Judge refuses to throw out Dotcom case

RISKS CHARGES: Kim Dotcom is not out of the woods yet.

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The raid on internet mogul Kim Dotcom's multimillion dollar mansion might have been legally invalid but he still is vulnerable to charges after a US judge this morning rejected a request to throw out the case.

A judge in a Virginia court this morning rejected attempts from lawyers for cloud storage company Megaupload to throw out charges of money laundering and piracy.

The judge said it was too early to request such a proceeding. However, customers who hold files in Megaupload might get some reprieve after the judge said he might hold a hearing to determine if the Department of Justice acted improperly in blocking access to files.
 
Meanwhile, the Green Party are calling for an independent investigation into the raid house which seemed like a scene from a "bad Hollywood movie".

Green Party Police spokesperson David Clendon said the actions of the Police in connection with the Dotcom case needed to be scrutinised by an agency such as the Independent Police Conduct Authority.

In the High Court, Justice Helen Winkelmann ruled the high-profile police raid that ended in the search and seizure of a large amount of Dotcom's property was done with invalid warrants.

US authorities claim Dotcom and his three co-accused  Mathias Ortmann, Fin Batato and Bram van der Kolk  used the Megaupload website and its affiliated sites to knowingly make money from pirated movies and games. They have charged him in the US with multiple copyright offences.

"Given that our Police and Crown lawyers were working on behalf of the United States they should have made certain that New Zealand's laws weren't trampled on," said Mr Clendon.

"The original raid on Mr Dotcom's house was like something from a bad Hollywood movie."

- © Fairfax NZ News