In January, US law enforcement officials shut down the Megaupload file sharing web site, claiming that the site was being used for uploading and downloading pirated content. Several of Megaupload"s team members were arrested, including its founder Kim Dotcom (formerly Kim Schmitz) in New Zealand. Now, a month and a half since the arrest, Dotcom is finally telling his side of the story.
In his first major interview, posted at the New Zealand-based TV news web site 3News.co.nz, Dotcom defends both Megaupload and himself, saying that the raid by US officials caught him and the company by surprise. He points out that Megaupload"s own terms of service forbids its users from uploading pirated content. He also claims that a large number of content providers, including all the major movie studios had direct access to Megaupload"s servers so they could delete any pirated content.
So why was Megaupload shut down with all of these piracy policies and protections in place? Dotcom claims:
I’m an easy target. My flamboyance, my history as a hacker, you know, I’m not American, I’m living somewhere in New Zealand around the world. I have funny number plates on my cars, you know, I’m an easy target. I’m not Google. I don’t have 50 billion dollars in my account and right now I’ve not a penny on my account. All my lawyers currently are basically working without a penny and they are all still on board and all still doing their job because what they see here is unfair, is unreasonable and is not justice.
Dotcom adds he plans to fight the charges against him, saying, " I feel confident I am going to win because at the end of the day I know, my family knows, and everybody around me knows that I am no criminal and I have done nothing wrong. So I will fight it. It’s all I can do."
Dotcom is currently free on bail after spending a month in jail due to prosecutors claiming that he was a flight risk, which Dotcom denies in the interview.