The case against Megaupload may never make it to trial, because of clerical errors made during the legal process.
Criminal charges against Kim Dotcom may never be heard by a court and his extradition from New Zealand to the US to stand trial may be in jeopardy over paperwork technicalities that saw the Megaupload boss’s property seized without proper notice.
According to a report from The New Zealand Herald, US district judge Liam O’Grady warned the FBI, which played a key role in a global operation against the file-sharing site, that he wasn’t sure “we are ever going to have a trial in this matter”.
The judge made the comments after being told that Megauplaod had never formally been served with court papers in the US.
We don’t believe Megaupload can be served in a criminal matter because it is not located within the jurisdiction of the United States
According to the report, the US was still hoping to prove that Dotcom and six colleagues had a case to answer because they were part of an alleged organised criminal group, which carries the five-year sentence necessary to qualify for extradition.
Copyright sentences in New Zealand max out at four years.
The judge also asked why the Megaupload team had not been served with papers, with the company’s lawyers suggesting it was because the FBI actually had no jurisdiction in New Zealand.
“My understanding as to why they haven’t done that is because they can’t,” said lawyer Ira Rothken. “We don’t believe Megaupload can be served in a criminal matter because it is not located within the jurisdiction of the United States.”
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