Kim Dotcom

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Kim Dotcom, founder of Megaupload

Kim Dotcom is the founder of the file hosting service Megaupload.

Personal Life

Dotcom was born Kim Schmitz in Germany on January 21, 1974. Dotcom has also been known as Kimble and Kim Tim Jim Vestor. Dotcom experienced great success as an internet entrepreneur during his teenage years, and has since lived an openly extravagant lifestyle, spending his wealth on luxury cars, yachts, women, houses and parties. Dotcom is physically a very large man, 6'6" tall and over 290lbs. He legally changed his last name from Schmitz to Dotcom in 2005. He is married, and he and his wife, Mona, have five children.

Criminal History (before Megaupload)

Dotcom was a skilled and successful hacker starting as a teenager. Under the name "Kimble" he was able to bypass the security in NASA, the Pentagon, Citibank, and PBX Systems. In 1994, Dotcom was arrested in Germany for trafficking stolen calling card numbers. Following his arrest, Dotcom received a two-year suspended sentence for being under-age at the time the crimes were committed.

In 2001, Dotcom purchased €375,000 worth of shares of the nearly bankrupt company LetsBuyIt.com. Shortly after, he purchased €50 million in shares of LetsBuyIt.com. After a major rise in share value, Kim cashed out with €1.5 million. To avoid further investigation, Dotcom moved to Thailand, where he was arrested by German authorities. In November 2003, he pleaded guilty to embezzlement, he received a suspended sentence of 20 months. Later in 2003, Dotcom left Germany and moved to Hong Kong.

New Zealand Residency

Dotcom visited New Zealand a number of times in 2008 and 2009, during this time spending over GST$3.2 million on 12 cars and a leased helicopter. By November 2010, the New Zealand Immigration Department granted Dotcom residency despite his criminal record under the investor plus category, as he had invested over GST$10 million in New Zealand.

Megaupload and Arrest

Megaupload Logo

See main article Megaupload

Megaupload is a Hong Kong-based file hosing and sharing company started by Dotcom in February 2003. Originally, the company was known as Data Project Limited, but the name was changed to Megaupload in 2005. Megaupload was very successful, growing to USD$175 million in revenues, 50 million daily visitors, over 150 employees, and responsible for 4% of all internet traffic.

Indictments were filed against Dotcom and other Megaupload executives in Virginia, USA, on January 5, 2012 for crimes related to "engaging in a racketeering conspiracy, conspiring to commit copyright infringement, conspiring to commit money laundering and two substantive counts of criminal copyright infringement." Two weeks later, on January 20, Kim Dotcom, along with Finn Batato, Mathias Ortmann and Bram van der Kolk were arrested in Coatesville, Auckland, New Zealand, by New Zealand Police. Dotcom's 64 bank accounts from across the world were frozen, denying him access to US$175 million in cash. During the raid, USD$17 million in assets including TVs, art and luxury cars were seized. Dotcom was remanded to Mt Eden Prison, where he claimed he was mistreated and subjected to sleep deprivation. On February 22, Dotcom was released on bail.

See Also

• Megaupload

• File Sharing

• Digital Piracy

References

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