Raid on Megaupload's Kim Dotcom
illegal, search warrants unlawful
- NZ Judge
Text: RT foto:AFP 2012.06-28
New Zealand's High Court has ruled that the police raid on Kim Dotcom’s house was unlawful along with seizure of the hard drives that were later cloned and illegally taken from New Zealand to the US by the FBI.
The warrants issued to search Dotcom’s mansion were general and did not clearly describe the offences they stipulated, ruled Justice Helen Winkelmann.
“They were general warrants, and as such, are invalid,” she explained.
The New Zealand police force is currently holding talks with the Crown Law on the next course of action and has refrained from commenting on the judgment.
The ruling released on Thursday by Justice Helen Winkelmann insists the warrants were too vague concerning the scope of the search and the items authorized to be seized by police.
In addition, the information copied from the internet tycoon’s hard drives by the FBI was taken unlawfully as Kim Dotcom never gave his consent said Judge Winkelmann.
An independent lawyer has now been assigned to check the seized material to decide what is relevant to investigation and what is not. The relevant articles will later be handed over to the American authorities, while those items seized unlawfully will be returned to Dotcom.
Justice Winkelmann’s decision followed a High court hearing in Auckland last month.
Megaupload founder Kim Schimts’ $30 million mansion was raided on January 20. New Zealand authorities confiscated the tycoon’s collection of luxury cars and data from 135 computers.
Dotcom’s lawyer Paul Davison claims his client’s rights were "subverted'' because the data from the hard drives was taken by the FBI without the defendant’s knowledge.
“There has been no approval for removal,” Mr Davison said, calling FBI’s actions an "excess of authority''.
Justice Helen Winkelmann has announced she wants an affidavit from Crown lawyers that would make it clear whether the Solicitor General gave police permission to extract data from Dotcom's computers. The original search warrant clearly declared the computers and hard drives would be shipped to the US, insists Crown lawyer Mike Ruffin.
The German-born millionaire was accused of copyright infringement and wire fraud. He stands accused of illegally uploading millions of songs to his file-sharing website Megaupload. While prosecutors allege a “mega conspiracy”, Dotcom denies the charges and says his website was legal and above board.
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Kim Dotcom declares:
'MEGA will return'
RT 06 July, 2012As Americans spent July 4 celebrating the anniversary of the United States’ independence from Britain, German-born Kim Dotcom was reveling in a re-birth. According to the founder of Megaupload, his file storage site will rise again.
In a tweet to his followers this week, the man behind the world’s most famous file-locker site — and one of the FBI’s biggest foes — hinted that Megaupload will be brought back to life.
“SOPA is dead. PIPA is dead. ACTA is dead. MEGA will return. Bigger. Better. Faster. Free of charge & shielded from attacks. Evolution!” reads a tweet from the official @KimDotcom Twitter account. Dotcom— born Kim Schmitz — is currently being targeted by international authorities over his role with the website, which American official say was the centerpiece in a vast online piracy conspiracy.
By masterminding the operations of Megaupload, the Federal Bureau of Investigations insists that Dotcom caused the American entertainment industry to lose $500 million in revenue. Law enforcement agents raided his home this past January in a highly publicized sting that has since been condemned by not just Dotcom and his supporters but even justices in New Zealand.
Commenting on the case last week, Justice Helen Winkelmann ruled that the warrants used during the January 20 raid were too vague and that authorities interpreted them so poorly that the future of the entire case is now uncertain. If Dotcom cannot be charged with a crime in New Zealand, the court could refuse an extradition to America, much to the chagrin of US authorities.
In addition to announcing plans to put Megaupload back online, Dotcom also commended the death of three Internet-linked bills that could have greatly crushed online freedoms around the world. In the five months since his home was raided, the Stop Online Piracy Act, the Protect IP Act and the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement have all encountered roadblocks that have rendered them dead.
“To all Megaupload users, let's all unite,” another message sent through his Twitter account on Friday reads. “It's time to fight back. Spread the tweet!”
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DOTCOM & MEGAUPLOAD på RT
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More than just Mega: File-storage site Oron.com comes close to going kaput
Lawyers representing one of America’s largest gay porn studios are warning legitimate users of an online file locker to back-up their data — even ones they own the rights to — amid a major lawsuit that parallels the plight of Megaupload.
Raid on Megaupload's Kim Dotcom illegal, search warrants unlawful - NZ Judge
New Zealand's High Court has ruled that the police raid on Kim Dotcom’s house was unlawful along with seizure of the hard drives that were later cloned and illegally taken from New Zealand to the US by the FBI.
FBI ordered to copy Kim Dotcom's data before possible extradition
In a precursor to the possible extradition of Kim Dotcom to the US, the FBI has been ordered to make copies of a huge trove of data stored on more than 100 hard drives seized during the arrest of the Megaupload founder earlier this year.
Megaupload has no rights? US broke its own rules by going after Internet giant
More than four months after federal agents shut-down the file-sharing service Megaupload and ordered a raid on the New Zealand mansion of its founder Kim Dotcom, attorneys are asking a US court to dismiss the case against the website.
Publicerad den 26 nov 2012
undermattan.blogg - FBI:s tillslag mot Megaupload - OLAGLIGT enligt Nya Zeelands Högsta Domstol
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