Kim Dotcom's extradition case delayed

Kim Dotcom's extradition case delayed
Mega legal lag for Dotcom

A New Zealand court judge has postponed the extradition hearing of Megaupload employees, including founder Kim Dotcom till March 2013.

The hearing against Megaupload for copyright infringement and fraud had been scheduled to start on August 6 for three weeks.

The US filed a formal request for the extradition of Dotcom and three other Megaupload staff in March but has faced obstacles in New Zealand's courts.

Legal hurdles include a New Zealand High Court judge invalidating the warrants used for seizing property in the original raid in January.

The judge has also ruled that the shipping of cloned hard drives by the FBI was unlawful because the warrants used to seize the property were too general.

Kim tweets under house arrest

Dotcom is currently under house arrest at his Auckland home, but he began tweeting his thoughts after a ban preventing internet access was lifted in April.

"Extradition hearing delayed till March. Dirty delay tactics by the US. They destroyed my business. Took all my assets. Time does the rest," he tweeted.

Another tweet was addressed to John Key, New Zealand's prime minister: "The NZ government is refusing a NZ resident due process and a fair defense. Shame on you John Key for allowing this to happen. Shame on you."

Ira Rothken, Dotcom's American lawyer fighting the case, agreed with the tweets.

Rothken told New Zealand radio station Radio NZ: "How is one supposed to go ahead and defend, in a fair manner, against ambiguous and vague claims of secondary copyright infringement when they (the courts) can't see any evidence at all?"

The lawyer added that delay "is very frustrating", pointing out that till the case is resolved, Dotcom's assets would remain frozen.

Via SlashGear