
Kim Dotcom: “I'm broke” (german article) - alexhektor
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Mikeb85
Kim Dotcom is in jail because he thumbed his nose at the US
entertainment/enforcement cartel.

It's absurd that his file sharing service (which functionally is no different
than Dropbox or Google Drive) gets shut down, but start-ups like Uber and
AirBnb - which actually endanger people's lives and cause very real damage to
property, are allowed to continue operating because their VCs are politically
connected.

I used to be in the restaurant/hospitality business - you know how awesome it
would be if I could just set up a restaurant, hotel or yes BnB in my house
without going through the proper permits? In the part of Canada I live in, a
BnB requires no fewer than 7 permits (3 municipal, 3 provincial, and 1
federal).

Edit - if you're in Canada, here's a useful tool to search for some of the
permits and licenses your future business will require:
[http://www.canadabusiness.ca/eng/search/stp1](http://www.canadabusiness.ca/eng/search/stp1)

Here you have 2 US-based businesses thumbing their nose at local laws, as well
as the laws of other countries, however because they're connected (and there's
a lot of money invested) they get away with it (in the US anyway, and they try
their luck elsewhere).

To say the Kim Dotcom debacle is anything but political is absurd...

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onewaystreet
The charge against Megaupload was not that they hosted copyrighted content but
that they knowingly did so and encouraged it through their affiliate program.

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Retric
Youtube actively does the same thing with people directly making money using
'pirated' content.

Note: They currently remove specific content when requested and even automate
the process. But, you can still find plenty of 'pirated' content where the
owner has yet to complain.

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onewaystreet
In what way? This was true when YouTube first launched (I've heard stories
that the founders uploaded copyrighted movies and tv shows themselves) but
YouTube has a system in place now that removes copyrighted content
automatically and it works pretty well (some say too well).

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ChrisGranger
Type in the search terms "full album" and then tell me their automatic removal
of copyrighted material is working pretty well.

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CWuestefeld
"copyrighted" != "cannot be shown"

copyrighted means that the owner of the copyright is the only one with the
right to decide when/where/how it gets shown. But if that owner is cool with
it being on Youtube, there's no reason for it to be taken down.

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gexla
Tweet from 9hrs ago.

>I guess I'm going back to court soon to get some of my assets unfrozen for
legal fees and living expenses. To be continued...

He still have a bunch of assets that are outside his control.

He also tweeted that his rent is paid until halfway to next year.

His wife is suing him for 20+ million.

Dude still has money, he just can't get access to large amounts of it to stir
stuff up.

Also, I imagine there is quite a bit this guy can do once he is able to move
his focus away from fighting huge organizations (including the U.S. gov) to
stay out of jail.

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cheez
> His wife is suing him for 20+ million.

Talk about adding insult to injury.

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yc1010
Actually it could be a smart way of getting money for his wife and kids while
they appear to be apart. When one gets dragged into courts its often
advantageous to endup with whoever wants money from you to be at the end of a
long list of people you owe money to.

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cheez
Interesting strategy, you could be right.

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timmins
It's more than possible. The article I read last night said his wife is full
owner of Mega (the follow up to Megaupload).

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philjackson
Everytime I see a headline about Kim, I wonder why its interesting to people.
Is it the equivalent of internet rubber-necking? He did some bad things, made
a lot of money, then profited from redistribution of copyrighted material -
why is he internet famous?

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Aissen
Ok, controversial opinion here: he made downloading/sharing files easy,
Dropbox-style. Had his "startup" been in Silicon Valley, things would have
turned out _very_ differently; starting with less emphasis on copyrighted
material piracy(maybe), but also more political weight (hello, VC
connections), and probably not a raid at its house while its US competitors
are safe.

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tinco
Had his "startup" been in Sillicon Valley, he had been in jail a long time
ago. I don't see how there would have been less emphasis on copyrighted
material, as that is and has always been the focus of megaupload and mega.

What US competitors are safe? You mean I can easily share copyrighted movies
with strangers on dropbox? I've never seen anyone do that.

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anu_gupta
> Had his "startup" been in Sillicon Valley, he had been in jail a long time
> ago.

I'm hoping the founders of Napster get early release from jail. They've done
their time, surely.

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tinco
"Napster agreed to pay music creators and copyright owners a $26 million
settlement for past, unauthorized uses of music, as well as an advance against
future licensing royalties of $10 million"

Have you ever seen Kim engage in talks for a settlement? Would it even make
sense for the industry to settle at this point? You think Sean Parker would
still be a free man if he would just continued running Napster as it was?

(The Dread Pirate Roberts was also running an innovative business where users
could exchange government restricted goods through a P2P system with a
centralized registry, look where that got him)

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malthaus
with every dotcom headline i'm thinking back of his days during the '99 boom
where he was a "prominent" figure in german television with his hacking skills
and millionaire-lifestyle which was all just for show.

he's only really clever at self-promotion and this is just the latest chapter,
either to hide money from governments/plaintiffs, his ex-wife or swindle some
of his followers out of theirs.

can we not just ignore this guy finally; he's not some kind of internet robin
hood / freedom fighter.

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bdcravens
Seems to me to be more Mark Karpeles than Edward Snowden.

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koyote
The original video where he talks about it might be more interesting than the
translated article:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68-PYA7uuGI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68-PYA7uuGI)

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butwhy
I'm seeing a re-occurring theme of big names talking about how much lawyers
make. I guess you never really fully fathom the expense until you get really
involved with a legal proceeding.

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opendomain
He is not broke He hid his money, including giving control of Mega to his wife
which is still worth millions.

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alexhektor
According to them, they split. Shortly before, she was stripped of company
control. Not sure how far she still is involved though.

[http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/kim-dotcom-s-wife-left-
compa...](http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/kim-dotcom-s-wife-left-companies-
ahead-split-5975515)

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thehal84
for anyone interested a doc done by Vice interviewing Kim.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMxhIfG0MpY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMxhIfG0MpY)

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mattxxx
No! End of an era

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bob917
Could Kimble be the Fluffy Bunny?

