Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom is taking his public relations campaign to Twitter, where he is making fun of the US effort to try him for criminal copyright infringement. He is still moving pictures of his wife, children, and luxury cars from his mansion in New Zealand, where he is on bail awaiting an extradition hearing.
In a few days and 76 tweets, Dotcom’s Twitter account has gained over 30,000 followers. Dotcom, for his part, only follow President Barack Obama.
Dotcom partners Finn Batato, Matthias Ortmann, and Bram van der Kolk, who is accused of copyright conspiracy by the US, are also featured in his Twitter timeline.
The tweet storm comes amid the latest round of legal battles in the federal Dotcom case in Virginia. His defense team, led by Ira Rothken, filed a rebuttal (.pdf) in the ongoing fight over the personal liability of Dotcom and others, who prosecutors say is responsible for around $500 million in damages. Defendant also argued that the court lacked personal jurisdiction over the defendants.
According to Rothken, who visited New Zealand three days ago, the US froze the assets of Megaupload without serving the company itself, which Rothken argued should force the elimination of the whole issue.
Dotcom’s legal team also objected to a US government request that a hearing scheduled for Friday be postponed because members of the prosecution team were out of town that day. “(T)he government should not be allowed to obstruct justice” after it “was useless to the Defendants’ business, left them with tens of millions of dollars in assets along with their ability to earn a living and they are criminals of their liberty. are confined.”
This post appeared first Wired.com.