A New Zealand High Court judge ruled on Thursday, June 28, that warrants used back in January to seize laptops, hard drives, and phones from Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom's mansion are illegal.
The warrants were overly broad and general, allowing for the seizure of a wide category of items, not all of which are relevant to the U.S. charges of criminal conspiracy and copyright infringement, Justice Helen Winkelmann wrote in her ruling.
"The warrants did not adequately describe the offense to which they related," wrote Winkelmann. "Indeed they fell well short of that. They were general warrants, and as such, are invalid."
Before proceeding further, Winkelmann said she needs to hear from Megaupload and New Zealand government attorneys. A hearing is set for July 4. Meanwhile, New Zealand government attorneys can appeal the decision. For now, authorities "are considering the judgment and are in discussions with Crown Law to determine what further action might be required," New Zealand police said in a statement.
Megaupload attorney William Akel told PCWorld via email that Dotcom and the other defendants - Finn Batato, Mathias Ortmann, and Bram Van Der Kolk - were pleased with the ruling. "We are now considering the implications of the rulings," wrote Akel.
Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom and four other defendants were arrested in January. The U.S. is currently seeking the extradition of Dotcom, who is accused of sharing copyrighted material without permission. Six other individuals and two companies face the same charges. Megaupload featured advertising and sold subscriptions for faster downloads, and the company's lawyers argued the site simply offered online storage.
According to U.S. authorities, Megaupload made as much as US$175 million since 2005, while causing $500 million in damages to copyright holders by illegally distributing copyrighted material.
Police raided Dotcom's mansion outside of Auckland on Jan.20, seizing up to 150TB of data, some of which is encrypted. FBI agents copied portions of the data and sent it to the United States. Winkelmann ruled on Thursday that it was illegal for the New Zealand police to release the data to the U.S., as the Megaupload plaintiffs did not agree to the shipment of such copies of the data. Winkelmann further wrote that an independent barrister should be appointed to conduct a review of all seized items and identify material that is irrelevant or privileged. Dotcom is currently on bail.
