinal emails to manus implicit earlier an extradition hearing, sparking a disagreement that could hold it.

The caput of Dotcom's ineligible squad says the summary papers is insufficient, requiring the squad to reason a lawsuit with "their hands tied down their backs." New Zealand's Crown lawyer, however, says it's not indispensable to person each the accusation for a proceeding that lone determines whether Dotcom tin beryllium tried successful the US. If the lawsuit does proceed to an American court, the contented volition beryllium argued again.

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Kim Dotcom hunt warrants ruled amerciable by New Zealand court

Kim Dotcom

The tribunal besides decided that the FBI did successful information enactment extracurricular its powers erstwhile seizing the Megaupload founder's computers and data. Under planetary law, New Zealand's Attorney-General indispensable assistance overseas authorities similar the FBI powerfulness to instrumentality grounds retired of the country. It's hard to archer astatine this constituent what effect the ruling mightiness person connected the ongoing case, but it could beryllium an obstacle to the US's ongoing efforts to extradite Dotcom connected wealth laundering and copyright theft charges. The New Zealand constabulary is presently considering its options.

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Steve Wozniak speaks retired successful favour of nett neutrality, supports Megaupload

Steve Wozniak has contiguous spoken retired against the US government's handling of the Megaupload case, specifically its freezing of idiosyncratic accounts and attempts to extradite MegaUpload laminitis Kim Dotcom from New Zealand. Wozniak says that plentifulness of radical utilized Megaupload for morganatic purposes, and closing the tract was not the close enactment to take. "You don't conscionable unopen down the full thoroughfare due to the fact that idiosyncratic is speeding," Wozniak told the Associated Press.

Wozniak's helped money the enactment of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a non-profit enactment which is presently embroiled successful a ineligible battle connected behalf of Megaupload users that privation entree to their wholly ineligible data. Although the Apple cofounder acknowledges that Megaupload CEO Kim Dotcom whitethorn not beryllium arsenic morganatic arsenic helium paints himself, Wozniak hasn't recovered immoderate grounds that justifies the authorities' attraction of Dotcom. "It's conscionable benignant of ridiculous what they did to his life," helium says, calling the piracy lawsuit "hokey" and a menace to net innovation. Wozniak met with Dotcom past week aft helium discovered the troubled businessman couldn't be his code owed to a location apprehension order.

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Megaupload's Kim Dotcom teases caller 'Megabox' project, reveals gathering with Wozniak

Kim Dotcom, present charged with copyright infringement, ligament fraud, and racketeering related to his erstwhile tract Megaupload, is pushing guardant with plans for a caller venture. Earlier today, Dotcom tweeted astir Megabox, thing helium described earlier his arrest arsenic "a tract that volition soon let artists to merchantability their creations nonstop to consumers and allowing artists to support 90 percent of earnings." This is the archetypal we've heard of Megabox since then, andTorrentFreak has confirmed with Dotcom that the task is "making progress."

Dotcom's enactment besides seemingly earned him a sojourn from tech luminary Steve Wozniak aft his release connected bail successful February. A fewer hours earlier announcing Megabox, helium posted a representation of the 2 unneurotic and mentioned Wozniak's enactment of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The EFF has been instrumental successful fighting for the US Department of Justice to transcript and return morganatic files to users of Megaupload. Dotcom himself is inactive assembling evidence, including a immense magnitude of Megaupload data.

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Megaupload: portion FBI defends seizure overseas, MPAA is 'sympathetic' to users who uploaded ineligible files

Kanye West Loves Megaupload

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) says that it is "sympathetic" to users that stored "legitimately acquired oregon created data" connected Megaupload's servers, but points retired that the file-sharing service's presumption of usage "clearly disclaimed immoderate warrant oregon continued entree to uploaded materials."

Meanwhile, the conflict to find whether the FBI acted extracurricular of its powerfulness erstwhile it procured information from Kim Dotcom's hard drives rages connected successful New Zealand. Under planetary law, the FBI has nary close prehend spot and instrumentality it backmost to America without support from New Zealand's Attorney-General. According to Stuff, John Pike, a lawyer representing the Attorney-General asserted that the FBI acted legally arsenic the copied information did not magnitude to carnal material. Pike said that "[information] whitethorn beryllium the astir invaluable happening we have, but it is not scooped up by the enactment — thing of the carnal items person gone overseas and that was our undertaking."

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Decision connected Megaupload's information enactment connected clasp arsenic US justice requests much accusation from FBI

Megaupload guillotine

It's not rather a frost successful the ongoing Megaupload case, but US territory tribunal justice Liam O'Grady contiguous applied the breaks to treatment of what to bash with the massive magnitude of information stored connected Megaupload's servers. Before that question could beryllium resolved, O'Grady said, the much pressing contented of wherefore the FBI didn't formally server transgression papers to Megaupload (as opposed to Kim Dotcom himself) needed to beryllium studied. The contented was seemingly capable for O'Grady to remark "I frankly don't cognize that we are ever going to person a proceedings successful this matter."

Naturally, Megaupload's ineligible squad gleefully jumped connected the comment, claiming that planetary instrumentality doesn't let the FBI to service transgression papers to a overseas company. The authoritative successful the lawsuit suggested the contented mightiness beryllium moot anyway, fixed that Dotcom owns 68 percent of Megaupload. Either way, justice O'Grady wants the contented resolved archetypal and until it is, we're not apt to cognize what volition hap to each the information kept connected its servers.

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Can EFF support guiltless 3rd parties amid the Megaupload information fallout?

EFF logo

When the US authorities seized 25 petabytes of information from filesharing work Megaupload successful January, copyright infringers weren't the lone ones who took a hit. Countless 3rd parties who utilized the work for morganatic purposes, some commercialized and personal, were besides caught successful the government's anti-piracy dragnet. By present you astir apt cognize 1 of them, Kyle Goodwin of Ohio, who suffered an ill-timed hard thrust clang astatine the clip of the Megaupload seizure, leaving countless hours of precious footage for his sports website mislaid successful integer limbo. Worse, with Megaupload's funds frozen, hosting work Carpathia has been stuck eating the costs of maintaining information that neither they nor anyone other tin access.

At a tribunal proceeding contiguous successful Virginia's Eastern District, the Electronic Frontier Foundation is presenting Goodwin's case. Speaking implicit the telephone earlier this week, EFF's Julie Samuels commented connected the case, pointing retired that protections for 3rd parties already use successful other, non-digital contexts. "Take for illustration if a slope is seized due to the fact that determination is amerciable enactment going connected wrong that bank. There are processes and ways for radical who weren't progressive successful the alleged amerciable enactment to get their worldly back."

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EFF files little connected behalf of Megaupload user, requests 'the rightful return' of his video files

Kanye West Loves Megaupload

You whitethorn callback that the idiosyncratic files contained connected Megaupload's servers — immoderate 25 petabytes worthy — were successful information of being deleted past February. Hosting institution Carpathia inactive has them, however, and present the Electronic Frontier Foundation has filed a little successful a US District Court for a idiosyncratic who wants his information back. According to the document, Kyle Goodwin hosted video files for his business, OhioSportsNet, connected Megaupload arsenic a backup to his ain hard drive. After a hard thrust crash, helium mislaid each the information — which is said to person included the earthy footage for a full-length documentary, item reels for section pupil athletes, and promotional videos — and was past incapable to get his backups from Megaupload owed to the shutdown of the service. The little calls connected US District Judge Liam O'Grady to "establish a mechanics for the instrumentality of spot to guiltless 3rd parties similar Mr. Goodwin."

The EFF isn't the lone entity to petition that the information connected Megaupload's servers beryllium protected. The Motion Picture Association of America petitioned Carpathia to clasp the data successful the hopes that it could assistance successful aboriginal ineligible enactment against Megaupload — adjacent though keeping the information is reportedly costing Carpathia astir $9,000 a day. With the destiny of some the idiosyncratic information and Megaupload co-founder Kim Dotcom inactive precise overmuch up successful the air, we expect we'll spot much of these benignant of requests aboveground earlier this communicative comes to a close.

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Megaupload users look fake colony requests, but MPAA says it's not keeping information to writer users

Megaupload guillotine

Megaupload whitethorn beryllium gone, but its users are conscionable starting to consciousness the unit of imaginable ineligible enactment for copyright infringement. The MPAA has petitioned Carpathia, which hosts 25 petabytes of files formerly from Megaupload, to support it successful hopes of utilizing the idiosyncratic information and different accusation arsenic portion of a suit against the company. In the letter, which surfaced arsenic portion of a tribunal filing by Carpathia, the MPAA states that it wants the information due to the fact that "the Studios person civilian claims against the operators of Megaupload, and perchance besides against those who person knowingly oregon materially contributed to the infringement occurring done Megaupload." Among different accusation (PDF), the MPAA is seeking "all information associated with those contented files, the uploading oregon downloading of those files, and the Megaupload users who uploaded oregon downloaded those files."

From this wording, it sounds imaginable that the MPAA is considering pursuing suits against idiosyncratic users, but the radical told Wired that it's not readying thing of the sort. "If there’s grounds of a predominant infringers, precocious measurement infringers, who are capable to proceed that cognition contempt cognition by Megaupload, that could constituent to grounds that was progressive successful this infringing campaign," said MPAA vice president Howard Gantman. "There is simply a anticipation that litigation mightiness beryllium pursued against Megaupload oregon assorted intermediaries progressive successful Megaupload’s operation. We’re not talking astir idiosyncratic users." It's inactive imaginable that the MPAA could spell aft uploaders, but contented owners person scaled backmost idiosyncratic lawsuits successful caller years and idiosyncratic information has travel up successful erstwhile trials, truthful this isn't needfully disingenuous.

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