Kim Dotcom, founder of Megaupload, is defending himself against claims that he is a "Piracy King." This news is coming just a few days after the now infamous raid on his Coatesville mansion. The short version of the story has United States officials investigating the German born entrepreneur for what they believe is wide scale software and digital media piracy. The USA is even attempting to enact an extradition on Dotcom, forcing him to face charges on American soil.
Kim Dotcom is currently residing in New Zealand, but that still hasn't kept him protected from the speculating eye of the law. Last month, local authorities detained Dotcom for violating copyright infringements. This certainly isn't the first time that he has been in trouble with the law regarding copyright statutes and it probably won't be the last. In fact, MYCE has been covering the ongoing Megaupload legal battles for sometime now.
The business owner is now on the offensive in a new video interview, taking shots at the United States Department of Justice, calling their infringement claims; "fabrications and lies." He even took a crack at the USA's war decisions, stating "Its kind of like weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, you know? If you want to go after someone and you have a political goal you will say whatever it takes."
Dotcom also took a jab at Hollywood by stating that the US Justice Department is helping to sustain the American film industry and their "outdated monopolistic business model" by attacking Megaupload's credibility. In addition, he said that there are "hundreds of sites" that offer services similar to Megaupload and that he was being singled-out by authorities as what he called "the over-pirate of the planet." He went on to debate that the 72-page legal indictment against him is nothing more than a "maliciously designed press release."
Dotcom has remained in an innocent stance during all of this legal fuss, announcing that Megaupload has always removed content from the website that breached copyright laws (when provided with a take-down request). Speculation from different sources is blaming his "flamboyant" lifestyle and "rich appearance" as a cause for all the investigation. As a result of his latest arrest, the billionaire is wearing an electronic tag and has been banned from using the Internet.
Despite all of the legal woes, Dotcom has remained in pretty good spirits. Although he feels "like a big kid at heart," he has claimed that he is getting his priorities straight. In an interview with the TV3 television station Dotcom spoke about his current attitude towards the situation; "That was childish stuff, it was fun at the time and I don't regret it, but that's not me today, I am a different guy. I just want to have a safe future for my kids and, you know, provide my family with a great home and that's why we moved to New Zealand and we're really surprised what is going on here."
Only time will tell what lies in store for Kim Dotcom and if the legal woes regarding Megaupload will ever go away. In all fairness, there ARE hundreds of different websites that provide the same services and live by the same practices, and it does seem pretty unfair to single out any individual in the industry. We will know more about Dotcom's pending extradition to the US when the court hearing occurs in August.
