For the greater part, Kim Dotcom and his co-defendants will have been pretty happy with Judge David Harvey, the man overlooking their increasingly controversial extradition case.

Things had been going well, with the Judge ruling favorably towards the Megaupload founder and his friends on a number of occasions, but last week he apparently overstepped the mark.

It happened during the NetHui conference after the launch of “Fair Deal”, a campaign opposing amendments to New Zealand copyright law that could become part of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement. In common with ACTA that went before it, TPP negotiations are being held in secret and being used by the U.S. entertainment industries to push for tougher copyright law.

One of issues surrounds the circumvention of DVD region codes which currently allows New Zealanders to watch DVDs from other regions without committing an offense. TPP seeks to remove that freedom, and Judge Harvey made it clear he wasn’t happy with that.

“Under TPP and the American Digital Millennium copyright provisions you will not be able to do that, that will be prohibited… if you do you will be a criminal – that’s what will happen,” Judge Harvey said, adding:

“..we have met the enemy and he is [the] U.S.”

Quickly, NZHearld quoted Auckland University law professor Bill Hodge describing the comment as potentially “unhelpful” but clearly the pressure has been building since.

This morning, Chief District Court Judge Jan-Marie Doogue announced that Judge Harvey had decided to step down from the case over the comments.

“He recognizes that remarks made in the context of a paper he delivered on copyright law at a recent internet conference could reflect on his impartiality and that the appropriate response is for him to step down from the case,” she said.

looks like kim dotcom is making a bold and risky move, kim dotcom said that he is willingly offer to go to the united states to face these charges if the goverment give him a fair trial.

I don't know if it a smart move for kim or is it a trap set by the U.S. but anyway if the U.S. say yes than we may see how this whole megaupload case will turn out.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/201 ... te-himself

Yeah it's about time I call Megaupload's chance of resurrection is 0%.

Yeah it's about time I call Megaupload's chance of resurrection is 0%.

Returning Megaupload’s assets is no different from handing back stolen money to a bank robber, US Attorney Neil MacBride argued last month.

“The Government’s interest in forfeiture is virtually indistinguishable from its interest in returning to a bank the proceeds of a bank robbery; and a forfeiture-defendant’s claim of right to use such assets to hire an attorney, instead of having them returned to their rightful owners, is no more persuasive than a bank robber’s similar claim.”