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Digital Legal MegaUpload Timeline
Mega extradition hearings not likely until August
By CMU Editorial | Published on Thursday 23 February 2012
Don’t expect any movement on America’s legal assault on the MegaUpload bosses anytime soon, because the US’s attempts to extradite the Mega execs from New Zealand are not likely to get to court until the summer.
As previously reported, four of the seven men the US accuse of copyright infringement, money laundering and racketeering for their involvement in the Mega empire were arrested in New Zealand last month. All four, including founder Kim ‘Dotcom’ Schmitz, have now been bailed, pending extradition hearings.
New Zealand’s Ministry Of Justice yesterday said 20 Aug had been pencilled in for a hearing on attempts to extradite Schmitz. No more information was provided, because “extradition requests are generally considered confidential diplomatic communications between state parties”.
Some of the 21 conditions put on Schmitz when he was granted bail earlier this week have also been revealed. Like his former colleagues, he is not to access the internet while on bail, plus he’s also banned from taking drugs (which presumably the law already dictates, unless that includes aspirin) and from having a helicopter on his property. As previously reported, prosecutors have expressed concerns Schmitz might try to flee New Zealand for his home country of Germany, where it would be much harder for the US to extradite him.
