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Legally embattled Kim Dotcom has pledged to sue the U.S. and New Zealand governments for billions if his appeal to avoid extradition to America is successful. He claims that at the time of his arrest in 2012, his series of Mega sites and services were worth in excess of $2.4 billion, and would “sue for a lot more.”
Dotcom is currently taking part in his appeals process following his original extradition trial in 2015, where a judge ruled that he should be deported to the United States to face charges of money laundering and conspiracy to commit copyright infringement. However, he remains confident that he will avoid that in the near future and plans legal action of his own, if successful.
The Mega group of companies was worth US $2.4 billion when the US destroyed everything. We'll sue for a lot more. https://t.co/mKXGGyenMc
— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) September 2, 2016
Although not an official announcement of intent by any means, Dotcom did claim via Twitter that he would sue the U.S. and New Zealand governments for billions, since the sites and services they destroyed through his arrest were worth as much. Consider too the punitive damages associated with keeping him in courts and unable to access his frozen assets for years and he may well have a serious case on his hands.
One wrinkle in Dotcom's plan however, could come in the form of NZ police commissioner Peter Marshall. He signed an indemnity order, which would essentially label him responsible if Dotcom were to complain about his treatment over the past few years. The NZ government believes this would exonerate the U.S. from any complaints Dotcom may have, as per NewsHub.
All of this though, will very much depend on the outcome of his appeal. It is set to continue for the next five weeks and much of it will be livestreamed. Dotcom reports that the U.S. has repeatedly tried to halt the streaming of the court case, though the judge has allowed it to continue for now.
The live stream starts in about 30 minutes. And guess what, the live stream will begin with the US Government trying to stop it, yet again.
— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) September 1, 2016
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KitGuru Says: The whole Dotcom case has been a fascinating example of the U.S. wielding heavy hands overseas. If the pendulum swings the other way, the fall out could be huge.
Image source: Dotcom/Twitter
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Obviously the US would never pay, but putting that aside for a moment. Can and should he legally be able to claim much more than his company’s worth? In cases of wrongful arrest, wrongful persecution, or even wrongful conviction, what would the damages be one can claim? And in case of Dotcom, how do you prove your company was worth $2.4 billion? Hypothetical, if the same happened to a company like Uber which is losing billions but is also worth billions, what should a government be paid and are there judges and juries qualified to address this question?
I’m really curious 🙂
I think since your thinking of this on a large scale you may be finding it harder to comprehend. Imagine you had £10,000 in a savings account, you went to the bank one day and found that they had blocked your access to the money due to money laundering issues. 3 Years later you have sorted out the issues and found to not be money laundering, so are completely innocent. You then go to withdraw the money and get given £10,000. Would you not feel robbed of what you have missed in interest in the past 3 years? and also upset that the bank denied you access when you was innocent?
This is the same situation, his company was booming (was a Mega user myself) and they came along and took it all away from him, illegally seizing mine and others data, and stopping the business completely. His company could have made tons of cash in the years after and if they look at the forecast of Mega at the time, then that is what he should be suing for (probably plus expenses for the legal fee’s and trauma.)
its no where near that clear cut. its very obvious that mega was used as a dumping site for illegal stuff, it was taken down for the same reason torrent sites are being taken down left and right.
the idea he thinks he can sue for lost money he gained from the theft of other peoples IP is hilarious. he may not have been the one to steal said IP, but he made it stupidly easy to move it around and access it.
I totally get that. The question is, can he prove (a) how much the company was worth and (b) how much this shit has cost him, I.e., how much he would have made.
Pre raid Megaupload was working with big accounting firms in preparation for an IPO. These records can easily establish the value of the company at the time.
Yeah but if it’s shown most of the money was made through illegal means, and I don’t think that’s hard to demonstrate, how much is the company worth?
Ah, thanks for explaining
Charging money for faster bandwidth & more storage is not illegal. Dual use technologies are protected under the Supreme Courts Betamax case are not themselves illegal. And under the DMCA ISP’s are not responsible for their users if takedown notices are complied with. Now the US DOJ had to go pretty far out on a limb to dream up never yet tested legal concepts like conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement as the underlying charge with money laundering & wire fraud etc. all taging of a novel and untested legal theory. It is by no means an open & shut case against the company
It pays to know what they are beng charged with and what the evidence is for the charges before making such sweeping statements.
https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/usao-edva/legacy/2013/12/20/Mega%20Evidence.pdf
Yes it does pay to know what they are being charged with. There are five counts in the 2012 incitement here which pretty much match what I stated above. https://www.scribd.com/mobile/document/78786408/Mega-Indictment As you are an expert you’ll also know the as Megaupload is not a US company without a business presence in the US the entity has not yet even been legally served papers & unless Dotcom is extradited to the US procedurally the US is unable to serve that company. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/megaupload-trial-kim-dotcom-314657
Well so far two court hearings, one with a jury and one presided by a judge disagree with your conclusion. I think it’s pretty obvious that a third one is about to as well.
Funny you say Megauplaod wasn’t a US company with a US presence. At the time of the raid the CEO of Megaupload was an American living in America.
Here is the full indictment for you with details of the Thirteen charges against them.
https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/usao-edva/legacy/2013/12/20/Certified%20Mega%20Superseding%20Indictment%20%282-16-2012%29.pdf
Need a US presence to be served?
http://www.cnet.com/au/news/u-s-court-denies-megaupload-request-for-dismissal/
If the CEO was an American living in America why hasn’t the DOJ served him on behalf of Megaupload? I know there was talk of that person taking the role but in reality I don’t think an official appointment was made at the time of the grand jury incitement.
I’m not claiming they are innocent or will get off. But I am saying there is differing opinion on how open and shut the DOJ case is by many legal experts including a Harvard Law Professor http://www.techfirm.com/professor-lessig-opinion-in-ki/
I understand that the concept of secondary copyright infringement was removed from the criminal code and was reestablished in a civil context by the courts. Conspiracy to commit copyright infringement is a legal end run around Congress’s intention to remove criminal culpability for 3rd parties. It remains to be tested in court if a general conspiracy charge for an underlying copyright infringement offence will be upheld as it may be seen as reestablishing something Congress intended to remove.
The CEO was just a puppet Dotcom set up. Don’t make me laugh with this secondary copyright bollocks. That just a bit of crap Dotcon is putting out to fool the gullible. Read the indictment and evidence. It shows that Dotcom and co are accused of uploading hundreds of thousands of infringing videos themselves . Something Dotcom has never talked about in public.