Kim Dotcom's legal team exits as Megaupload founder runs out of money

[Shawn Knight]

Kim Dotcom’s once lavish lifestyle is but a distant memory. During a recent teleconference at London’s unBound Digital event, the Megaupload founder revealed that his legal team recently resigned because he ran out of money. Dotcom said he spent $10 million defending himself and without lawyers, he is defenseless.

Nearly three years ago, local authorities in cooperation with the US government raided Dotcom’s New Zealand mansion. Dotcom and several Megaupload executives were arrested as authorities described the filesharing service as an international organized criminal enterprise allegedly responsible for massive worldwide online piracy.

Authorities reportedly seized nearly two dozen vehicles including a Lamborghini and a Rolls Royce. In all, more than $40 million in belongings were confiscated.

Dotcom has proclaimed his innocence since day one and has been fighting extradition to the US to face piracy charges. The extradition hearing is scheduled for early 2015 although the German national could face jail time much sooner for allegedly breaking conditions set in his bail. 

Dotcom launched Megaupload in 2005 and within just a few years, it had become one of the most popular filesharing destinations on the Internet. At its peak, the site accounted for more than four percent of all Internet traffic with 50 million unique visitors stopping by daily.

Users reportedly stored all sorts of content in the digital locker, from personal photos and videos to pirated films, the latter of which is what landed Dotcom in so much trouble.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/58985-kim-dotcom-legal-team-exits-megaupload-founder-runs.html

 

[Uncle Al]

Wow .... just looking at that house; can you imagine how many irobot vacuums it would take to keep it clean?!?!?!?!

 

[davislane1]

They really cleaned his clock.

 

[insect]

This is why you always settle with the government... they have unlimited money... you don't. Unfortunate for justice, but true.

 

[davislane1]

Wow .... just looking at that house; can you imagine how many irobot vacuums it would take to keep it clean?!?!?!?!

I was actually admiring the irony of a fat man owning a property with a full-size tennis court.

 

[Kibaruk]

This is why you always settle with the government... they have unlimited money... you don't. Unfortunate for justice, but true.

Lol, tell that to the international debt.

 

[Rippleman]

$10,000,000 for a single case? Someone got hosed... no way it could cost that much. Even with a legal team of 3 lawyers each at @ $200 hour based at FULL time is only $180,000 a year.

 

[yRaz]

$10,000,000 for a single case? Someone got hosed... no way it could cost that much. Even with a legal team of 3 lawyers each at @ $200 hour based at FULL time is only $180,000 a year.

$180,000 a year for five years per lawyer

 

[stewi0001]

This is why you always settle with the government... they have unlimited money... you don't. Unfortunate for justice, but true.

yea, to me it's like a medieval castle siege. You keep pounding them, till their supplies run out.

 

[insect]

This is why you always settle with the government... they have unlimited money... you don't. Unfortunate for justice, but true.

Lol, tell that to the international debt.

Economics tells us U.S. debt is very low to U.S. assets and income - the equivalent of a you having $1K in the bank, getting $100 each week in income, and owing someone $100 (The actual numbers are 17 Trillion in Debt, 17 Trillion in GDP/year, and 113K Trillion in Assets). We could pay it off whenever we wanted, just have to write the check. So why not? Because the amount the U.S. owes some countries is equal to half or more of their GDP. Take Belgium for example (which is our 3rd largest debt-holder behind China and Japan): We owe them about 354 billion dollars. That is about 70% of their GDP (source: http://www.treasury.gov/ticdata/Publish/shla2013r.pdf). If the U.S. wrote them a check for that amount it would effectively reduce the value of their currency by about half (or to say it another way, things would cost twice as much nearly overnight) and crash their economy. In other words, the U.S. holds all the chips in the world economy. If we gave all the chips back out then the world economy would crash. In-fact, most countries would just loan it back to us at lower interest rates (which are near zero anyway) just to balance their own economies.

The U.S. carries just enough debt to be able to pay it off whenever they want and borrows what they need to keep the U.S. economy going during slow-downs and/or to fund emergencies/wars (which result in technologies the U.S. sells to other countries increasing U.S. GDP). This is why the U.S. is coming out nearly unscathed (relative to Europe, Russia, China, South America) from the world-wide recession.

 

[Lionvibez]

$10,000,000 for a single case? Someone got hosed... no way it could cost that much. Even with a legal team of 3 lawyers each at @ $200 hour based at FULL time is only $180,000 a year.

200 bucks an hour are these University students?

I work at a lawfirm our junior associates have a rate of $500 an hour and our partners are $1000.

 

[Jamesbrah]

This is why you always settle with the government... they have unlimited money... you don't. Unfortunate for justice, but true.

Lol, tell that to the international debt.

Economics tells us U.S. debt is very low to U.S. assets and income - the equivalent of a you having $1K in the bank, getting $100 each week in income, and owing someone $100 (The actual numbers are 17 Trillion in Debt, 17 Trillion in GDP/year, and 113K Trillion in Assets). We could pay it off whenever we wanted, just have to write the check. So why not? Because the amount the U.S. owes some countries is equal to half or more of their GDP. Take Belgium for example (which is our 3rd largest debt-holder behind China and Japan): We owe them about 354 billion dollars. That is about 70% of their GDP (source: http://www.treasury.gov/ticdata/Publish/shla2013r.pdf). If the U.S. wrote them a check for that amount it would effectively reduce the value of their currency by about half (or to say it another way, things would cost twice as much nearly overnight) and crash their economy. In other words, the U.S. holds all the chips in the world economy. If we gave all the chips back out then the world economy would crash. In-fact, most countries would just loan it back to us at lower interest rates (which are near zero anyway) just to balance their own economies.

The U.S. carries just enough debt to be able to pay it off whenever they want and borrows what they need to keep the U.S. economy going during slow-downs and/or to fund emergencies/wars (which result in technologies the U.S. sells to other countries increasing U.S. GDP). This is why the U.S. is coming out nearly unscathed (relative to Europe, Russia, China, South America) from the world-wide recession.

Good post, very interesting.

 

[cliffordcooley]

I work at a lawfirm our junior associates have a rate of $500 an hour and our partners are $1000.

And nine times out of ten (being optimistic), you help no one because they can't afford your rates.

 

[Rippleman]

200 bucks an hour are these University students?

I work at a lawfirm our junior associates have a rate of $500 an hour and our partners are $1000.

so your juniors make $4,000 a day? and your partners make $8,000 a day?

 

[Trillionsin]

Since it got taken down, I've never been back to Megaupload. Something just didnt seem right in the whole thing.

 

[Hasbean]

[QUOTE="insect, post: 1441995, member: 11257
This is why the U.S. is coming out nearly unscathed (relative to Europe, Russia, China, South America) from the world-wide recession.[/QUOTE]

Ok... I'll have a pint of what he'a having.

 

[Guest]

Hahahahahahaha! Not so smart huh Kim?

Maybe he'll have to cut back on his food bill, shock horror!

 

[Kibaruk]

Economics tells us U.S. debt is very low to U.S. assets and income - the equivalent of a you having $1K in the bank, getting $100 each week in income, and owing someone $100 (The actual numbers are 17 Trillion in Debt, 17 Trillion in GDP/year, and 113K Trillion in Assets). We could pay it off whenever we wanted, just have to write the check. So why not? Because the amount the U.S. owes some countries is equal to half or more of their GDP. Take Belgium for example (which is our 3rd largest debt-holder behind China and Japan): We owe them about 354 billion dollars. That is about 70% of their GDP (source: http://www.treasury.gov/ticdata/Publish/shla2013r.pdf). If the U.S. wrote them a check for that amount it would effectively reduce the value of their currency by about half (or to say it another way, things would cost twice as much nearly overnight) and crash their economy. In other words, the U.S. holds all the chips in the world economy. If we gave all the chips back out then the world economy would crash. In-fact, most countries would just loan it back to us at lower interest rates (which are near zero anyway) just to balance their own economies.

The U.S. carries just enough debt to be able to pay it off whenever they want and borrows what they need to keep the U.S. economy going during slow-downs and/or to fund emergencies/wars (which result in technologies the U.S. sells to other countries increasing U.S. GDP). This is why the U.S. is coming out nearly unscathed (relative to Europe, Russia, China, South America) from the world-wide recession.

What are you smoking m8???

"We could pay it off whenever we wanted" oh my god, yeah I have debts, lots of them, I could pay them anytime I want but like paying interests, cause 'Murica!

"Nearly unscathed", in what Fanta world are you living in.

Well thanks for the big laugh and the lesson on fanta-conomics.

 

[Lionvibez]

so your juniors make $4,000 a day? and your partners make $8,000 a day?

The rate the firm charges the clients and the piece of pie the lawyers gets are two different things friend.

 

[Lionvibez]

And nine times out of ten (being optimistic), you help no one because they can't afford your rates.

This is corporate law.

And companies can certainly afford it.

This firm has been around over 70 years and that wouldn't be the case if no one could afford it.

Not the same as you hiring a lawyer to get you out of a traffic stop.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

200 bucks an hour are these University students?

I work at a lawfirm our junior associates have a rate of $500 an hour and our partners are $1000.

so your juniors make $4,000 a day? and your partners make $8,000 a day?

Man thats such a pittance, how do they survive? And they say crime doesn't pay. It doesn't look like it from where I'm standing. Lawyers in general are a lot shadier than the already shady characters they represent.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

I work at a lawfirm our junior associates have a rate of $500 an hour and our partners are $1000.

And nine times out of ten (being optimistic), you help no one because they can't afford your rates.

They're not in it for any noble cause, they're in it to fleece you. People will pay anything to stay out of the slammer and the more money they have the less likely they are to wind up in it but if Dotcom somehow finds his fat butt in the lockup imagine the weight he can lose trying to outpace his fellow acquaintances.

 

[cliffordcooley]

if Dotcom somehow finds his fat butt in the lockup

And what exactly would that serve after everything that landed him in trouble was confiscated and his total wealth stolen by lawyers? I consider it stolen because of the amount and the fact the lawyers are turning their backs. Yeah, what would that serve? We already have bragging rights to destroying someones life. Sending him to prison after this is overkill and completely redundant. It only shows how much worse we are, than he is.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

And what exactly would that serve after everything that landed him in trouble was confiscated and his total wealth stolen by lawyers? I consider it stolen because of the amount and the fact the lawyers are turning their backs. Yeah, what would that serve? We already have bragging rights to destroying someones life. Sending him to prison after this is overkill and completely redundant. It only shows how much worse we are, than he is.

Jail time for him is debatable, he probably has an ace to play somewhere along the line. It's a pity the laws don't apply equally to everyone but his show boating and arrogance hasn't helped his case much and you know how vindictive and narcissistic the human race can be. People generally tend to hate those that shamelessly flaunt their wealth. That said anybody in a position to do what he did with Megaupload would've done the same, myself included but I would've had the sense to be a bit more low key.

 

[Darkshadoe]

1000s of rich sickos get off for some of the most vile crimes a man can commit, yet the government wants to make an example of this guy....<facepalm>

Sure this guy is no Gandhi, but this is ridiculous. As fast as the governments shut down downloading sites, two or three more open up. It is a waste of money and a waste of our government's time. Even if Dot Com is found guilty, stripped of all his wealth, and put in prison for life, do you really think that is going to solve anything?