Kim Dotcom Hires Human Rights Lawyer To Claim MPAA's Chris Dodd Targeted Him In 'Contract Prosecution'

from the seems-like-a-longshot dept

Tue, Jan 22nd 2013 9:32am — Mike Masnick

Lost in all of the hype about the launch of Kim Dotcom's new Mega service was the fact that he's hired a new high profile lawyer, with a different focus. Some of the details were buried in Ars Technica's coverage of the Mega launch party, in which they mention the adding of Robert Amsterdam to the legal team:

Also circling is the latest addition to Dotcom’s ever-expanding legal team: Robert Amsterdam of Washington, DC and London-based Amsterdam & Partners. The human rights lawyer says his key work has been in Venezuela, Russia, and Nigeria. Now he's contracted by Kim Dotcom to investigate a possible human rights angle on the Megaupload case—in particular whether one human, former Senator and current MPAA head Christopher Dodd, breached Dotcom’s rights by going out of his way to engineer what Amsterdam said could be seen as a “contract prosecution.”

Amsterdam agrees his work could help Dotcom seek redress from the US government down the track. But his immediate aim is to publicize Dodd’s role. “This prosecution should not be afforded the presumption of regularity," he says. "The way this was done—the helicopters; the rappelling down the buildings [of Dotcom mansion]; the over-reaction—all of these are signs of a classic political prosecution.”

Amsterdam will spend the next two days interviewing the Megaupload team as part of his preparations for a “white paper” he will publish in around two months’ time.

This strikes me as a huge longshot for a variety of reasons, but it certainly makes for an interesting storyline to follow. If such an investigation actually does get somewhere, there could actually be blowback for those who led the charge against Dotcom. As it stood, it seemed unlikely that, even if the case fell apart, there would be any ramifications for those who championed the cause in the first place. Again, I find it highly unlikely that this exploration will lead anywhere, but Dotcom's legal team has done amazingly well on a variety of fronts to date, so perhaps they know more than has been made public already about all of this.

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Filed Under: chris dodd, contract prosecution, human rights, kim dotcom, robert amsterdam
Companies: megaupload, mpaa

62 Comments

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Ninja (profile), 22 Jan 2013 @ 8:30am

Again, I find it highly unlikely that this exploration will lead anywhere, but Dotcom's legal team has done amazingly well on a variety of fronts to date, so perhaps they know more than has been made public already about all of this.

I'm fairly sure Mr Amsterdam will do some investigative work before spearheading this new front. While I tend to agree that this seems to be a long shot I'm sure you remember when they first raided Dotcom's house we never imagined law enforcement and the DOJ did so many wrongs to make it happen. Sadly I will not be surprised if he manages to attack from the Human Rights front too. If you think about it, Dotcom might be a victim of political persecution (might was used very very loosely here) which may have leaded to Human Rights breaches against him. I'm no expert but the constant attempts from the US Govt to deny him due process and proper defense may fall within what one would call Human Rights breach (Bradley Maning anyone?).

And there's the MU users that lost their perfectly legal files (or so we think since the MAFIAA and the US Govt refuse to let the legal team access the servers to confirm this issue). Wonder how that huge overreach can be used here..

Complex it is!
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- G Thompson (profile), 22 Jan 2013 @ 9:42am
  
  Re:
  The
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- G Thompson (profile), 22 Jan 2013 @ 9:49am
  
  Re:
  Disregard the above "The" It sadly got lost in a weird submit strike ;)
  
  Now what was I about to say? Oh yeah..
  
  The interesting thing about Amsterdam investigating is that if he comes up with enough prima facia and other inculpatory evidence he could then prosecute a HR order for Dodd (and others) to present themselves at a HR mention.
  
  As US citizens this would most likely be moot and he would not under US law have to appear, which could then initiate an Interpol Red Notice (arrest Notice) which means that if he steps on any soil outside of the USA like the EU, UK, Canada, Aust, NZ, Brazil, or UN HQ, to name a few he would be immediately arrested and brought for questioning etc.
  
  Couldn't happen to a nicer guy in my opinion!
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  - Jonathan, 22 Jan 2013 @ 10:19am
    
    Re: Re:
    Sadly, not even the courts can be granted the presumption of regularity in a political trial.
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  - Wally (profile), 22 Jan 2013 @ 4:32pm
    
    Re: Re:
    You forgot Washington DC....that land belongs to Columbia to prevent any state in the US from having too much power.
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- gorehound (profile), 22 Jan 2013 @ 11:08am
  
  Re:
  Go for it Kim !!! Millions of us Support you.Chris Dodd is a human piece of shit.Liar and greedy ass who used Revolving Door.Or Kim Dotcom targeted by the US Government after taking uncountable Millions from RIAA/MPAA.
  
  I go with Kim Dotcom ! Fuck Chris Todd !
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- Anonymous Coward, 22 Jan 2013 @ 12:42pm
  
  Re:
  Long shot or not, there is one thing I am certain.
  
  There Chris Dodd is sitting on a pile of shite, he knows it and everybody around him knows it too, if people dig enough they will find it.
  
  The government angle is clearly visible, anyone who watched how this unfolded knows that this was a target hit, to inflict fear in others.
  
  The trail of crap that this must have just boggles the mind and how people were able to hide it is just unbelievable.
  
  Dotcom should dig, he has the resources to do so and he will find dirt everywhere, he even may uncover more crap along the way to help nail those involved.
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Aria Company (profile), 22 Jan 2013 @ 8:54am

Dotcom's doing to Dodd what Dodd did to MU.

It's all fair game. Even if there's nothing to come of this, the motion has been set and it's been publicized.

Just because a few of us know of Dodd and his "ways", this could really push him atop the internet food chain, and it won't be long before people start connecting the "Dodds" to realize how the MPAA has been playing its hand.

Well done, indeed.
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- Anonymous Coward, 22 Jan 2013 @ 9:37am
  
  Re:
  Yep. As much as I think Dotcom is an arrogant tool, his attempt to pierce the veil of secrecy will take him in an interesting direction, to say the least.
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  - PRMan, 22 Jan 2013 @ 10:18am
    
    That's it.
    Dotcom doesn't need to "win" this legal argument. Discovery does tons of damage, maybe even irreparable damage to the DOJ and MPAA without a legal victory.
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    - Shadow Dragon (profile), 22 Jan 2013 @ 10:32am
      
      Re: That's it.
      Plus He already damages their creditably considerably.
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      - jupiterkansas (profile), 22 Jan 2013 @ 11:53am
        
        Re: Re: That's it.
        For the few people that are paying attention to this, their credibility was ruined long ago.
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Machin Shin (profile), 22 Jan 2013 @ 9:39am

"This strikes me as a huge longshot for a variety of reasons"

You know, I for one am happy to see any effort made to swing back. Sure this might be a long shot, but if it is really pushed then at the very least it is another thorn in the side of those abusing their power.
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- Anonymous Coward, 22 Jan 2013 @ 12:09pm
  
  Re:
  Are you aware that the majority of the material on MU's seized servers was infringing?
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  - Rikuo (profile), 22 Jan 2013 @ 12:29pm
    
    Re: Re:
    No...you don't say? So tell us...when exactly did you have physical access to their servers? Last I heard, Carpathia had them and still doesn't know what to do with them. The US government wants them shut down and all data deleted; DotCom wants the data retained as evidence.
    So go on. Prove your statement.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 22 Jan 2013 @ 12:58pm
    
    Re: Re:
    are ou aware that neither you nor anyone else has any means of knowing this?
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  - That One Guy (profile), 22 Jan 2013 @ 1:00pm
    
    Re: Re:
    I was going to post a nice long rebuttal, but I figure, why should I put more effort into my comment than you did with yours, so I'll just stick with 'Provide proof or bugger off'.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 22 Jan 2013 @ 1:11pm
    
    Re: Re:
    Citation needed.
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  - John Fenderson (profile), 22 Jan 2013 @ 2:01pm
    
    Re: Re:
    Are you aware that even if this is true, it's not the decisive factor in terms of whether DotCom or MU violated the law?
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  - Anonymous Coward, 22 Jan 2013 @ 3:57pm
    
    Re: Re:
    "A society is best judged by how it treats its minorities."
    
    Am I being clear on the problem with your assertion here?
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  - Wally (profile), 22 Jan 2013 @ 4:36pm
    
    Re: Re:
    I direct you to section 512 of the DMCA...
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Lord Binky, 22 Jan 2013 @ 9:39am

I wonder if Dodd will issue takedowns/sue Google when the eventual whitepaper is released and is the first thing that comes up when you search Chris Dodd.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 Jan 2013 @ 9:44am

It would be nice if Chris Dodd could get punished for his bull.
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- Jonathan, 22 Jan 2013 @ 10:17am
  
  Re:
  Accountability? Pshaw, that's for the little people.
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GMacGuffin (profile), 22 Jan 2013 @ 9:45am

I saw this article and just love the term "contract prosecution." Way to get your mantra/catch-phrase in early, Amsterdam.
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Crashoverride (profile), 22 Jan 2013 @ 9:53am

This may sound petty but happens quite often on this blog. I wish the authors when referencing a name that could easily be confused with something other than a name would add "Mr" i.e. instead of discussing an international story involving Amsterdam. It would be Mr Amsterdam.
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- Zos (profile), 22 Jan 2013 @ 11:25am
  
  Re:
  you should probably cry to ars technica, since the only place i see that in the above article is in the quote from their story.
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  - Zos (profile), 22 Jan 2013 @ 11:26am
    
    Re: Re:
    just double checked, even the tags on the story use his full name.
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Rekrul, 22 Jan 2013 @ 9:53am

Now he's contracted by Kim Dotcom to investigate a possible human rights angle on the Megaupload case�in particular whether one human, former Senator and current MPAA head Christopher Dodd, breached Dotcom�s rights by going out of his way to engineer what Amsterdam said could be seen as a �contract prosecution.�

Before they can prove human rights violations, they first have to prove that Dodd is human...
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- PRMan, 22 Jan 2013 @ 10:19am
  
  Re:
  Kim Dotcom is the human...
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  - Rekrul, 22 Jan 2013 @ 10:24am
    
    Re: Re:
    Read the quoted section again...
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    - Anonymous Coward, 22 Jan 2013 @ 12:07pm
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      Would that mean that a trial would be a War crime by Dodd?
      
      AWESOME!
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      - Anonymous Coward, 22 Jan 2013 @ 12:11pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re:
        Not all human rights violations are war crimes.
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        Anonymous Coward, 22 Jan 2013 @ 2:17pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
        But all war crimes are HRVs. Just like Chris Dodd's conscience.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 Jan 2013 @ 9:53am

Current climate
It may be a longshot but the current climate being what it is with Senators starting to ask questions about Prosecutorial Overreach from the DOJ, now is not exactly a bad time for MU to pursue this angle.
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- Anonymous Coward, 22 Jan 2013 @ 4:07pm
  
  Re: Current climate
  He has been hired to "investigate" which will bring forth a report condemning Dodds actions. If it leads to prosecution or not is just icing on the cake.
  
  The report from Mr Amsterdam can also be used politically unlike the failure of the case against Dotcom where you can spread out the guilt to enough that it is no longer worth pursuing politically.
  
  The timing of the announcement is not too relevant even for the overreach headline. It is the question of when the report by Mr Amsterdam is published that is important.
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Keroberos (profile), 22 Jan 2013 @ 9:55am

Even if there isn't anything there, the investigation could make anyone wanting to go after Mega think twice about doing so.
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- Lord Binky, 22 Jan 2013 @ 10:06am
  
  Re:
  I would think this definitely re-affirms their efforts to pick on people without enough money to fight back.
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sophie, 22 Jan 2013 @ 10:04am

Read more about Mona Dotcom here:
http://showbizdaily.net/celebrity-bio/mona-schmitz-mona-dotcom-is-kim-dotcoms-wife/#more-6455
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TasMot (profile), 22 Jan 2013 @ 10:13am

The End Result Doesn't Even Matter
Like many trials, the end result will probably be lost in the dust either as a non-starter or just so far in the future that it doesn't matter. What matters now is that Dodd gets to have his name attached to causing a human rights violation. The fun thing about this case of mud slinging is that unlike a political race, Dotcom has no downside to avoid. Dodd on the other hand has a high profile job with an organization that likes to portray itself as a benevolent protector of the little IP creator. How can they have someone charged with human rights violations as their leader?
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- Jonathan, 22 Jan 2013 @ 10:27am
  
  Re: The End Result Doesn't Even Matter
  Or, it could further estrange the US and its subjects from the very concept of human rights, and limit the US influence on the matters worldwide. Of course, the less the US has to say about the order of other nations, the better for all involved.
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  - Liam Caden, 22 Jan 2013 @ 5:48pm
    
    Re: Re: The End Result Doesn't Even Matter
    Seriously, with all the breaches of human rights by the US, in areas like illegal Drone Strikes (even against US citizens), Torture, George W Bush now being treated like a War Criminal for his hand in the "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques" etc, do you really think someone like Chris Dodd will care about breaching Human Rights? Really? he will just get a job working for MPAA if he loses his current job...
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TasMot (profile), 22 Jan 2013 @ 10:13am

The End Result Doesn't Even Matter
Like many trials, the end result will probably be lost in the dust either as a non-starter or just so far in the future that it doesn't matter. What matters now is that Dodd gets to have his name attached to causing a human rights violation. The fun thing about this case of mud slinging is that unlike a political race, Dotcom has no downside to avoid. Dodd on the other hand has a high profile job with an organization that likes to portray itself as a benevolent protector of the little IP creator. How can they have someone charged with human rights violations as their leader?
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DannyB (profile), 22 Jan 2013 @ 10:15am

Political indeed, consider the timing
Further evidence of this being political was the timing. The raid was right after the massive backlash leading to the rats in congress jumping off the sinking ship of SOPA. The raid was the very next day.
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- Zos (profile), 22 Jan 2013 @ 10:19am
  
  Re: Political indeed, consider the timing
  if anything i'd call that evidence against. you don't run an operation like that on an hours notice.
  
  Loving watching dotcom play the bastards own game against them though. doesn't matter what sticks, just keep throwing filings at them and tie the bastards up on as many fronts as it takes, some of it will stick, and it keeps the case in the news.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 22 Jan 2013 @ 10:30am
    
    Re: Re: Political indeed, consider the timing
    but they didnt have an hours notice. the blackout was planned for weeks.
    
    also, the proof that strengthens it being retaliation is how badly botched everything was. it reeks of having been rushed (cause they only had a few weeks notice to prepare).
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    - Anonymous Coward, 22 Jan 2013 @ 11:09am
      
      Re: Re: Re: Political indeed, consider the timing
      Sure the raid was planned well in advance, however I believe they pushed up the schedule for it's actual execution due to the success of the SOPA protests, this is probably one of the reasons why all of the "t"'s weren't crossed and "i"'s weren't dotted on the warrants they had.
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  - Michael, 22 Jan 2013 @ 10:31am
    
    Re: Re: Political indeed, consider the timing
    you don't run an operation like that on an hours notice
    
    You do if there is absolutely no expectation of resistance. They weren't raiding a fortress full of armed soldiers.
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  - DannyB (profile), 22 Jan 2013 @ 1:42pm
    
    Re: Re: Political indeed, consider the timing
    you don't run an operation like that on an hours notice.
    
    You do if SOPA and your dreams of Internet control just got derailed by a bunch of pesky freedom loving technology nerds who just made all of your expensive campaign contributions go up in smoke.
    
    Moving up the timetable for this raid will teach them all a lesson!
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Anonymous Coward, 22 Jan 2013 @ 10:44am

Does this mean Fat Bastard will come to the US? Nothing like self extradition.
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- DannyB (profile), 22 Jan 2013 @ 1:43pm
  
  Re:
  > Does this mean Fat Bastard will come to the US?
  > Nothing like self extradition.
  
  Um, Chris Dodd already is in the US. He does not need to be extradited. Just convicted.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 Jan 2013 @ 11:23am

i doubt if Dotcom will get anywhere with this. isn't Dodd bestest buddies with Bidden? that was how the whole thing started so there's no way either is gonna implicate the other, both will deny on a stack of Bibles in typical politician style having any involvement in any of it. as for anyone from any of the entertainment industries getting punished for what they did? it aint gonna happen! this is what happens when certain people end up being so powerful, they can have the law protect them, even when committing serious crimes and to me what happened to Dotcom, the way it happened and with the distinct lack of evidence, was a crime. and it hasn't stopped yet with the DoJ continuing to lie through their teeth to keep a pointless case going, just to try to come out of it winning, forget about the 'law' side of things. this is very similar to the Swartz case, it's just that atm the aggressive pursuance of someone that hasn't been proven to have done wrong is still on this earth!
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- Anonymous Coward, 22 Jan 2013 @ 11:58am
  
  Re:
  Dodd is no longer a politician, but hte CEO of the MPAA, so he hangs out with Republicans with money instead of Democrats, who are not as well-off.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 22 Jan 2013 @ 12:21pm
    
    Re: Re:
    I don't think so. They still court the Democrats. SOPA had become unpopular, the president had to appear to be "down with the people" so he said what he said. Dodd reacts by throwing a tantrum. The protest happens. SOPA dies. The executive branch pushes up the raid on MegaUpload to "throw Dodd a bone." Dodd quiets down and enjoys his bone. That's what happened.
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Gregg, 22 Jan 2013 @ 11:50am

It needs to be done
Regardless of success or failure, this needs to be done. More people need to stand up for themselves and for other people. Contact dotcom and contribute to his legal challenge, even if it is $1. For all the people who bitch and complain about life is unfair, I dare you to reach out to dotcom and donate to his legal cause.
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JMT (profile), 22 Jan 2013 @ 12:55pm

"The way this was done�the helicopters; the rappelling down the buildings [of Dotcom mansion]; the over-reaction�all of these are signs of a classic political prosecution."

I strongly agree with the sentiment, but overstating things won't help. The helicopter landed and the officers got out. No rappelling occurred. I think he took the Mega launch party footage a little too seriously.
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Me, 22 Jan 2013 @ 2:15pm

Meanwhile, all the humans with content on Megaupload had their rights violated. Shame on YOU and fuck YOU Dodd. Wish I could get my wedding photos back. Game of Thrones can be found anywhere but some things you lose are gone forever.
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BentFranklin (profile), 22 Jan 2013 @ 3:07pm

I find this angle very interesting because, unlike Ms. Ortiz, Mr. Dodd does not enjoy sovereign immunity. Let the discovery begin!
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- Anonymous Coward, 23 Jan 2013 @ 12:01pm
  
  Re:
  There is limited Sovereign Immunity in the US anyway. I seriously doubt Ortiz escapes all civil liability.
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Tort_Claims_Act
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Wally (profile), 22 Jan 2013 @ 4:27pm

I will admit that at times...Kim Dotcom has done and said a lot of eccentric things. Yet every time he has, it has turned out true. This could unravel the entirety of the current administration in the US government.
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Sec9dep17, 22 Jan 2013 @ 5:10pm

Kim Dotcom �arrested� during Mega presentation
http://goo.gl/OWDSH
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Spaceman Spiff, 22 Jan 2013 @ 9:48pm

Put it where it hurts!
Dodd and all his cronies should be hit as hard as possible for the egregious violation of Dot.Com's rights that they promulgated! I hope this goes far enough to discourage such activities in the future!
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