Kim Dotcom Forming New Political Party In New Zealand
from the never-a-dull-moment dept
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.
Another tweet spells out what might be in that program:
"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.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.
Follow me @glynmoody on Twitter or identi.ca, and on Google+
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: copyright, digital rights, internet freedom, kim dotcom, new zealand, political parties
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Plus I'm a New Zealander.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Quotes vs quotes
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.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Quotes vs quotes
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Hey DotCom
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?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Well, you ankle biters would admire a "dogged" fight!
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.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Well, you ankle biters would admire a "dogged" fight!
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?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Well, you ankle biters would admire a "dogged" fight!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Well, you ankle biters would admire a "dogged" fight!
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.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Well, you ankle biters would admire a "dogged" fight!
Surely no truly evil scheme could be as incompetently and counter-productively staged as this fiasco was?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Well, you ankle biters would admire a "dogged" fight!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Well, you ankle biters would admire a "dogged" fight!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Well, you ankle biters would admire a "dogged" fight!
As you've been told before, he doesn't have to think himself innocent or prove himself innocent, he IS innocent until proven guilty.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Well, you ankle biters would admire a "dogged" fight!
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?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Well, you ankle biters would admire a "dogged" fight!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
ankle biters vs. lickspit
"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.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: ankle biters vs. lickspit
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
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
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
boobs
[ link to this | view in chronology ]