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[Peter Lemkin]

Wrong paperwork used to seize Megaupload property, judge says

Law enforcement admitted filing the wrong paperwork under which they seized Kim Dotcom's property

By Jeremy Kirk

March 19, 2012 12:10 AM ET


IDG News Service - An order granted to law enforcement allowing them to seize luxury cars and other personal effects from the estate of Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom is invalid, a judge in New Zealand ruled on Friday.
A police commissioner applied for the wrong type of seizure order, requested by the U.S., which now is "null and void and has no legal effect," Judge Judith Potter ruled.
The ruling means Dotcom has a chance to recover some of the items, which reportedly included a Rolls Royce and a pink Cadillac, seized during his Jan. 20 arrest at his mansion outside Auckland. It was unclear on Monday the next step Dotcom would have to take to get his property returned, and his attorneys could not immediately be reached.
Dotcom, 38, faces extradition to the U.S. on various copyright infringement and money laundering charges relating to his website Megaupload, a file-sharing and storage website, which was shutdown in January.
New Zealand police applied for a second order to seize more of Dotcom's property and, after realizing the mistake, tried to include the property improperly seized under the first order, Potter wrote.
Dotcom's attorneys argued that some or all of their client's property should be released. But representatives acting for the U.S. said the subsequent seizure order, dated Feb. 1, is sufficient for holding Dotcom's property.
Extradition proceedings for Dotcom, who is free on bail but subject to electronic monitoring, are expected to begin in August.
The U.S. Department of Justice alleges Megaupload collected US$175 million in criminal proceeds, rewarding users for uploading and sharing content without the permission of copyright holders.
Also charged are Megaupload defendants Finn Batato, Julius Bencko, Sven Echternach, Mathias Ortmann, Andrus Nomm and Bram Van Der Kolk.
http://www.computerworld.com/s/artic...rty_judge_says

What is with this new trend - started in USA; spreading worldwide - at least in English-speaking colonies - of seizing property BEFORE trial and a finding of guilt. What EVER HAPPENED to the presumption of innocence until PROVEN guilty. Now it is the inverse! Now, punishment comes from the 'get go' and trial [if you are lucky enough to be granted one] much later - possibly followed by more punishment, but never redress for pre-trial punishment/seizures/invasion of privacy/torture/rendition/etc.

And while were on the subject of alleged intellectual property theft...the major corporations regularly steal DNA, genonomes, even whole organisms for their own profit - giving the originator or region of origin nothing...more usually legal threats...such as when some Big Pharma companies took naturally growing indiginous used substances from plants, patented them and turned around and told the indiginous people they couldn't use them any more - even in nature. If corporations are 'people' [I don't buy it for a second], they are mean, evil son-of-a-bitch 'people', for sure! Montsanto has done similare with seeds and the Feds don't even think to go after them or Big Pharma or any large mulitnationals.....fascism folks.