Kim Dotcom and Megaupload Put Blame on the Government

Kim Dotcom has become the latest internet celebrity. Founder of the file sharing website Megaupload, Dotcom has been under surveillance and facing investigations for a while now. It has been a year since his mansion was raided and he was arrested. Consequently, charges of online piracy were leveled against him. Since then, Dotcom has been out of the US, taking up residence in New Zealand where he launched his latest online service, Mega.

It does seem as though Dotcom is having the time of his life. The website Megaupload has been around for quite some time and used by people all around the world. Yet, Dotcom hasn’t been able to achieve the kind of celebrity status afforded to the Zuckerbergs of this world. Despite having perhaps the catchiest surname in the cyber world, Kim Dotcom had been living a fairly ordinary life until the US government decided to target him.

From that day onwards, Dotcom has become a celebrity in his own right. In fact, the launch of his new service Mega attracted over a million subscribers on the first day itself. Even though he faces jail time if the charges filed against him are proved, Dotcom is seemingly in no mood to cease his ‘pirate’ activities. Megaupload was shut down when Dotcom was arrested but he has gone ahead with launching an alternate service to it after just one year.

Dotcom has consistently maintained a stance that he is innocent and Megaupload was by no means a pirate website. He has been pleading his case for a year now, saying that his website was just as legal as cloud services like Dropbox. He does make a point as the main feature of Megaupload was that users could upload large files to the website and share it with their family and friends, even strangers. However, the US courts don’t see it in that light.

In fact, Dotcom has openly blamed the government for shutting down his website and having him arrested. Not shy to take names, Dotcom mentioned VP Joe Biden in his remarks, as he suggested that Biden’s closeness with MPAA bigwig Chris Dodd. While it has been some time since he named Biden as the conspirator behind the shutting down of his service, Dotcom has said he has no plans to take ‘revenge’ on the US government.

On the contrary, he is content living in New Zealand in his home. But, he does want to be a free man who is not troubled by anyone. Given the looming threat of his extradition to the US and his growing celebrity status, it doesn’t look as if Kim Dotcom will be able to escape the spotlight in the near future.

[Image via totallycoolpix]