MegaUpload Prosecutors Describe Dotcom’s Case as Fraud
Prosecutors recently outlined their extradition case against MegaUpload founder in a New Zealand court, describing the core allegation against the online giant accused of multimillion-dollar online piracy as “simple fraud”. The case has been dragged on from the beginning of 2012. The FBI even labeled it as the “biggest copyright investigation” in history of the United States, which involved advanced technology and heavy investments.
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The American authorities that tried to get Dotcom deported to stand trial in the US believe that the accusations against MegaUpload founder were not complicated, despite many words said about the novelty and technicality of the case. However, the evidence boils down to a simple scheme of fraud. The prosecutors pointed out that Kim Dotcom had admitted his culpability in a Skype conversation heard over by US authorities, where he was saying “At some point, a judge will be convinced about how evil we are and then we’re in trouble”.
American authorities have been trying to extradite Kim Dotcom since he was arrested by New Zealand police almost 4 years ago during a raid on his Auckland mansion. However, Dotcom found numerous reasons to delay the extradition hearing, until the court finally ruled that the hearing would go ahead a few days ago.
The prosecutors insist that the now-defunct MegaUpload was part of a scheme to steal copyright-protected content, and Dotcom with associates took part in a conspiracy by deliberately introducing copyright-infringing content to their website and profiting from it.
MegaUpload was one of the early examples of cloud computing, which allowed users to share large files with others without clogging up their email systems. At its height in 2011, MegaUpload accounted for 50 million daily users and 4% of the entire world’s online traffic. According to FBI, about 90% of the content hosted on the website was copyright-protected, and MegaUpload infringed that copyright and earned over $175m in criminal proceeds, while rights holders lost more than $500m.
Kim Dotcom, who moved to New Zealand only 5 years ago, denies all the charges, saying he was a legitimate entrepreneur. He and 3 of his associates face such charges as fraud, racketeering and money laundering, which may result in up to 20 years in prison if convicted in a US court.
