Kim Dotcom Forming New Political Party In New Zealand

from the never-a-dull-moment dept

Tue, Sep 3rd 2013 3:30pm — Glyn Moody

Whatever your views about Kim Dotcom, you have to admire his dogged fight against extradition from New Zealand, not least because it has revealed some serious abuses of power against dozens of people. Now it seems he is taking things a stage further, if this recent tweet is any indication:

My embryonic NZ political plans leaked by whistleblower. Still looking for partners. Not ready yet :-) pic.twitter.com/azpTQm98kJ
— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) August 31, 2013

In case you can't read that, it says:

My embryonic NZ political plans leaked by whistleblower. Still looking for partners. Not ready yet :-)

TorrentFreak has more details: The photograph of the magazine [shown in the tweet above] suggests that Dotcom might become PM, but speaking with TorrentFreak today the Mega founder told us that at least for now, that won't be possible.

"I'm not a citizen of New Zealand and therefore I can't be elected into Parliament myself but I can be the president of a new party," Dotcom explained.

So, with an eye on his presidency, work is already underway to form a brand new party.

"I have created a draft political program and I am in the early stages of meeting potential candidates to join me," Dotcom added.
Another tweet spells out what might be in that program: After the 2014 election I will get New Zealanders a new submarine cable [to connect New Zealand to the rest of the Internet], fair Internet pricing & no more data caps.
General elections don't take place in New Zealand until November 2014, so he still has some time. He's already mentioned that the party's official Web site will be launched at a "big event" on 20 January next year -- the second anniversary of the raid on his house that started everything.

New Zealand's current Prime Minister, John Key, said on a breakfast TV program that Dotcom should call his political party the "nohope" party. It remains to be seen whether Dotcom follows through with this idea, and what traction he gains. But the success around the world of the Pirate Party, with a platform largely focused on copyright reform, and the rise of other non-traditional movements such as the fledgling Wikileaks Party in Australia, shows that dismissing Dotcom's plans as hopeless may turn out to be unwise. While any individual party may not succeed, the fact that so many are popping up shows how little traditional political parties seem to grasp how important these issues are to many internet users.

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Filed Under: copyright, digital rights, internet freedom, kim dotcom, new zealand, political parties

23 Comments

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Alana (profile), 3 Sep 2013 @ 3:42pm

I'd vote for him. Trust him more than Key.

Plus I'm a New Zealander.
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- PRMan, 3 Sep 2013 @ 4:00pm
  
  Re:
  Your internet speeds absolutely suck compared to the rest of civilisation, so I could really see this platform working there.
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Beech, 3 Sep 2013 @ 3:50pm

Quotes vs quotes
"New Zealand's current Prime Minister, John Key, said on a breakfast TV program that Dotcom should call his political party the "nohope" party."

Immediately brings to mind the quote by Ghandi, "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."

Kim Dotcom is on stage 2, apparently.
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- That Anonymous Coward (profile), 3 Sep 2013 @ 4:01pm
  
  Re: Quotes vs quotes
  I wonder if PM Key is basing his assessment on information gathered by the GCSB.
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Albert, 3 Sep 2013 @ 4:04pm

Hey DotCom
Kim DotCom could do some good by starting a new party.

I also think he could do some good by creating a high-tech competition like the X-Prize that emphasizes the creation of freedom-expanding technology.

Maybe call it a K-Prize?
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out_of_the_blue, 3 Sep 2013 @ 4:11pm

Well, you ankle biters would admire a "dogged" fight!
But I don't "have to" admire it, and don't. An extradition fight, no matter how merited, is simply avoiding trial on the charges. As I've written before, IF he thought himself innocent, he could have come to the US and gotten the trial over already -- and gone back free and clear, right? (I'm sure fanboys will mis-construe that undeniable statement yet again. Point is that Dotcom would be convicted on the merits of the case, he's just using stolen millions to hire lawyers make every available delay.)

Obviously Dotcom inflates himself figuratively too, not just by gobbling up doughnuts, and the admiring minion here misses this key word: "embryonic".

"I will get New Zealanders" -- Mostly likely deep in debt to pay for his promises.

"Pirate Party, with a platform largely focused on copyright reform," -- IF "reform" meant doing away with copyright entirely. But you cannot run a nation based on theft.

Dotcom was only succesful when following the Masnick Model: someone else paid the "sunk (or fixed) costs" and he grifted off the valuable products. Dotcom will not be able to make it when he has to pay actual costs.

Mega-grifter Kim Dotcom got millions by hosting infringed content. That's not even capitalism, that's THEFT.
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- John Fenderson (profile), 3 Sep 2013 @ 4:17pm
  
  Re: Well, you ankle biters would admire a "dogged" fight!
  As I've written before, IF he thought himself innocent, he could have come to the US and gotten the trial over already -- and gone back free and clear, right?
  
  And as several people have explained to you before, he has no chance of a fair trial in the US regardless of his guilt or innocence, so why would he willingly subject himself to being railroaded?
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  - Anonymous Coward, 3 Sep 2013 @ 4:25pm
    
    Re: Re: Well, you ankle biters would admire a "dogged" fight!
    When the company was shutdown in Jan 2012 the FBI knew that Dotcom would be holidaying in the US and they knew exactly where he would be staying later on that year. So they could have waited another 6 months and arrested him and charged him on US soil and thrown him in US jail and they could have avoided the extradition issue but no they just went ahead and shot themselves in the foot by shutting the company in Jan 2012 thinking that extradition was going to be forthcoming.
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    - That One Guy (profile), 3 Sep 2013 @ 10:50pm
      
      Re: Re: Re: Well, you ankle biters would admire a "dogged" fight!
      Just tossing the idea out there, but the government might have had their hands forced on the timing issue.
      
      The raid happened almost right after Hollywood's pet bill SOPA was shot down, and I imagine they were less than subtle about future 'donations' being 'late' unless those in the government showed they were willing to obey those paying them, and hence they jumped the gun on the raid.
      
      Well either that or gross incompetence, take your pick.
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      - PaulT (profile), 3 Sep 2013 @ 11:34pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Well, you ankle biters would admire a "dogged" fight!
        "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity"
        
        Surely no truly evil scheme could be as incompetently and counter-productively staged as this fiasco was?
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        Anonymous Coward, 4 Sep 2013 @ 1:42am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Well, you ankle biters would admire a "dogged" fight!
        You've clearly never watched modern media. Most antagonists are, at best, incompetent, and at worst, idiotic.
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      - Anonymous Coward, 4 Sep 2013 @ 5:10am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Well, you ankle biters would admire a "dogged" fight!
        Why can't it be both? I believe the US government is both under constant pressure by Chris "Not a lobbyist" Dodd and thoroughly incompetent when it comes to enforcing copyright properly.
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- Anonymous Coward, 3 Sep 2013 @ 4:23pm
  
  Re: Well, you ankle biters would admire a "dogged" fight!
  As I've written before, IF he thought himself innocent, he could have come to the US and gotten the trial over already
  
  As you've been told before, he doesn't have to think himself innocent or prove himself innocent, he IS innocent until proven guilty.
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- Gwiz (profile), 3 Sep 2013 @ 4:40pm
  
  Re: Well, you ankle biters would admire a "dogged" fight!
  An extradition fight, no matter how merited, is simply avoiding trial on the charges...
  
  That is an awfully black & white view there Blue.
  
  Would you give up your legal rights to fight extradition if one of your comments here on Techdirt was suspected of rising to a felony charge in another country?
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- Anonymous Coward, 3 Sep 2013 @ 9:02pm
  
  Re: Well, you ankle biters would admire a "dogged" fight!
  Yes... He can come to the US to spend years in prison awaiting a trial to prove his innocence. Since you've already tried him, anyways, what are his real chances?
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- Anonymous Coward, 4 Sep 2013 @ 1:05am
  
  ankle biters vs. lickspit
  ankle biters win, anyday.
  
  "IF he thought himself innocent, he could have come to the US and gotten the trial over already -- and gone back free and clear, right?"
  
  Ony if you believe the us-judicial system is a fair one. Some people on this planet don't...
  
  "But you cannot run a nation based on theft."
  
  Quite the contrary! There are enough examples in human history where theft has worked quite well. Although infringement is not theft, as you well know.
  
  "someone else paid the "sunk (or fixed) costs" and he grifted off the valuable products."
  
  Exactly like all the artists who worked for the various mafiaas - who did the actual work for breadcrumbs while the so called owners grift off the valuable products...
  
  Copyright is legalized theft, nothing else.
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  - slinkySlim, 4 Sep 2013 @ 6:21am
    
    Re: ankle biters vs. lickspit
    .. something else: Copyright is also censorship.
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Anonymous Coward, 3 Sep 2013 @ 4:15pm

" IF he thought himself innocent"

And if the law thought he was guilty then they wouldn't have had to use an illegal raid, an illegal search and seizure of property from his home would they. LOL
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Anonymous Coward, 3 Sep 2013 @ 4:51pm

Interesting that Kim's starting up his own party rather than supporting the existing (though as yet unregistered) Pirate Party NZ. Another similarity to Assange I suppose, who ignored Pirate Party Australia when setting up his Wikileaks party.
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- JMT (profile), 3 Sep 2013 @ 5:43pm
  
  Re:
  What do the Pirate Party and Wikileaks have to do with each other?
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  - Anonymous Coward, 4 Sep 2013 @ 1:44am
    
    Re: Re:
    Apparently, they're part of the "Jewlluminati", if you listen to some Fox News "Newsreaders".
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- Anonymous Coward, 4 Sep 2013 @ 3:47am
  
  Re:
  Better brand recognition, for one thing.
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slimpig, 22 Oct 2013 @ 1:21am

boobs
TITTIES. That is all.
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