NZ Judge rules warrants against Kim DotCom (MegaUpload) were invalid.

[TechBoyJK]

Damn.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57462441-93/kim-dotcom-warrants-invalid-new-zealand-judge-rules/

The U.S. piracy case against MegaUpload founder Kim DotCom appears to have run aground, with a New Zealand court ruling that the search warrants issued in January were invalid.

New Zealand High Court Judge Helen Winkelmann ruled Thursday that the warrants did not adequately describe the offenses alleged, according to a report in the New Zealand Herald. "Indeed they fell well short of that," she said. "They were general warrants, and as such, are invalid.''

She also ruled that it was unlawful for the data confiscated in the raid to have been sent offshore, saying "the release of the cloned hard drives to the FBI for shipping to the United States was contrary to the 16 February direction" [given by the court] "that the items seized were to remain in the custody and control of the Commissioner of Police."
MegaUpload is a cloud-storage locker that DotCom claims was completely legitimate and protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. U.S. officials, who are trying to extradite Dotcom and six associates to face piracy and wire fraud charges, say he encouraged users to store pirated videos, music, software, and other media and then share them with others. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

DotCom, 38, was arrested in January at the mansion he leases near Auckland, New Zealand, after the U.S. handed down an indictment on criminal copyright violations and racketeering. Millions of dollars worth of cash, cars, and other possessions belonging to DotCom were seized during a sensational raid on his estate.

Soon after his arrest, news reports were filled with images of his $30 million mansion and of New Zealand police hauling away his pink Cadillac and Mercedes Benz. The United States said MegaUpload had cost Hollywood studios and other copyright owners $500 million.
Since that January raid, DotCom and some of the other MegaUpload defendants have won a string of favorable court decisions in New Zealand that have led to their release on bail, the return of some of their assets, and a court order that requires the FBI to show the evidence it has against the company. MegaUpload's lawyers are expected to appear in a Virginia federal court on Friday to argue that the charges should be tossed out.

DotCom recently received the support of Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and famed former hacker Kevin Mitnick, who told DotCom, "I hope you win."

Awesome. Should not have happened to begin with, and this case is exactly why SOPA should have never been considered. I hope he sues and comes out ahead.

 

[heymrdj]

Hell yeah, put those American bullies in their place.

 

[Anarchist420]

Excellent I also hope Kim Dotcom wins.

The sad thing is how economically statist the U.S. gov has become.

 

[bfdd]

Thanks for the share, interesting update!

 

[her209]

I'm guessing some government employees will be resigning soon?

 

[manimal]

everytime I see his name I think of 30 rock

 

[StinkyPinky]

Well that's a major blow. Good. NZ does have a supreme court I think, so the FBI or whatever can appeal if they like.

 

[Doppel]

Owned.

That said, a lot of megaupload is about illegal activity and we all know it, but I thought the US was overstepping on this.

 

[uhohs]

I want my files back. :|

 

[unokitty]

Kevin Mitnick to Kim Dotcom:
I hope you win!

Go Kim go!
Uno

 

[surfsatwerk]

I want my files back. :|

Well this miscarriage of justice does have a silver lining.

 

[marvdmartian]

I want my files back. :|

If this gets thrown out, I wonder how long it will be, before some enterprising attorney starts up a class action lawsuit against the US government, for loss of personal property? By shotgunning ALL the data off the servers, they failed to protect the legal data that was on there, and should be held accountable for its loss. :thumbsup:

 

[Rastus]

everytime I see his name I think of 30 rock

I always think of his old flash web page kimble.org from a long time ago.

 

[Cerb]

If this gets thrown out, I wonder how long it will be, before some enterprising attorney starts up a class action lawsuit against the US government, for loss of personal property? By shotgunning ALL the data off the servers, they failed to protect the legal data that was on there, and should be held accountable for its loss. :thumbsup:

They might have a good case for getting something done as far as such a class action suit goes, but I'd be surprised if files will be made available to users. It's not Megaupload's or the FBI's or whoever else's fault that a user deleted their own copies of their files. We who are regulars in Memory and Storage don't harp on about backup for nothing, you know.