In 2012, Megaupload was shut down and Dotcom and three others were arrested in Auckland, and what has followed has been a tangle of court cases, motions, and various other legal gymnastics that could be close to an endor at least close to moving definitively forward. Government powers blame Dotcom for encouraging Internet robbery on an enormous scale and have accused him of connivance to confer copyright encroachment, racketeering and tax evasion.
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“Court orders made by New Zealand courts and Hong Kong courts have been frustrated by a deliberate tactical decision by the USA to stop us accessing expertise that we need”, said Ortmann’s barrister Grant Illingworth.
Almost four years after dozens of black-clad police rappelled into his New Zealand mansion and cut him from a safe room, flamboyant German tech entrepreneur and would-be hip-hop star Kim Dotcom may finally be about to face the music.
According to the BBC, the colourful Dotcom brought his own chair to the hearing, citing “ergonomic reasons”.
But lawyers for the United States say Dotcom’s claims must be part of the extradition process – that hearing them separately will simply delay an already drawn out case.
THE HEARING: The hearing is expected to last about four weeks.
The extradition case sees the United States seeking extradition of Dotcom and his co-accused Mathias Ortmann, Fin Batato and Bram van der Kolk for alleged copyright and piracy offences. In an oath for the protection, Harvard Law School teacher Lawrence Lessig contends that criminal copyright encroachment applies just to individuals who specifically download or take something and not to optional gatherings like site administrators.
Mr Mansfield was keen to point out that Dotcom was not trying to avoid an impending extradition hearing.
Defense attorneys say that they have been hamstrung in light of the fact that Dotcom and his associates don’t have entry to their cash so as to mount a powerful resistance.
While Deputy High Court Judge Garry Tallentire briefly lifted the order in December past year , he reimposed a new one immediately that allowed both parties to negotiate terms which could include limited access to money for ongoing legal fees and living expenses.
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WHAT’S NEXT: Whichever side loses the extradition judgment is likely to appeal, setting off a new round of legal wrangling.
