Dotcom Alleges Megaupload Raid Was Part of Deal To Film The Hobbit 112
c0lo writes "Kim Dotcom alleges, in an 20 min interview with the Australian public television, that Megaupload was offered up by the New Zealand's PM 'on a silver platter' as part of negotiations with Warner Brothers executives for shooting The Hobbit in New Zealand. He promises that he'll substantiate the claims in court. He also says that the extradition case the U.S. government is weak and the reason behind the latest delay in extradition hearing (postponed from August this year to March next year) is an attempt to bleed Dotcom dry of his money. Also interesting, Dotcom says that the latest debacle of the massive scale online online surveillance by U.S. spy agencies has triggered an 'explosion' of interest in mega.co.nz, the 'cloud storage' site with user generated encryption."
Conspiracy theory? (Score:5, Interesting)
Not a surprise (Score:5, Interesting)
NZ's PM retiring to his Hawaiian mansion. (Score:5, Interesting)
When John Key is done with politics, he'll be packing his bags and leaving New Zealand for his very nice place in Hawaii. Right now he is finalising the deals selling off NZ's state-owned (ie taxpayer-owned) assets. He is guaranteed a knighthood, and several boardroom positions with the newly-privatised companies.
Not bad for a couple years in politics. Of course, he was previously a currency trader with the nickname "the smiling assassin" so it's no surprise to learn that he was already wealthy (NZ$50m +) before entering politics, but he's one hell of a lot richer now. Between the MPAA bribe money and the shares he gained in sweetheart deals from the state-asset firesales to friends, this guy will be sitting even prettier.
All I can say to the USA is "You're welcome to the cunt."
(Oh, and I forgot to mention that he only became Prime Minister of NZ as a result of his leaking to the media the sensitive private emails of his then-boss Don Brash, thus causing his resignation. Key grabbed that throne before the cushion even had time to cool.)
Re:Conspiracy theory? (Score:5, Interesting)
Easy enough to look at the trends right? Just take a look at the current scandals going on from the IRS, to attacks on reporters, to silencing political opposition groups. And it's not that far of a stretch at all.
Re:Hard to know who to believe here (Score:5, Interesting)
> Kim Dotcom's main business seems to be publicity for Kim Dotcom
Yes, that has always been his thing.
Whom to believe? Both are equally morally broken and liars. They are in it for power and money.
Yet, Dotcom serves a purpose by undermining the much, much bigger evil so in this case I'm strongly for him. He is a horrible person and the world would be a much better place without such types, but if he's doing his part in bringing attention to the Real Evil the early 21th century faces, then... I am accepting this. Sometimes you need to fight fire with fire.
Re:Keep if simple, stupid. (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Keep if simple, stupid. (Score:3, Interesting)
The Hobbit films being filmed in NZ was not a foregone conclusion
Sure, that was the threat they made - but I can't help but think it was just a bluff our PM fell for.
Re:I for one welcome our new fat internet overlord (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Hard to know who to believe here (Score:5, Interesting)
What people mostly don't understand is that the world is not a Hollywood movie. Just because one side is the bad guys doesn't mean the other side is the good guy.
In this case, it's a power-greedy, corrupt government vs. a greedy, criminal egomaniac.
Let them tear each other apart and enjoy the show, because if you make the mistake of rooting with any of them, you're supporting the bad guys.
Kimble's business has always been himself. If the fact that he changed his last name to "Dotcom" didn't tell you as much, I'm not sure if a huge sign with neon letters will.