Tides Turn for Kim Dotcom?
Kim Dotcom, who once seemed like an underdog in the U.S.'s largest-ever criminal copyright case, has notched several legal wins.
Mr. Dotcom, founder of the online storage site Megaupload.com, was arrested in New Zealand in January on charges including criminal copyright infringement and conspiracy to commit racketeering. The Federal Bureau of Investigation shut down Mr. Dotcom's website, which it claims was used to pirate half a billion dollars worth of entertainment content.
When U.S. authorities initially filed the case in January, they took unusually bold action for a copyright case, storming Mr. Dotcom's house to arrest him and shutting down Megaupload entirely while they gathered further evidence.
But lately, New Zealand judges weighing Mr. Dotcom's extradition to the U.S. have been taking the 38-year-old Internet entrepreneur's side in disputes. This week, the judge granted Mr. Dotcom access to authorities' evidence against him, along with access to his mansion and the ability to travel freely in New Zealand. Also this week, Megaupload's U.S. lawyers filed to have the whole case against the company tossed on a U.S. legal technicality.
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