Back in August, the court of appeals rejected efforts by the MegaUpload founder to regain control over millions of dollars in assets seized by the American government many years ago. Now Kim Dotcom urges the Court to rehear his case and rehear en banc.
The popular file-sharing service was shutdown four and a half years ago, with authorities in the US, New Zealand and Hong Kong seizing Dotcom’s millions of dollars in cash and other property, claiming that they were the product of copyright infringement and money laundering. While Dotcom and his co-defendants continue fighting against the US government’s attempts to extradite them, the latter branded them fugitives from justice and won a legal battle to seize their assets.
Kim Dotcom tried to appeal these measures, but a three-judge panel handed down a decision against him. The court of appeals upheld the decision of the lower court, dismissing the argument that the seizure order had no jurisdiction. The court reiterated that as a fugitive, Dotcom had no standing to reclaim his assets of $67m. However, the MegaUpload founder is not going to give up. Now he announced that his legal team had filed a petition to the court of appeals for a rehearing of his case. The petition highlights the gravity of the matter – the largest criminal copyright case in the American history. It also points out that the American government acted aggressively by seizing property and then achieving forfeiture without a trial on the merits.
Dotcom points out that the decision of the panel was not unanimous and that the ruling conflicts with precedents of both the court of appeals and the Supreme Court. The petition also clarifies that the property in question is controlled by foreign courts that are not obliged to comply with a US forfeiture order. Therefore, Dotcom’s lawyers believe that en banc review is required to ensure uniformity in the court rulings and to avoid a conflict with Supreme Court precedent. Finally, Dotcom continues to insist that the American government is abusing its powers to gain unfair advantage over citizens of foreign countries.
It remains to be seen whether a rehearing will be granted, but Dotcom is ready to go all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary.
Thanks to TorrentFreak for providing the source of the article.
The popular file-sharing service was shutdown four and a half years ago, with authorities in the US, New Zealand and Hong Kong seizing Dotcom’s millions of dollars in cash and other property, claiming that they were the product of copyright infringement and money laundering. While Dotcom and his co-defendants continue fighting against the US government’s attempts to extradite them, the latter branded them fugitives from justice and won a legal battle to seize their assets.
Kim Dotcom tried to appeal these measures, but a three-judge panel handed down a decision against him. The court of appeals upheld the decision of the lower court, dismissing the argument that the seizure order had no jurisdiction. The court reiterated that as a fugitive, Dotcom had no standing to reclaim his assets of $67m. However, the MegaUpload founder is not going to give up. Now he announced that his legal team had filed a petition to the court of appeals for a rehearing of his case. The petition highlights the gravity of the matter – the largest criminal copyright case in the American history. It also points out that the American government acted aggressively by seizing property and then achieving forfeiture without a trial on the merits.
Dotcom points out that the decision of the panel was not unanimous and that the ruling conflicts with precedents of both the court of appeals and the Supreme Court. The petition also clarifies that the property in question is controlled by foreign courts that are not obliged to comply with a US forfeiture order. Therefore, Dotcom’s lawyers believe that en banc review is required to ensure uniformity in the court rulings and to avoid a conflict with Supreme Court precedent. Finally, Dotcom continues to insist that the American government is abusing its powers to gain unfair advantage over citizens of foreign countries.
It remains to be seen whether a rehearing will be granted, but Dotcom is ready to go all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary.
Thanks to TorrentFreak for providing the source of the article.
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