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back to article No bail for Kim Dotcom

Kim Dotcom has been denied bail in a New Zealand court, and remanded in custody until February 22. The reserved decision by district court judge David McNaughton has now been released. Bail applications for his co-accused in New Zealand – Finn Batato, Mathias Ortmann and Bram van der Kolk – will be heard later today. Dotcom …

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  1. miknik
    Facepalm

    Law enforcement agents really are switched on

    His helicopters could be used to escape, by means of flying away? Who knew?

    At least I can sleep easy tonight safe in the knowledge they will be looking on his servers for files, not in his sock drawer.

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  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The guy had freaking helicopters? All that from running a file sharing site (and being the top Modern Warfare 2 player)?

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  3. ElReg!comments!Pierre

    Can't fault NZ courts

    The guy has a history of evasive manoeuvre when faced with the consequences of his actions. One of his convictions in Germany resulted from his arrest while /en route/ for his hideaway in Hong Kong.

    (as for the source of his fortune: in addition to the big bucks he made with Mega-* companies, he was once boasting about being able to make millions by selling technobabble to clueless, greedy investors (for which I, for one, can't blame him).

    He also invested a lot of time and some money in insider stock trading scams, he's been convicted for one, I can't help but think there might have been a few with which he got away. So, yes, helicopters, why not.

    Plus, with the help of his army of l33t h4xx0rz, he allegedly rooted Bin Laden's bank.... (where's the sarcasm tag when you need it).

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    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      So basically they nailed him for being a sleazy dirtbag, fiddling money out of gullible pillocks but it just so happens he also owned a huge file sharing site so they're playing up the "media piracy" angle to frighten people after the defeat of the first round of SOPA.

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      2. david wilson
        Reply Icon

        @AC

        >>"So basically they nailed him for being a sleazy dirtbag, fiddling money out of gullible pillocks but it just so happens he also owned a huge file sharing site so they're playing up the "media piracy" angle to frighten people after the defeat of the first round of SOPA."

        What on earth are are you talking about?

        'They' didn't nail him for being a sleazy dirtbag *because he was making money out of filesharing*.

        'They' nailed him for insider trading because that's what he was doing, *long before he even set up Megaupload*.

        Or do you think 'they' had some kind of time machine, and were persecuting him pre-emptively?

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        1. Mad Mike
          Reply Icon

          @David Wilson

          I don't understand. I thought the charges against him, and on which he was arrested, were for copyright violation. He may have insider traded and/or scammed people, but the charges were copyright violation. Of course, now they've got him, they can add whatever they like. Strange thing is, if he was charged with insider trading, scamming people etc., nobody would say a thing and he could be extradited easily from NZ. It also says something about the authorities that whilst they're claiming all sorts of things against him, they basically couldn't be bothered chasing him down till he violated copyright. Says something about society and the people we have 'protecting' us!!

          Abuse people (scamming etc.), don't bother pursuing. Breach copyright (primarily a business issue), chase them to the ends of the earth. Something is seriously wrong with the world.

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          1. david wilson
            Reply Icon

            @Mad Mike

            >>"I don't understand."

            Well in that case, read my post, and the one I was obviously replying to.

            It seems pretty clear that the 'nailed him for fiddling money out of gullible pillocks' comment was referring to his old prior convictions, yet the AC was attempting to somehow link that to what he started doing years after he was convicted, which makes no sense.

            Which is why I said it made no sense.

            >>"It also says something about the authorities that whilst they're claiming all sorts of things against him, they basically couldn't be bothered chasing him down till he violated copyright. Says something about society and the people we have 'protecting' us!!"

            It certainly something about *you* that you *still* don't seem to understand that the comments are about prior convictions, not claims of past crimes that no-one bothered pursuing him for.

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            1. Mad Mike
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              @David WIlson

              My misinterpretation of your (and others) postings. Not quite sure why you need to add asterisks around some words ('you' and 'still') when a simple explanation and clarification is all that's required. I'm sure you get the wrong end of the stick sometimes.

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              1. david wilson
                Reply Icon

                Sorry if it seemed like an overreaction.

                Time-limited forums with plain text aren't always the easiest things to hit the right note on.

                Sure, I get things wrong, just like anyone else does.

                Though if I'd pointed a finger at 'society' or 'the world' for doing something it hadn't done, I might expect a finger to get pointed back at me in a similar fashion.

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  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Hmmmm

    5667 Miles Auckland to Hong Kong

    6511 Miles Auckland to Los Angeles

    By helicopter a great escape movie either way

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    1. Mephistro
      Reply Icon

      RE:Hmmmm

      "By helicopter a great escape movie either way"

      You nailed it! You've earned a beer :)

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  5. Anonymous Coward
    Devil

    In not granting bail, consider the amount of damage this guy might do if released

    Does he have access somewhere to stolen access data/financial data/ID data/etc. that he is waiting to distribute or would have kept for some later nefarious project or as an "poison pill" in case he was ever captured?

    A bank robber you can release on bail and put an ankle bracelet on him that lets you know if he leaves home or goes near well-known banks. A hacker/ID thief on bail only needs a tablet to potentially start moving around dangerous data or perhaps try to cover his tracks electronically.

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    1. ElReg!comments!Pierre
      Reply Icon
      Paris Hilton

      You kiddin', right?

      > Does he have access somewhere to stolen access data/financial data/ID data/etc. that he is waiting to distribute or would have kept for some later nefarious project or as an "poison pill" in case he was ever captured?

      The guy couldn't hack his way out of a wet paper bag.

      And anyway, if he was any good, do you _seriously_ think that he wouldn't have designed a "dead man" system which would make NOT releasing him much, much worst?

      Dem computers can be complicated at times, for marketting hacks...

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      1. ElReg!comments!Pierre
        Reply Icon

        On second thought...

        I think my response was too harsh. After all, you're right, all a guy like Tim DoTcom needs is a tablet to start covering his tracks electronically, and release credit card details, and he might gain control of some nucular missile silos, too. All from that tablet. If you look at history, the ancient egyptians started writing on tablets, too. Well, where are they now? Extinct, that's where they are. I think we should ban tablets, there is ample evidence that tablets bring doom. DOOOM!

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  7. That Awful Puppy
    Megaphone

    I remember hearing about this bloke on German news about 10 years ago. He was described as a top hacker, and while I couldn't program a VCR, just listening to an interview with him made me realise he knows less about programming than I do, but is apparently a marketing genius.

    Also seemed like an annoying twat, which I suppose is his lifelong occupation.

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  8. love not war
    Black Helicopters

    By helicopter?

    Where can he fly to from NZ by helicopter?

    Does he have a secret base on a Pacific island?

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  9. Mike Banahan
    Joke

    With a name like that ...

    I would have thought he'd claim diplomatic immunity and ask for help from North Korea

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  10. My8bits
    Pirate

    Flight risk hey?

    So exactly where could Mr Dotcom fly to with his said helicopters? The ferry range of the average helicopter that a fella like him would own wouldn't get him to another country given NZs relative isolatoin in a pink fit (given it's about 2000km to Oz!).

    Or is the risk that he would fly to his hidden Dr Evilesque island to escape and continue his darstardly plan to destroy the confederation of the world's cash cow loving luddites?

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  11. Mectron

    First the illegal arrast, then the illegal bail denial.

    Who knoew? New Zealand is NOW PART OF THE UNITED STATES!

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    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      @New Zealand is NOW PART OF THE UNITED STATES!

      Yeap! That 's why the FBI was there for the arrest.

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  12. Mad Mike
    WTF?

    Does seem rather strong.

    Not sure exactly what the bail situation is in NZ, but if it's anything like that in the UK, this is a pretty laughable really. All sorts of people get bail, including people awaiting trial for murder!! Slap a tag on them and release them seems to be the response these days.

    Mind you, be accused of breaking or aiding the breaking of copyright laws and they'll throw the book at you. Can't possibly risk him getting away. If his helicopters are such a risk, presumably it's not beyond the wit of your average NZ plod to disable them? Or keep them locked up somewhere? Maybe seize his passport? Maybe put his photo at all entry/exit ports?

    Really. Considering some of the really dangerous people walking the streets normally, this is a gross overreaction.

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    1. Muscleguy
      Reply Icon
      Pirate

      Not a local crim

      The thing is, he isn't a Kiwi. Don't know his immigration status, but even if he has citizenship, unreported criminal activity could void that quickly. The NZ courts have a good record of dealing with Kiwi's found hacking US assets. One judge even described the claimed damage done as 'frankly laughable'.

      In contrast to the UK's failure to prosecute people like Gary McKinnon, NZ does quite well by it's people. Mr Dotcom however is a German immigrant. Why he thought NZ would be a good base of operations to host terrorist instruction videos and kiddy porn I'm not sure. It'll be the kiddy porn that would do for him.

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      1. peter 45
        Reply Icon
        Gimp

        First

        First in a post to mention kiddi porn and terrorism.

        Is there a prize for that?

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      2. david wilson
        Reply Icon

        @Muscleguy

        >>"Why he thought NZ would be a good base of operations to host terrorist instruction videos and kiddy porn I'm not sure. "

        What?

        I thought that one of the claims in the indictment was that Megaupload actually *did* take active steps to keep that kind of stuff *off* their systems.

        Steps that they [allegedly] failed to take regarding copyright-infringing content.

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    2. Tom 13
      Reply Icon

      Bail is set not merely upon one's desire to flee,

      but also upon one's ability to flee. Cash, and investments in precious metals (gold, silver, lead, copper, and particularly certain variants of lead combined with copper) are good means by which escape can be managed. Especially when paired with helicopters and sharks with laser beams.

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      1. Mad Mike
        Reply Icon
        Joke

        @Tom 13

        But where is he going to flee to? America will simply bully them into extraditing him. I bet it's actually some idiot politician in the US who has clock his name as Kim xxxxxxx and assumes he's found a relative of the leader of North Korea. Not that they know where North Korea is mind. Or, anything outside the borders of the US.

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  13. Anonymous Coward
    Meh

    Ha - Kim Schmitz....

    You know I didn't pay too much attention other than the initial Megaupload kerfuffle...then I saw this Name, Kim Dotcom and then I thought, "It couldn't be!".

    I read about him years ago on attrition. He was entertaining then, to say the least.

    http://attrition.org/errata/charlatan/kimble/

    Whereas he may not know his bash from his xbox, he certainly can social engineer people who are of a certain bent.

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  14. Dirk Vandenheuvel
    Holmes

    I am sure he will get a talk show next.

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    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      He could, he is still alive, unlike Bilal el-Berjawi and many other victims of American terrorism...

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