Kim Dotcom Can Be Extradited To US But Can Also Appeal (bbc.com) 56
The Supreme Court in New Zealand ruled that file-sharing site mogul Kim Dotcom can be returned to the U.S. to face copyright charges -- but has also overturned another lower court's decision granting him the right to appeal. The BBC reports: The court ruled that Kim Dotcom and his three co-accused were liable for extradition on 12 of the 13 counts the FBI is seeking to charge them with. But it also ruled that the Court of Appeal had erred in dismissing judicial review requests from Mr Dotcom, and granted him the right to continue with them.
The FBI alleges that Megaupload facilitated copyright infringement on a huge scale, but Mr Dotcom's lawyers argue that the website was never meant to encourage copyright breaches. If he is extradited, he faces a lengthy jail term. Dotcom tweeted a statement from his lawyers which read: "For the Dotcom team, and especially for Kim and his family, it is a mixed bag."
"There is no final determination that he is to go to the United States. However, the court has not accepted our important copyright argument and in our view has made significant determinations that will have an immediate and chilling impact on the internet."
The FBI alleges that Megaupload facilitated copyright infringement on a huge scale, but Mr Dotcom's lawyers argue that the website was never meant to encourage copyright breaches. If he is extradited, he faces a lengthy jail term. Dotcom tweeted a statement from his lawyers which read: "For the Dotcom team, and especially for Kim and his family, it is a mixed bag."
"There is no final determination that he is to go to the United States. However, the court has not accepted our important copyright argument and in our view has made significant determinations that will have an immediate and chilling impact on the internet."
Commas, FFS (Score:5, Informative)
This sentence, "but has also overturned another lower court's decision granting him the right to appeal," reads exactly opposite its real meaning because you left out the comma after, "decision."
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Since when is four dots is ascii art? THERE ARE FOUR DOTS!!!!
Yo Grark
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Since when is four dots is ascii art?
I take it you're not acquainted with the minimalist school of ASCII art.
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whom are you FFS-ing at? (Score:1)
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This sentence, "but has also overturned another lower court's decision granting him the right to appeal," reads exactly opposite its real meaning because you left out the comma after, "decision."
The ironic thing is that your comment has an extra, unnecessary comma after "after".
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I like to leave hidden errors for the next commenter. It's like paying it forward.
Re:Commas, FFS (Score:4, Funny)
Information wants to be free (Score:2)
Set him free
Re: Information wants to be free (Score:2)
what about Saudi arabia (Score:1)
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Each treaty can be different, but in general there are two requirements for extradition:
A. An extradition treaty exists between the countries
B. The crime is a felony in both countries
If the Saudi government asked to extradite a woman who had committed a crime that is also a felony in the country they were to be extradited from, and the Saudi government had an extradition treaty with that government, they would potentially be extradited after appropriate legal process in the country in which they are located
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I use google drive. (Score:2)
Why go all the way after Kim?
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For all my copyright breaching file sharing needs. Why go all the way after Kim?
Because not a lot of people are going to feel any sympathy for Kim Dotcom. Once they get precedent they can start going after people that can garner public support.
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Because the "leader of the free world" punishes mostly those who aren't their own.
Blast from the past (Score:2)
I like to revisit this little episode between attrition and Kimble every so often, and it remains quite amusing.
effects (Score:2)
> immediate and chilling impact on the internet
No, that happened a long time ago.
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The real bullshit are the theories of "intellectual property" and "international jurisdiction of US laws" that are applied here by the bully with the big fists.
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Re:Time to go (Score:5, Informative)
Totally agree. Under the direction of US federal agents, the New Zealand police engaged in what the courts ruled wa an "unlawful" act against Dotcom and his family.
If you or I held a family at gunpoint and carried off a huge swathe of their assets with no lawful right to do so it would be armed robberty and we would be locked in jail for a very long time. When the NZ police did this to Dotcom, under the direction of their US overlords, it was simply deemed "unlawful" and nobody was punished for the crime.
This is a corrupt, dirty mess from start to finish and needs to stop now.
It sets a worrying precdent if Dotcom is extradited -- because...
NZ's copyright laws are different to the USA's so what happens if *I* post to my website, a work that is (under NZ copyright law) in the public domain but which is still protected by copyright in the USA? I have committed no crime in NZ but the USA could have me extradited to face trial for breaking the US version of the copyright law?
Sorry USA, your jurisdiction should only extend to cover your own territories. New Zealand is not a state of the USA. Go away.
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but the USA could have me extradited to face trial for breaking the US version of the copyright law?
Only if your website was used by people in the US to violate copyright. This aspect is not fundamentally wrong, you can still commit a crime in another country even if you're not in that country, but this is another example of a law which the internet makes more complicated.
You could try to post a click-through agreement, where your users would be warned against doing anything if they're located in the wrong country. Or you could do geoblocking. Neither of these is a foolproof guarantee against legal act
He's never even been to the United States (Score:2)
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How much in tax dollars has the US spent on this? (Score:2)
8+ years? Will he take a plea deal?
The guy isn't a Bernie Madoff and he's not a terrorist. When does the DOJ say it's not worth the cost?
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The US will stop the fight only when Hollywood (who's content was being illegally shared on Megaupload) says they can...
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Way more of their content has been uploaded to and downloaded from YouTube.
If the government wants to prioritize copyright infringement claims, they should prioritize targets by volume of infringement.
What really? (Score:2)
Right right right (Score:2)
Yeah I had totally forgotten about this guy but I'm glad to see that he'll be included in the credits for the movie 2020: The Year of What The FUCK
Re:Team America! (Score:4, Interesting)
Just wait until in a decade or so the legal thinkers in the People's Republic of China begin to apply this precedent against the very country which came up with it.
I'll be around just for the whine.
Re: Team America! (Score:2)
Extradition is a diplomatic process. ... so we don't extradite if we don't want to. You make it sound like China has never thought of asking us to extradite escaped political dissidents. What planet are you on? If you commit a crime in China and travel to a China friendly country, they could extradite you. It all boils down to diplomacy, so it's complicated, but that's how it works.
If NZ doesn't want to extradite Dotcom, it doesn't have to. Or if they think our legal system is unfair or incompatible wi
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If NZ doesn't want to extradite Dotcom, it doesn't have to.
You're obviously not very knowledgeable about how US "diplomacy" makes its vassals sign extradition treaties and what's in them.
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Hehehe, a lie posted anonymously.
A typical Communist shill tactic.
Congratulations, comrade, on your well-earned 50 cents.
Crime and punishment (Score:2)
As the saying goes, if you can't do the time, don't do the crime. Crimes should be prosecuted, equally, for everybody - rich, poor, famous, obscure, and for Kim Dotcom, even popular technologists. So I hope the guy speeding on the interstate will get a ticket, that pedophiles get caught, protesters rioters and looter are jailed, and even tricky copyright infringers (aka thieves) caught and jailed.
Now I know Kim Dotcom is popular and people's first gut reaction is NO, NOT HIM.
Please tell me why not? Why shou
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Because the US doesn't have jurisdiction to prosecute?
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You cannot "steal" copyrights, they are not a thing like GW's watch, they are a kind of legal monopoly given to a bunch of lawyers to make money off nothing.
Since it is only legal by the laws of the country in question, it does not apply internationally.
Well, unless you happen to live in a vassal territory, which has an "extradition agreement".
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let's see if I understand this (Score:3)
Re:let's see if I understand this PS (Score:2)
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It isn't a US-registered business and so cannot buy protection from some Moscow Mitch or Nancy Antoinette.
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and what is the difference between KIm's website and dropbox? or Facebook?
Or Youtube?
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He made the mistake of doing business in the US. Rented some servers there.
New Zealand should fix its extradition rules.
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Live by the sword, die by the sword (Score:2)
Before anyone feels bad for the guy, you should know in the 90s he snitched on every single one of his buddies to get a better deal for himself. He has been doing the exact same pirating for pay since then, just adjusting the platform a little bit to make more money for him. He is the definition of surfing the dark grey to black area. The sooner they take him down the better.
No matter HOW many times you give us non-news (Score:1)
No, I am not a member of the "if you're not guilty, you don't have anything to worry about" crowd.
Yes, I DO think that people should aspire or at least think of the idea of "don't be a dick" when choosing which laws/rules/social norms to break.