Copyright, Cyberlaw, Department of Justice, Entertainment Law, Technology

MegaMeltdown: New Zealand's Prime Minister Apologizes to Kim Dotcom

Kim Dotcom strikes another victory, this time in the form of a personal apology from New Zealand's prime minister.

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Things continue looking up for Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom. A few weeks ago, he finally got some of his assets unfrozen so he could throw some dollars in John Quinn’s direction.

Yesterday, he unveiled the teaser for his new music product, known as Megabox. And this morning, he earned an extensive personal apology from New Zealand’s prime minister. Apparently the Kiwi equivalent of the American National Security Administration had unlawfully spied on Dotcom, and Prime Minister John Key said the “basic errors” involved in the mistake were appalling.

Huh, so that’s what it sounds like when a government isn’t “acting as a proxy for private commercial interests”….

Ars Technica explains that the New Zealand’s Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) spied on Dotcom in connection with the January raid on his mansion. Turns out the spying was illegal, because the GCSB is supposed to focus on “foreign targets.” Dotcom has permanent resident status in New Zealand, so he doesn’t qualify as a foreigner.

Prime Minister Key is surprisingly candid in his apology — especially considering the U.S. is wasting spending so much time and effort trying to extradite him:

If they had been more thorough in what they had done, they would have worked out that Mr. Dotcom had a residence class visa, and therefore was protected by the law,” Key told reporters on Thursday. “Frankly, I’m pretty appalled by what I’ve seen because these are basic errors.”

“This is really a matter of mistake and human error, not one of a great conspiracy,” Key said. But he emphasized that “the agency has let itself down very badly.”

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(Incidentally, I was interviewed about the Megaupload case last night on This Is I.T. You can see the video here.)

You can watch Key speak to reporters (he totally sounds like the dudes from Flight of the Conchords. ::snort::) at the New Zealand Herald.

I don’t know where this case is headed next, but I’m starting to suspect it might look something like locusts, frogs, rivers turning to blood, and Dotcom atop a mountain, proclaiming, “Let my servers go!”

PM apologises to Dotcom over ‘basic errors’ [New Zealand Herald]
New Zealand prime minister apologizes for illegal Dotcom spying [Ars Technica]

Earlier: Kim Dotcom Can Finally Pay His Lawyers; And There Will Be Much Rejoicing

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