Court Approves Transfer of Kim Dotcom’s Hard Drives to FBI

[Social Media]

 

Kim Dotcom's latest attempt to prevent the New Zealand government from releasing his hard drives and passwords to the FBI has been unsuccessful. The controversial billionaire, known for founding the now-defunct data-sharing site Megaupload, has faced multiple legal battles in New Zealand since armed police raided his Auckland mansion in 2012, seizing hundreds of devices.

 

In September, Dotcom appealed a 2022 High Court ruling which allowed the devices, containing not only evidence for the FBI's copyright case but also personal family photos and videos, to be sent to aid the FBI's prosecution. The Court of Appeal has now dismissed Dotcom's proceedings against the Attorney-General, representing the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB). A secondary appeal against an order for Dotcom and his wife to pay $55,000 in costs has also been rejected.

 

During a hearing in Wellington last year, Dotcom's lawyer, Simon Cogan, argued that the law governing the release of material to US authorities should only apply to criminally relevant information on the devices, not the entire hard drives. Cogan suggested that the New Zealand Police should filter the data first, stating, "It’s entirely possible to identify what material would be relevant to those allegations and what wouldn’t ... photographs, music, videos, etc are at a technical level quite capable of being identified." However, the High Court had previously determined that the volume of data on the hard drives made it impractical to select only the relevant information without compromising evidential integrity.

 

Crown lawyer David Boldt countered that New Zealand authorities should not decide what content was pertinent to the FBI's investigation. He noted, "For example, a lot of the content on these devices is music - now, we don’t know whether a particular music file might actually be relevant ... [to] a case involving large-scale copyright breach. It could be relevant or it could just be lawfully obtained material Dotcom was listening to."

In June, two other key figures in the Megaupload case were banned from being company directors for five years, following their sentencing in the High Court at Auckland a year earlier.

 

The court's decision marks another setback for Dotcom in his ongoing legal battles with the US authorities. Dotcom has consistently fought extradition to the United States, where he faces charges related to copyright infringement, money laundering, and racketeering associated with Megaupload. Despite these legal challenges, Dotcom has maintained his innocence, arguing that Megaupload was a legitimate business and that he is being targeted unfairly.

 

The transfer of Dotcom's hard drives to the FBI signifies a significant development in the case, potentially providing the US authorities with crucial evidence needed to pursue their prosecution. This decision underscores the complexities involved in international legal cooperation, particularly in cases involving substantial amounts of digital data and cross-border jurisdiction issues.

 

As the legal proceedings continue, the focus will remain on how the transferred data will be used and whether further appeals or legal maneuvers will arise. The implications of this case extend beyond Dotcom, potentially setting precedents for how digital evidence is handled and shared across international borders in future legal disputes involving technology and intellectual property.

 

Credit: NZH 2024-07-01

 

Get our Daily Newsletter - Click HERE to subscribe

[candide]

It's a joke. Plenty of sites are providing exactly the same service and have taken Megaupload's previous market (not to mention torrent-based P2P).

[newbee2022]

10 hours ago, Social Media said:

 

Kim Dotcom's latest attempt to prevent the New Zealand government from releasing his hard drives and passwords to the FBI has been unsuccessful. The controversial billionaire, known for founding the now-defunct data-sharing site Megaupload, has faced multiple legal battles in New Zealand since armed police raided his Auckland mansion in 2012, seizing hundreds of devices.

 

In September, Dotcom appealed a 2022 High Court ruling which allowed the devices, containing not only evidence for the FBI's copyright case but also personal family photos and videos, to be sent to aid the FBI's prosecution. The Court of Appeal has now dismissed Dotcom's proceedings against the Attorney-General, representing the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB). A secondary appeal against an order for Dotcom and his wife to pay $55,000 in costs has also been rejected.

 

During a hearing in Wellington last year, Dotcom's lawyer, Simon Cogan, argued that the law governing the release of material to US authorities should only apply to criminally relevant information on the devices, not the entire hard drives. Cogan suggested that the New Zealand Police should filter the data first, stating, "It’s entirely possible to identify what material would be relevant to those allegations and what wouldn’t ... photographs, music, videos, etc are at a technical level quite capable of being identified." However, the High Court had previously determined that the volume of data on the hard drives made it impractical to select only the relevant information without compromising evidential integrity.

 

Crown lawyer David Boldt countered that New Zealand authorities should not decide what content was pertinent to the FBI's investigation. He noted, "For example, a lot of the content on these devices is music - now, we don’t know whether a particular music file might actually be relevant ... [to] a case involving large-scale copyright breach. It could be relevant or it could just be lawfully obtained material Dotcom was listening to."

In June, two other key figures in the Megaupload case were banned from being company directors for five years, following their sentencing in the High Court at Auckland a year earlier.

 

The court's decision marks another setback for Dotcom in his ongoing legal battles with the US authorities. Dotcom has consistently fought extradition to the United States, where he faces charges related to copyright infringement, money laundering, and racketeering associated with Megaupload. Despite these legal challenges, Dotcom has maintained his innocence, arguing that Megaupload was a legitimate business and that he is being targeted unfairly.

 

The transfer of Dotcom's hard drives to the FBI signifies a significant development in the case, potentially providing the US authorities with crucial evidence needed to pursue their prosecution. This decision underscores the complexities involved in international legal cooperation, particularly in cases involving substantial amounts of digital data and cross-border jurisdiction issues.

 

As the legal proceedings continue, the focus will remain on how the transferred data will be used and whether further appeals or legal maneuvers will arise. The implications of this case extend beyond Dotcom, potentially setting precedents for how digital evidence is handled and shared across international borders in future legal disputes involving technology and intellectual property.

 

Credit: NZH 2024-07-01

 

Get our Daily Newsletter - Click HERE to subscribe

Hard time for this smart German 🥴