“Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has come to the defense of MegaUpload founder Kim DotCom,” Greg Sandoval reports for CNET.
“DotCom is accused by the United States of operating MegaUpload as a piracy enterprise and is fighting an attempt to extradite him from New Zealand to the U.S.,” Sandoval reports. “In an exclusive e-mail interview yesterday with CNET, Wozniak made it clear that he fully supports DotCom. ‘When crimes occur through the mail, you don’t shut the post office down,’ Wozniak wrote. ‘When governments dream up charges of ‘racketeering’ for a typical IT guy who is just operating a file-sharing service, or accuse him of mail fraud because he said he had removed files [to alleged infringing content] when he’d just removed the links to them, this is evidence of how poorly thought out the attempt to extradite him is. Prosecutors are attempting to take advantage of loopholes. Too bad for the U.S. government that DotCom lives in New Zealand, which is better on human rights.'”
Sandoval reports, “The United States and New Zealand seized DotCom’s assets and now are fighting attempts by MegaUpload to have enough money returned to pay legal fees. About that Wozniak said: ‘How unfair that the United States will allow him living expenses out of his frozen assets but not give him any legal fees. The side with access to the funds spends millions on lawyers hoping the other side goes bankrupt and gives in. Shame on the system that permits this one-sided advantage. Kim is well enough liked and respected that his legal team is working without up-front payment.'”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Edward Weber” for the heads up.]
Woz is whacked in the head.
Maybe a bit, but the whole “Here’s your allowance, and we’re going to withhold the rest because you’ve been a bad boy in our eyes” thing is a little off.
Delusions of grandéur
I’d like to see Woz also come to the defence of UK citizen O’Dwyer, he is in a very similar situation….but doesn’t have the same strong legal backup. Unfortunately, the UK is far more likely to ignore his human rights in this case to just appease the big money in the USA.
It has nothing to do with the law. The government saw millions of dollars and took it. It is about money.
Innocent until proven guilty is a phrase with no meaning. Its really guilty until you purchase your innocence.
This isn’t the first time that the gov. has seized assets. Makes you wonder who really owns your money.
the gov hasn’t taken anything. His assets are freezed until its determined at trial whether they were generated via illegal activity. The living expense stipend is an exception, a compromise of sorts to the default rule of freezing it all. This is reasonable and common place.
I’d love to come to this guys defense, but he is a crook, was a crook and made his fortune being a crook.
lol. Derp
There IS a solution to the U.S government’s misdeeds… I can see November from my house!
😉
Wait…you want him to have access to funds from implicitly stolen property to pay for attorneys? Get an effin clue!
Seems you already know the verdict before the trial’s been held. BTW, nice weasel use of the word “implicitly.” This area isn’t exactly well-settled law.
Cheers.
Are you one of those “freehadists”, Janice? Have you read the Letter Emily White got from David Lowery?
It’s obvious…he doesn’t have licenses from ANYONE to license material to users/members that utilize/exploit material on his servers. Theft is theft, implicit or physical. It’s not rocket science.
So he’s guilty then? Really? When was the trial?
Assests are frozen in cases like this, SOP.
Woz is wrong.
Woz – who?
Why is what he says relevant? I know he helped create the Apple computer years and years ago… and a wonderful programmable remote control… and he is a damn good dancer (cough) BUT
Why does his opinion matter?
He is a leader in technology now? NO
He has been even a minor factor in the design, implementation and execution of any Apple in this century? NO
He spouts off like the current VPOTUS without thinking before engaging his vocal cords. YES
I know that I may be blasted because I do not idolise the Woz but I just don’t see it any more.
My 2 bob (we don’t have pennies in OZ)
Cheers.
Kim’s a crook? are you the court? You have no access to the evidence. The US government is pushing its weight around on this. And, exercising the law when and where it suits them. I side with Woz this time.
BTW- I don’t care whether this fellow is guilty or not. It’s up to a court to “fairly” decide this matter.
Oh, BTW, if Woz is so adamant about Kim DotCom’s legal fund needs… why doesn’t he chip in.
Just sayin’
He’s as guilty as a gun shop owner is guilty of murder because he sold a killer bullets. Bullets are used to shoot things, and gun shop owners, even bullet manufacturers, should know that criminals *may* use their products and, so, not even sell them in the first place. Or so the argument against file sharing sites would go if applied to the gun industry.
As someone else said, this is about money. The same money that protects those who make things that allow people to kill is the same money that is on a hunt to perse-, er, prosecute people who enable, in part, others to “steal” from them. Which is the bigger crime?
The only thing Kim DotCom is guilty of at this point is having a dumbass name. Imparting justice before a trial doesn’t seem very American to me. But the times they are a-changin’.
The USA pulled out of their extradition of US citizens to the UK when they realised that many rich Americans of Irish descent had funded the IRA bombings and would have ended up in UK jails!
Sovereign laws should remain sovereign.
If extradition doesn’t work, Obama will likely approve a Pedator drone attack. After all terrorists likely file shared on his site.
This is the same DOJ that chasing Apple for screwing Amazon’s ebook business.
Who is next?