Kim Dotcom launches 'Internet Party' in New Zealand

[Pete1242]

This is something that is sure to piss off Hollywood, the NSA, the CIA, the NZ govt, and the US govt. Looks like sitting electorate MP's will join the party, so an anti-surveillance and pro internet freedom party will exist after the September 20th election. Looks like the worst nightmare of the pro-spy lobby is coming true i.e. a rebel entrepreneur with the money to take them on.

The Internet Party will be represented in Parliament whether it brings home 5 per cent of the vote or not, Kim Dotcom says.

Internet entrepreneur Dotcom said this afternoon that a sitting electorate MP would join the party but he would not say who the person was, what party they currently belonged to or what electorate they represented.

Party chief executive Vikram Kumar said there were a further three sitting MPs that had expressed interest in joining the party.

Other candidates would be chosen in a process that was "almost like an audition", he said.

When members signed up to the party they could say if they were interested in becoming a party candidate, Dotcom added.

The party wanted to introduce "young, new talent" to the country's leadership, he said.

Dotcom said the Internet Party was open to working with any other party other than National.

The German-born millionaire said he would not work with, or support, the National Party in this term after a recent "disgusting smear campaign".

Dotcom also denied recent allegations that he was a Nazi sympathiser or bought into Nazi ideology.

The allegations that came about when it was revealed he owned a signed copy of Hitler's manifesto Mein Kampf (My Struggle) were part of a "disgusting smear campaign", he said.

Dotcom said he would not go into any further detail on the subject as he wanted to focus on the party's launch and call for members.

He said a deal with the Mana Party was still a possibility.

"Mana's biggest problem was that we said we could work with anybody," Dotcom said.

Dotcom said one of the party's key policies focussed on stopping the online "spy culture".

The party needed to send a clear message that the "mass surveillance" of the world's population was "not acceptable".

However, the party would ensure "sensefull investigations" by law enforcement agencies were carried out to uncover and prevent cyber-crime, he said.

Launch day for Kim Dotcom's Internet Party | Stuff.co.nz

The party website: https://internet.org.nz/

[video=youtube;YO07KTU3jEU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YO07KTU3jEU#t=89[/video]

 

[Pete1242]

Kim Dotcom's Internet Party claims to have signed up more than a thousand voters since launching its membership drive yesterday and aims to submit its registration application to the Electoral Commission on Monday.

"Having gone 'live' at midday on Thursday, the target of 500 people signed up was achieved at 7pm on the day and has continued to climb to more than 800 today," the party said this afternoon.

Internet Party chief executive Vikram Kumar said membership details were now being checked before submission to the Electoral Commission.

"We're working hard to have this done by Monday."

The commission will then verify those members before the party is officially registered, a process expected to take about six week.

Dotcom's party hits 1000 member mark - National - NZ Herald News

Kim Dotcom ‏@KimDotcom Mar 28

Today the #InternetParty has 2000 paid members. That's 1000 signups per day. Great! Tell all your friends to join us. http://Internet.org.nz

https://twitter.com/InternetPartyNZ
As it update, it is up to 2000 members and growing, in just three days.

There were protests against the TPPA that some of the party's supporters participated in:
Thousands protest TPPA in downtown Auckland - National - NZ Herald News

Several thousand protesters converged on downtown Auckland this afternoon to protest the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement.

It was one of 15 such events around the country today to protest the free trade agreement (the TPPA) which is currently being negotiated between 12 countries, including New Zealand, behind closed doors.

Crowd estimates from local organisers were: 1,000 in Auckland, 400 in Wellington, 200 in Hamilton and Nelson, 125 in Whangarei, 100 each in Tauranga, Napier, Christchurch and Dunedin, 80 in Palmerston North and New Plymouth, and 30 in Invercargill.

The Auckland protest began in Aotea Square at 1pm, where the crowd was addressed by speakers from a spectrum of political parties, unions and advocacy groups.

The protesters, holding placards with "New Zealand is not for sale" and "TPPA = Death to Democracy", chanted "TPPA, no way" as they marched down Queen St to the US Consulate General's office on Customs St.

Left-wing commentator Martyn Bradbury, who led the Auckland protest, was amazed with the turnout.

"I think that it really shows that economic sovereignty issues are actually quite central to New Zealanders' concept about who they are and how they see themselves and losing that kind of sovereignty is a major concern — it's no longer just a fringe issue."

Another protester that doesn't think much of America's TPPA deal:

 

[Pete1242]

Looks like the NZ Prime Minister won't have the royal family to himself or as his political re-election tools, when they visit New Zealand this year.

Royal family to stay one night at the Dotcom mansion on NZ visit. We welcome William, Kate & baby George to our home. pic.twitter.com/4gJ1WgEoAE

https://twitter.com/KimDotcom/status/450775361433772032

 

[Pete1242]

Commenting on Twitter on Monday, Dotcom said U.S. authorities "probably demanded" that the studios file the lawsuit "because they initiated this ... Hollywood science fiction script of a case. Embarrassing."

The lawsuit is seeking unspecified damages as well as attorney's fees. It claims the studios are entitled to Megaupload's profits and up to $150,000 per infringement.

The lawsuit comes as Dotcom is fighting a bid by U.S. authorities to extradite him from New Zealand to face online piracy charges over the now-closed website. He is also known as Kim Schmitz and Kim Tim Jim Vestor, according to the lawsuit.

Dotcom's U.S. attorney Ira Rothken said that Monday's suit was a way for the country's film industry to go after Megaupload if the U.S. Department of Justice fails to extradite Dotcom and his colleagues to the United States from New Zealand. An extradition hearing is scheduled for July.

"The MPAA is suddenly realizing that we're a few months away from the extradition hearing, and once Kim Dotcom and the others prevail in the extradition hearing they'll have more resources and more assets," Rothken told Reuters.

"The MPAA wants to have cover if the Department of Justice fails in the extradition and the criminal case."

U.S. movie studios sue Megaupload, founder Dotcom | Reuters
Looks like the Motion Picture Association of America and the US Department of Justice are getting more desperate, probably because there is such a low chance that Kim Dotcom will ever get extradited to the US anyway, and even less of a chance that they could actually win a case against him in America or New Zealand.

Here is a newspaper cartoon:

 

[Pete1242]

I also get the feeling that RT likes Kim Dotcom as they give him a lot of good coverage:

Hollywood movie giants launch copyright lawsuit against Kim Dotcom, Megaupload

The lawsuit accuses Megaupload of illegally uploading such movies as Ghostbusters, Alice in Wonderland, Toy Story 3, Forrest Gump, Transformers, Avatar, X-Men: First Class and Back to the Future.

The plaintiffs also argue that Megaupload’s "Uploader Rewards" program “openly paid its users money to upload popular unauthorized and unlicensed content, including plaintiffs' copyrighted television shows and movies, onto Megaupload's computer servers.”


Steven Fabrizio, senior executive, vice president and global general counsel of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), said that Megupload “paid users based on how many times the content was downloaded by others and didn't pay at all until that infringing content was downloaded 10,000 times.”

Dotcom has said that he and the Megaupload site cannot be responsible for what customers do with the service, and called the accusations by the MPAA “stupid.”

“Just like the DOJ criminal case against Megaupload, the MPAA case is a load of nonsense and won't succeed after scrutiny of the facts,” Dotcom wrote on his Twitter account.

Dotcom's US attorney Ira Rothken said that the lawsuit was a way for the country's film industry to go after Megaupload if the US “if the Department of Justice fails in the extradition and the criminal case" against Dotcom scheduled for July.

"The MPAA is suddenly realizing that we're a few months away from the extradition hearing, and once Kim Dotcom and the others prevail in the extradition hearing they'll have more resources and more assets," Rothken told Reuters.

Kim Dotcom, born in Germany as Kim Schmitz, is a resident of both Hong Kong and New Zealand, and a dual citizen of Finland and Germany. He made a fortune through his file-sharing website Megaupload, where until August 2011 he was CEO.

Dotcom’s legal troubles over Megaupload started in January 2012 after the US issued an indictment against Dotcom for charges of copyright and racketeering in connection with his “notorious” site.

After complaints from the FBI, the New Zealand government arrested Dotcom in 2012 at his mansion near Auckland. Dozens of officers stormed the home, seizing millions of dollars in cash and over 135 electronic items, including hard drives and laptops. The website was shut down, with millions of legal files made inaccessible along with any illegal content.

?Hollywood movie giants launch copyright lawsuit against Kim Dotcom, Megaupload ? RT News

Edit:Though the bigger worries are for the New Zealand government, as if Kim Dotcom reveals in July that the New Zealand Prime Minister lied [to parliament] about his knowledge of Kim Dotcom before the raid (which Kim Dotcom is claiming he has evidence of) and also wins his extradition case to not be deported; then it would humiliate the New Zealand government before the September 20th election.

 

[Pete1242]

The Internet Party's policy announcements

Dotcom's visit to the Mana conference was also newsworthy for his release of more party policy - for instance saying that he opposed fracking for oil, and supported free education and the abolition of student loans. Yesterday Dotcom released further policies and gave a greater indication of how policy will be made in the party - see Mohamed Hassan's Internet Party members gather at Dotcom's mansion.

Dotcom also revealed that the leader of the party would be elected via a 'Leader Idol' contest - see Brook Sabin's 2-minute news report, Internet Party reveals two policies at pool party. See also Vikram Kumar's interview, Internet Party members to help develop policy, Mana alliance uncertain. It's hard to see how the unnamed electorate MP that the Internet Party claims to have been talking to will be enthusiastic about competing for their position through that process.

The party plans to write policy using a website like Wikipedia - see Radio NZ's Dotcom reveals wiki-policy move. Social media scholar, Matthew Beveridge comments on this in his blog post, The Internet Party, Kim Dotcom and "wikipolicy".

Bryce Edwards: Hone Harawira - the great unifier of Mana.com - National - NZ Herald News
Looks like the Internet Party is making good on its talks with the left wing Mana Party, if they get in I can see Labour being pressured into abolishing student loans and re-introducing free tertiary education.