Tides Turn for Kim Dotcom?
Underdog in Copyright Case Garners Favorable Rulings and Public Sympathy.
By LUCY CRAYMER And GEOFFREY A. FOWLER
WELLINGTON, New Zealand—Kim Dotcom, who once seemed like an underdog in the U.S.'s largest-ever criminal copyright case, has notched several legal wins.
Mr. Dotcom, founder of the online storage site Megaupload.com, was arrested in New Zealand in January on charges including criminal copyright infringement and conspiracy to commit racketeering. The Federal Bureau of Investigation shut down Mr. Dotcom's website, which it claims was used to pirate half a billion dollars worth of entertainment content.
When U.S. authorities initially filed the case in January, they took unusually bold action for a copyright case, storming Mr. Dotcom's house to arrest him and shutting down Megaupload entirely while they gathered further evidence.
But lately, New Zealand judges weighing Mr. Dotcom's extradition to the U.S. have been taking the 38-year-old Internet entrepreneur's side in disputes. This week, the judge granted Mr. Dotcom access to authorities' evidence against him, along with access to his mansion and the ability to travel freely in New Zealand. Also this week, Megaupload's U.S. lawyers filed to have the whole case against the company tossed on a U.S. legal technicality.
That has Mr. Dotcom's lawyers, along with some legal experts, saying the authorities' case against him is far from a sure thing.
"We have always felt very optimistic that once there was transparency into the government's case that Megaupload, Kim Dotcom and the rest of the defendants would prevail," said Ira Rothken, a U.S. lawyer for both Megaupload and Mr. Dotcom. The company's lawyers argue that the website and its employees can't be held criminally responsible for copyright infringement by its users.
A spokeswoman for the New Zealand Crown Law Office said it made an application for the decision to be reviewed in a higher court late Thursday. A hearing date has yet to be set.
Mr. Dotcom didn't return emails seeking comment.
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