Co-founders of online storage 'Megaupload' accept plea bargain and sentenced to two and a half years in prison
Former executives of the online storage ``Megaupload'' who were accused of crimes such as copyright infringement, extortion, and money laundering were sentenced to 2 years and 7 months in prison and 2 years and 6 months in prison, respectively. The United States was seeking the extradition of two people arrested in New Zealand.
Former Megaupload Executives Sentenced to 2.5 Years in Prison * TorrentFreak
2 men who helped run popular pirating website Megaupload sentenced to prison in New Zealand | AP News
'Megaupload' is an online storage that has been popular since around 2008. If you just want to use it, uploading and downloading is free, and the maximum file size that can be downloaded for free is 500MB. On the other hand, the available upload capacity was 50GB for free members.
I tried using ``MEGAUPLOAD'' for free, which allows you to upload files up to 50GB and make them public to an unspecified number of people - GIGAZINE
Additionally, there was a system in which rewards were paid based on the number of downloads, and it was often used to distribute pirated copies. However, in 2012, the FBI raided the site and the operating group was arrested.
The lawsuit targets Megaupload co-founder Matthias Ortmann and executive Bram van der Kolk.
Since 2012, Megaupload founder Kim Schmitz (commonly known as Kim.com), Ortman, van der Kolk, and others have been fighting for more than 10 years to prevent extradition to the United States. I did.
However, in May 2022, they accepted a plea deal with New Zealand authorities and the US government and chose to serve their sentences in New Zealand rather than risk losing their case and being extradited. did.
At the trial, it was pointed out that he could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison, but the High Court in Auckland, New Zealand ordered that he plead guilty, cooperate with the investigation, be rehabilitated, and receive NZ$10 million in overseas accounts. Ortmann was sentenced to 2 years and 7 months in prison, and Van der Kolk was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison.
In addition, Judge Sally Fitzgerald of the court decided that Ortmann would be present at the birth of her second child, and Van der Kolk would be sent to prison until August 1, 2023, taking into account the period he would spend with his mother who is in poor health. I've been putting it off for days.
Regarding the outcome of the trial, lead attorney David Bolt said that if founder Kim Dotcom had appeared in court, he could have been sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Regarding the status of Megaupload's management team, it has been decided that Ortmann and Van der Kolk will not be extradited and will serve their sentences in New Zealand. Finn Batt, who was in charge of marketing, died of cancer in 2022 after returning to Germany. Andras Nomu, a programmer in Estonia, pleaded guilty in 2015 and completed a one year and one day sentence in prison, leaving only founder Kim Dotcom, whose fate has not yet been determined. I am.
There has already been a ruling to hand over Dotcom to the United States, and the decision on whether to actually hand him over is in the hands of Minister of Justice Kiri Alan. However, news site TorrentFreak points out that even if the minister signs the extradition, Dotcom is likely to seek judicial review to delay the extradition.
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