Post date: Jan 21, 2012 1:8:38 PM
Kim Dotcom, one of the founders of MegaUpload, spends his 38th birthday behind bars in an Auckland jail.
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND (JANUARY 21, 2012) (TELEVISION NEW ZEALAND) - One of the founders of MegaUpload website, Kim Dotcom, spent his 38th birthday in a New Zealand jail on Saturday (January 21) after his mansion was raided by police the previous day.
A local resident of the area in Auckland where the mansion is located, recalled his neighbour's behaviour."Just about ran me off the road in a big black Mercedes Benz," neighbour, Rob said.
The opposition New Zealand Labour Party's spokesperson for immigration, Darien Fenton, was upset that Dotcom had been allowed into New Zealand in the first place.
"Let's make sure we get people of good character into New Zealand, and not just allow money to get in the way, and allow people to buy their way into New Zealand," she said.
Dotcom, a German national also known as Kim Schmitz, was one of four men arrested on Friday(January 20), in an investigation of the megaupload.com website led by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The group was accused of engaging in a scheme that took more than 500 million US dollars away from copyright holders and generated over 175 million US dollars in proceeds from subscriptions and advertising.
A police official said dozens of officers, backed by helicopters, forced their way into the mansion, nestled in lush, rolling farmland, after Dotcom refused them entry.
Police said that despite officers clearly identifying themselves, Dotcom retreated into the house and activated a number of electronic-locking mechanisms.
They said that after gaining entry to the safe room, they found Dotcom near a firearm which had the appearance of a shortened shotgun.
The arrests were made as the debate over online piracy reaches fever pitch in Washington where Congress is trying to craft tougher legislation.
Lawmakers stopped anti-piracy legislation on Friday, postponing a critical vote in a victory for Internet companies that staged a mass online protest against the fast-moving bills.
The movie and music industries want Congress to crack down on Internet piracy and content theft, but major Internet companies like Google and Facebook have complained that current drafts of the legislation would lead to censorship.
Dotcom and the other men made a brief court appearance on Friday and will appear again on Monday (January 23). They face extradition and a trial in the United States.
The allegations included copyright infringement as well as conspiracy to commit copyright infringement, conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to commit racketeering. Two of the offences carry a maximum penalty of 20 years.
The companies charged, Megaupload Ltd and Vestor Ltd, were both registered in Hong Kong and owned either in large part or solely by Dotcom.
The non-profit group, Internet New Zealand Inc said the arrests were carried out to protect the profits of the movie industry.
"This is all about controlling the content and the creativity, and maximising the money. Hollywood and the music industry aren't willing to move on," said Chief Executive, Vikram Kumar he said.
Kumar didn't think megaupload.com would be able to return in its previous form.
"They were very large. It's very unlikely that they'll re-emerge at that size and in exactly the same form," he said.
The Megaupload group used more than 1,500 computer servers in Virginia, Washington D.C., France and the Netherlands to host its sites, the FBI said.