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New Zealand admits illegally spying on Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom

75 points by 8ig8 14y ago

beedogs 14y ago
This is my surprised face. Other western countries do what is asked of them when the US comes calling.
- dmm 14y ago
  The US government is the last true sovereign.
  - tomjen3 14y ago
    RIAA is the last true sovereign.
OhArgh 14y ago
Ah but New Zealand still doesn't let the US nuclear powered ships in their waters! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear-free_zone#New_Zealand http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear-free_zone#New_Zealand Why should they fold to the US government who is basically being controlled by the media industry? There is a process to get someone extradited it should be followed
briandear 14y ago
The real question: is Dotcom innocent of his alleged crimes? The real story is that if Dotcom was facilitating piracy. The technicality of if he was wire tapped illegally or not is important in theory, but it comes down to this: Dotcom would not be in trouble if he hadn't broken the law. If he was innocent, then this would be a big story. This is similar to someone caught in video robbing a store but beating the charge because of a technicality. Criminals winning cases on technicalities while still having committed the crime is not justice. Justice is getting punished for crimes actually committed. Justice is when innocent people are acquitted of crimes they did not commit. Turning Dotcom into somekind of folk hero is ridiculous. He became very wealthy by facilitating theft. It isn't like he was donating the proceeds to build schools for girls in Afghanistan. If he broke a potentially unfair law as a statement and did it for something other than getting rich, maybe then we could consider him something other than what he is -- a self-serving criminal.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- roymabookie 14y ago
  > This is similar to someone caught in video robbing a store but beating the charge because of a technicality It is more like someone being _accused_ of robbing a video store and then it turned out the only evidence against them was acquired when the police broke into his home to steal his dairy.
  - lostlogin 14y ago
    And to add to that. Broke into his home to steal his diary without noticing that they were outside of their jurisdiction. When they mentioned this oversight to the Acting Prime Minister, he forgot to pass it on to the Prime Minister (who may have been somewhat distracted fending off attacks on another minister who broke the law accepting campaign funds from the guy who broke into the video store).
- ixnu 14y ago
  "Justice is getting punished for crimes actually committed." A government's complete disregard for due process is a far greater crime than piracy. The punishment for this crime is "[c]riminals winning cases on technicalities".
  - drivingmenuts 14y ago
    > The punishment for this crime is "[c]riminals winning cases on technicalities". I disagree. The punishment is to find the person or persons responsible and, at a minimum, fire them. That should serve as a warning to others that you either do it right, or not at all. The "[c]riminals winning cases on technicalities" is a side-effect of erroneous judgement.
    - freehunter 14y ago
      I would argue that, in the US at least, criminals winning on technicalities is not a side effect. It is a direct punishment of the government not following proper procedure. Authorities cannot illegally search your home because if they do they forfeit the right to use that evidence. If that repercussion was not in place, there would be no incentive for the government to actually follow the law. Do it right or you lose the case. That's the deal.
rolux 14y ago
In other news, New Zealand's prime minister seems to have issued a public apology to Kim Dotcom: https://torrentfreak.com/new-zealand-prime-minister-apologizes-to-kim-dotcom-120927/ https://torrentfreak.com/new-zealand-prime-minister-apologiz...
mikerice 14y ago
Rule #1 of spying: Never admit to it.
nvmc 14y ago
Our government has been at the beck and call of the White House ever since they came to power. Key is financier, a snake.

75 points by 8ig8 14y ago

beedogs 14y ago

This is my surprised face. Other western countries do what is asked of them when the US comes calling.

dmm 14y ago
The US government is the last true sovereign.
- tomjen3 14y ago
  RIAA is the last true sovereign.

OhArgh 14y ago

Ah but New Zealand still doesn't let the US nuclear powered ships in their waters! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear-free_zone#New_Zealand http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear-free_zone#New_Zealand Why should they fold to the US government who is basically being controlled by the media industry? There is a process to get someone extradited it should be followed

briandear 14y ago

The real question: is Dotcom innocent of his alleged crimes? The real story is that if Dotcom was facilitating piracy. The technicality of if he was wire tapped illegally or not is important in theory, but it comes down to this: Dotcom would not be in trouble if he hadn't broken the law. If he was innocent, then this would be a big story. This is similar to someone caught in video robbing a store but beating the charge because of a technicality. Criminals winning cases on technicalities while still having committed the crime is not justice. Justice is getting punished for crimes actually committed. Justice is when innocent people are acquitted of crimes they did not commit. Turning Dotcom into somekind of folk hero is ridiculous. He became very wealthy by facilitating theft. It isn't like he was donating the proceeds to build schools for girls in Afghanistan. If he broke a potentially unfair law as a statement and did it for something other than getting rich, maybe then we could consider him something other than what he is -- a self-serving criminal.

deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
roymabookie 14y ago
> This is similar to someone caught in video robbing a store but beating the charge because of a technicality It is more like someone being _accused_ of robbing a video store and then it turned out the only evidence against them was acquired when the police broke into his home to steal his dairy.
- lostlogin 14y ago
  And to add to that. Broke into his home to steal his diary without noticing that they were outside of their jurisdiction. When they mentioned this oversight to the Acting Prime Minister, he forgot to pass it on to the Prime Minister (who may have been somewhat distracted fending off attacks on another minister who broke the law accepting campaign funds from the guy who broke into the video store).
ixnu 14y ago
"Justice is getting punished for crimes actually committed." A government's complete disregard for due process is a far greater crime than piracy. The punishment for this crime is "[c]riminals winning cases on technicalities".
- drivingmenuts 14y ago
  > The punishment for this crime is "[c]riminals winning cases on technicalities". I disagree. The punishment is to find the person or persons responsible and, at a minimum, fire them. That should serve as a warning to others that you either do it right, or not at all. The "[c]riminals winning cases on technicalities" is a side-effect of erroneous judgement.
  - freehunter 14y ago
    I would argue that, in the US at least, criminals winning on technicalities is not a side effect. It is a direct punishment of the government not following proper procedure. Authorities cannot illegally search your home because if they do they forfeit the right to use that evidence. If that repercussion was not in place, there would be no incentive for the government to actually follow the law. Do it right or you lose the case. That's the deal.

rolux 14y ago

In other news, New Zealand's prime minister seems to have issued a public apology to Kim Dotcom: https://torrentfreak.com/new-zealand-prime-minister-apologizes-to-kim-dotcom-120927/ https://torrentfreak.com/new-zealand-prime-minister-apologiz...

mikerice 14y ago

Rule #1 of spying: Never admit to it.

nvmc 14y ago

Our government has been at the beck and call of the White House ever since they came to power. Key is financier, a snake.