Kim Dotcom granted legal expenses of NZ $6 million
Ryan Martin / 12 years ago
Finally after months of battling, Kim Dotcom – founder of Megaupload – has been granted NZ$6 million of his own assets to use for legal expenses. The money which is equivalent to $4.86 million is in addition to the NZ$750,000 he was granted previously for living expenses.
Kim Dotcom has already acquired NZ$2.6 million in legal expenses since the trials begun, and his legal staff have been working unpaid up until now.
The money is being secured against a NZ$10 million government bond Dotcom owns. The Internet tycoon is also being allowed to sell some of his luxury vehicles although money from the rides will be withheld until a court decides how those funds can be used.
His car collection was initially seized as part of the US government initiated raid. He is being permitted to sell nine vehicles from the collection: a Rolls-Royce Coupe, two Mini Coopers, a Toyota Hilux and five AMG class Mercedes Benz luxury cars.
The American government is still attempting to have Kim Dotcom extradited to the USA where he’ll probably stand (unfair) trial for a set of allegations fabricated by the bitter American media industry.
American officials say that he was using Megaupload to actively distribute copyrighted materials illegally, even though Megaupload responded to copyright removal requests and are technically protected by the terms of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act that states company’s cannot be held responsible for the actions of their consumers but must respond to copyright removal requests when asked to, which Megaupload did.
The extradition trial will arrive next year in March.
