Megaupload’s legal battle with labels and the DOJ: the full story – The Verge

Kim Dotcom is being Megauploaded to the US for trial

2024-08-15T06:43:31-04:00

Dotcom has been fighting US extradition for 12 years. | Photo by MICHAEL BRADLEY/AFP via Getty Images

Kim Dotcom is being extradited to the United States to face long-standing criminal charges relating to his defunct file-sharing service Megaupload. The order was signed by New Zealand Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith, according to Reuters, which said that "Mr Dotcom should be surrendered to the US to face trial."

As the founder and former CEO of Megaupload, Dotcom (born Kim Schmitz) was accused by US authorities of having cost film studios and record companies over $500 million by enabling users to share pirated content.

The German-born Internet mogul moved to New Zealand in 2010 and has been fighting extradition since local police, at the …

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Kim Dotcom is ‘not giving an inch’ after sentencing of two Megaupload execs

2023-06-17T10:54:42-04:00

Megaupload officers Mathias Ortmann and Bram van der Kolk have each been sentenced in the years-long Megaupload case. | Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images

I didn't expect to write about Megaupload in 2023, but here we are - former Megaupload officers Mathias Ortmann and Bram van der Kolk have been sentenced to more than two years in prison over their roles in the company, Associated Press reported on Thursday. The two men have been granted delayed sentences owing to the impending birth of Ortmann's child and van der Kolk's ill mother.

Dotcom tweeted about the convictions on Thursday, saying the light sentences two men got off easy because they are pinning the blame on him, adding that they "will make terrible witnesses for the US Govt."

ðŸ§µMegaupload Update ðŸ§µ

"There is no conspiracy. You …

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What on earth is going on with Elon Musk and Ukraine?

2022-10-21T08:00:00-04:00

Who’s whispering in Elon Musk’s ear? | Illustration by Lille Allen / The Verge

Look, I've been avoiding talking about Elon Musk's meddling in international affairs largely because I am not expert enough in international affairs to say much of anything. But now we've got Fiona Hill, formerly an advisor to Donald Trump who gave testimony at his first impeachment hearing, out here suggesting that Musk is "transmitting a message for Putin."

This shit's weird, dude, even for me. Musk set off an international shitposting incident by tweeting a peace proposal for the war in Ukraine. In response, sitting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy polled Twitter about whether users preferred a pro-Russia or pro-Ukraine Musk; sitt …

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

2017-05-27T15:00:02-04:00

The conspiracy theory around murdered Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich isn't weird so much as sad: it drags a man's fairly recent death into the spotlight in order to promote the idea of a "deep state" plot, based on evidence that's either speculative or factually wrong. But it's brought together a strange coalition of well-known subscribers - including the internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom.

Dotcom, founder of defunct cloud storage site Megaupload, isn't just a high-profile proponent of the Seth Rich cover-up story. Last week, he claimed to be at the center of it. But in promising to blow the lid off the conspiracy, he mostly …

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Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom can be extradited to the US to face copyright charges

2015-12-22T21:30:37-05:00

Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom is set to be extradited to the United States to face charges including copyright infringement, money laundering, and racketeering, a court in New Zealand has decided. District court judge Nevin Dawson gave the verdict today at 2PM local time (8PM ET), decreeing that the US had fulfilled requirements to get Dotcom, plus associates Mathias Ortmann, Finn Batato, and Bram van der Kolk extradited to face further time in court, fines, and possible jail time.

Dotcom was originally indicted in the United States back in 2012, with the Department of Justice claiming that Megaupload - the web storage service he created an …

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Megaupload’s Kim Dotcom takes the stand, fends off inquiries into finances

2015-10-08T01:54:33-04:00

Kim Dotcom at extradition hearing | Greg Sandoval

Kim Dotcom, founder of the now defunct file-storage service Megaupload, made his long awaited appearance in a New Zealand court on Thursday.

Indicted by the United States on criminal copyright violations in January 2012, Dotcom testified at a hearing to determine whether he and three other former Megaupload executives will be extradited to the US to stand trial. For nearly four years, lots of legal jockeying has prevented the hearing from getting to court, and even now Dotcom's attorneys seek yet another postponement.

The defense claims the US is trying to starve the defendants of resources. When the DOJ arrested Dotcom and six other Megaup …

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Megaupload prosecutor wraps up arguments to extradite Kim Dotcom to the US

2015-10-01T21:25:04-04:00

For two weeks, Kim Dotcom and three other former Megaupload staffers accused of criminal copyright infringement were bombarded by accusations from New Zealand prosecutors.

To hear prosecutors tell it, Dotcom is the Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman of illegal file sharing. The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) alleges that the defendants operated Megaupload as a criminal enterprise designed to profit from the illegal swapping of movies, music and software by users. A hearing is underway to determine whether New Zealand will extradite Dotcom, Mathias Ortmann, Bram van der Kolk, and Finn Batato to the US. Much is at stake for the four, who ma …

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After nearly four years, is it time to just settle the Megaupload case?

2015-09-28T15:41:44-04:00

Kim Dotcom had just exited a courthouse in New Zealand on Monday when I asked him to pose for a picture under a large mural across the street. It was a very decent copy of Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam.

He looked up at the painting and said: "That's a copyright violation. Can't do it."

Coming from one of the world's most notable accused copyright violators, the line was funny. What isn't so funny is that after nearly four years, his court fight continues to drag on. Last week, an extradition hearing finally got underway and it will determine whether Dotcom and three other Megaupload executives will be sent to the United States to fac …

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Megaupload copyright infringement case sees its first conviction

2015-02-14T16:37:02-05:00

The Megaupload copyright infringement case saw its first conviction yesterday, Ars Technica reports. Programmer Andrus Nõmm plead guilty to felony copyright infringement and was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison.

Nõmm was arrested in Virginia earlier this week after years of fighting extradition in the Netherlands. He was arrested in the Netherlands in 2012.

Megaupload owner Kim Dotcom is accused of running the now-defunct file storage site as a piracy ring and encouraging users to upload copyrighted material illegally. Dotcom's servers were seized by police in 2012, but last year New Zealand's Court of Appeal ruled that …

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Kim Dotcom getting copies of data seized in Megaupload raid

2014-09-09T18:05:15-04:00

Kim Dotcom, former owner of file-sharing and storage site Megaupload, is being reunited with the data from servers that were seized by police in 2012. According to The New Zealand Herald, New Zealand's Court of Appeal has ruled that police must provide copies of the data on all electronic devices that were confiscated in the raid on Dotcom's mansion "as soon as reasonably practicable." It's the latest decision in a protracted battle between Dotcom, New Zealand courts, and the US government, which is attempting to extradite him to face criminal copyright infringement charges.

Dotcom is accused of running the now defunct Megaupload as a massiv …

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