Kim Dotcom to receives up to $6 million from government for legal battle

Kim Dotcom has turned into an internet celebrity in a short space of time. Since MegaUpload was shut down back in January, he has become a recognisable figure.

Intense debate still rages over the legality of shutting down MegaUpload, but what's done is done. Dotcom himself still has plans for the future, speaking of his intentions for a legal distribution service named 'Megabox'.

At his peak, Kim Dotcom was not poor. That's evidenced by some of the domains he owns, or formerly owned. He owns the kim.com domain, and there's a good chance that wasn't exactly cheap. He has also been open with his version of the MegaUpload shutdown, explaining as below:

Go to Kim.com and learn about the Megaupload case. It's about the abuse of power & law enforcement for political gains.

— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) August 29, 2012

Even so, Dotcom needs a loan to fight his legal battle. New Zealand is providing him with up to $6 million to aid his way through the case. The advance will be secured against $10 million in government bonds that Dotcom owned, though were frozen in April.

In order to aid his court funding, Kim Dotcom has been granted permission to sell nine vehicles he owns: five Mercedes-Benz cars, a Rolls-Royce Coupe, two Mini Coopers and a Toyota Hilux. He also received $250,000 earlier this year to pay rent on his mansion, which has an annual rent of $1 million.

After the shutdown of MegaUpload, Dotcom's cars were seized as part of the operation. Various pictures indicate that he owns a great deal of vehicles.

Some of Dotcom's car collection - and all those Mercs are AMG models.

Dotcom has turned himself from an internet kingpin into one of the loudest spokespeople for freedom online, and it will be worth keeping an eye on his case to see if he speaks as loudly then as he does now.

His commitment to his case is obvious enough. The funds he's getting to help fight his case should also be a telling example of how much he's willing to put into his legal battle.

Source: PC Advisor
Dotcom's car collection: Autoblog (Dutch)