back to article Kim Dotcom resists password grab

And so it winds on further: in the latest installment to the Aotearoan legal battle, Kim Dotcom’s lawyer that he will only hand over his passwords as part of a “proper judicial process”. Dotcom, head of Megaupload and accused by the FBI of racketeering and copyright infringement, is resisting extradition to the USA and seeking …

COMMENTS

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  1. tkioz
    Thumb Up

    Sounds perfectly reasonable to me... so of course the thugs prosecuting the case will oppose it.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Absolutely

      Guilty or not- we can't say yet- the Defence has to have access to anything the Prosecution has access to. If they can withhold evidence you can't come up with an appropriate defence.

      If you ARE guilty and they have sufficient evidence to warrant a conviction then they'll wheel out that evidence and you'll be punished.

      If they do NOT have sufficient not-realistically-contestable evidence to prove your guilt (without having to resort to nasty tricks- the RICO statutes being one of them) you shouldn't be prosecuted for it.

      AC because this is probably terr'ist talk in the Land of the Free.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      So

      also here in the UK the police demand the right, when using stop and search powers, which will impact more on anyone from an ethnic minority, to seize your mobile phone and download all the data on it. Then they want to be able to keep this data pretty much forever even if you are innocent, or have no charges put against you.

      Mere suspicion is enough for them to seize and demand your phone, so wearing a hoodie, being with a group of friends, walking home at night, or just the colour of your skin will probably be enough.

      Then if you refuse to give them your passwords you get jailed, even if you have done nothing wrong.

      The principle of innocent until proven guilty is now the principle of prove your innocent.

      Dotcom shows how this will work. Only the courts and Judges can put it right, so far in New Zealand they are standing up for the rights of the individual.

      Here in the UK I doubt this will happen, the Government is the paymaster and the Judges without exception are weak. The evidence of this? The extradition treaty of course.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: So

        Thats not true. They will download information if you are arrested, but not if you are stopped and searched. The laws are already bad, but you do not help the cause by posting untrue information.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: So

          They can download it WITHOUT a warrant or recourse to the courts, you can get arrested on MERE SUSPICION just because of the colour of you skin or wearing a similar top to someone who committed a steet crime a month ago. AND they can keep ALL the data for as long as they want. They tried it with DNA the European courts stopped it.

          That my friend is the truth.

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: So

          Stop and searched? Refuse to hand over your phone? Then you get arrested, data downloaded, job done. Wonder who you work for or what your cause is?

          1. PyLETS
            Big Brother

            Re: So

            "Then you get arrested, data downloaded, job done."

            Not if you use decent password protected encryption on your phone. I suspect mobe data entry isn't good enough for very strong passwords yet, though having a strong key on QR code ricepaper which you eat when approached by plod might work better. Assuming the tech gets developed to do this as well on phones as you can on laptops, plod then makes a RIPA request for a copy of your password or key and you go to jail if you can't provide it or convince a court you've forgotten it.

            That's evil, due to the RIPA passed by nulab in 9/11 control freak mode obliging the defendant to help the prosecution construct their case under threat of pain of imprisonment. Which is like the use of torture for prosecution evidence collection, and ignoring innocent until proven guilty, and denial of what used to be your right to remain silent.

            1. SYNTAX__ERROR
              Thumb Up

              Re: QR Code

              I like your idea, the thing is they would probably say the rice paper was evidence and then prosecute you for the heinous offence of destroying such.

        3. LarsG

          Re: So

          You are very naive if you think this law is not open to abuse.

    3. Graham Wilson
      Thumb Up

      @tkioz -- And it's a very salient lesson too!

      And too, it's a very salient lesson for all of us that Dotcom encrypted his data before it was seized.

      Just think of the terrible bargaining position he would be in now if all his data was unencrypted.

      We should heed this fact well.

  2. jake Silver badge

    Fuckheads are fuckheads ...

    ... we need to bring back stocks. IMO, of course.

  3. umgreifende
    Holmes

    Judicial strength encryption - suggestions?

    I wonder what encryption software he used to put the "justice" in this position of asking for password: is truecrypt enough?

  4. Alba
    FAIL

    Embarassing

    Frankly the whole thing is descending into a debacle of the highest order.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    And of course this NEVER happens

    "Oi you. Stop there and be searched.

    Whats this then? Mobile phone? Is it yours? Prove it by removing the password.

    You are refusing to remove the Password eh?

    Well in that case I am arresting you on suspicion that you have stolen that phone."

    My nephew now has his fingerprints and DNA on record till he dies.

    1. Sean O'Connor 1

      Re: And of course this NEVER happens

      Why didn't he just type his password in to show it was his phone?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: And of course this NEVER happens

        Any number of reasons.

        Off the top of my head, perhaps you have sensitive information on there that you don't want (or maybe even legally cannot) allow any other person access to without a warrant.

        The police also have no powers in law to compel you to do that anyway, despite what they might think. They need a warrant for that.

        A/C - please send in a formal request for the fingerprint and DNA evidence to be erased pursuant to EU law and EU legal rulings.

        Whatever ACPO might think, they do not make the law and given their recent behaviour, they clearly still need to be reminded of this fact.

  6. Purlieu

    ACPO

    Always remember this is a private limited company

  7. Boris the Cockroach Silver badge
    Devil

    Remember kids

    All you need is a strong password

    "I am not telling you" is suitable as a password

    Would be a nice scene

    <Detective T. Hug > Whats the password scummy jim?

    <You> I am not telling you

    <sound of someone falling down stairs>

    <Detective T. Hug> Whats the &*%*ing password?

    1. Curtis

      Re: Remember kids

      personally boris, i prefer "piss off you bloody wanker". yes, i use this as a password and yes i've told the police this. unfortunately it's lost on them as i'm merkin

  8. Wombling_Free
    Trollface

    Racketeering? What is this, 1920?

    Eh, Cheif, we's gots oiselfs a racket gurn darn arn 52nd an' Jefferson, waddaya says we's getts oir Tommy-guns an go teach thems hoods da meenin arf DA LAAAAW?

    What exactly was the 'racket'? Selling hokey nickeldeons? Bootlegging whiskey over county borders? HORSE RUSTLIN'?

  9. MojoJojo

    Privacy?

    "was violating privacy on a massive scale."

    Should that read "was violating copyright" or "committing piracy", or have I completely misunderstood this case?

    1. Oddb0d

      Re: Privacy?

      Yeah you're right it's clearly a typo. But, on the other hand, the indictment accuses MU staff of searching people's uploads to locate material that was later added to megaporn & megavideo. It seems unlikely that they bothered telling their customers before doing this so privacy violation is a possibility.

      http://www.nbr.co.nz/sites/default/files/images/78786408-Mega-Indictment.pdf

  10. peter 45
    Pirate

    or even

    AAccused of providing the means that others allegedly used to violate copyright laws.

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