Kim Dotcom, Megaupload founder, denies piracy in N.Z. court

Mr. Dotcom appeared at a bail hearing Monday at an Auckland court after police raided his mansion Friday and removed him from a safe room where they say he barricaded himself.

|
TV3 via Reuters
The founder of file-sharing website Megaupload Kim Dotcom, a German national also known as Kim Schmitz, is seen at court in Auckland in this still image taken from video on Jan. 23. The founder of file-sharing website Megaupload was ordered to be held in custody by a New Zealand court on Monday, as he denied charges of internet piracy and money laundering and said authorities were trying to portray the blackest picture of him.

Kim Dotcom, the detained founder of the file-sharing website Megaupload, insists he is innocent and poses no flight risk.

Dotcom appeared at a bail hearing Monday at an Auckland court after police raided his mansion Friday and removed him from a safe room where they say he barricaded himself.

Police arrested Dotcom and three Megaupload employees on U.S. accusations they facilitated millions of illegal downloads of films, music and other content costing copyright holders at least $500 million in lost revenue. Extradition proceedings against them could last a year or more.

At North Shore District Court, Dotcom's lawyer said his client denies all charges, according to media reports. A judge said he will rule Tuesday or Wednesday on whether Dotcom will be granted bail.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Kim Dotcom, Megaupload founder, denies piracy in N.Z. court
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Technology/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0123/Kim-Dotcom-Megaupload-founder-denies-piracy-in-N.Z.-court
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe