US Has Three Weeks To Produce Evidence Against Megaupload

A New Zealand court has asked the prosecuting authorities, working on behalf of the United States, to supply Megaupload lawyers with all the details of the widely-publicised case ahead of the extradition hearing in August.

The FBI and New Zealand police have three weeks to produce concrete evidence of the company’s wrongdoing. In case that doesn’t happen, the founder of the company Kim Dotcom might return to his luxurious lifestyle as a free man.

Forewarned is forearmed

Megaupload, the popular online depository, was closed down by the US Department of Justice in January as part of a multinational co-operative move against online intellectual property rights infringement. Its founder Kim Dotcom and three of his employees were taken into custody by New Zealand police, and are currently waiting for an August 6 extradition hearing.

Last month, it emerged that the FBI had failed to formally serve criminal charges against Megaupload, and the extradition and trial of Dotcom might never happen. “We don’t believe Megaupload can be served in a criminal matter because it is not located within the jurisdiction of the United States,” the company’s lawyer, Ira Rothken, told the New Zealand Herald.

Now, Judge David Harvey has given New Zealand law enforcement officials, who are pursuing the case on behalf of the United States, three weeks to provide documentary evidence against Megaupload.

Harvey wants to give Dotcom’s lawyers a chance to review the complete details of the case before the hearing. So far, the US has only provided a few emails and documents.

Rothken welcomed the ruling, telling reporters: “This makes the playing field more even. I think this is a very significant ruling for New Zealand, because it demonstrates that New Zealand courts will intervene to protect the rights of its residents from foreign intrusion. We’re looking forward to this disclosure – once there is full transparency into the government’s claims, we believe Kim Dotcom, and the rest of those involved with Megaupload, will prevail”.

Harvey also ruled that DotCom can remove the electronic monitoring device from his ankle and move back into the mansion where he lived prior to the January 19 raid.

We will remind our readers that soon after Megaupload was closed, another series of lawsuits was launched against the US government by various branches of the International Pirate Party. Pirates de Catalunya, the Spanish arm of the organisation claimed that the closure of Megaupload caused vast personal and economic damage to millions of people by denying them access to archives of individuals and organisations.

You can also read Eric Doyle’s commentary on why closure of Megaupload is bad news for any website ending with “.com”.

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