Megaupload's founder downloads on Hollywood

New Zealand’s Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom has dodged extradition to America until at least March 2013, following a New Zealand court’s decision to delay the hearing.

Both Dotcom's lawyer and Crown lawyers representing the US government agreed to the delay, the result of concerns over the methods used to search Dotcom’s house and seize his assets.

The flamboyant entrepreneur took to Twitter to vent on the outcome; "extradition hearing delayed til March. Dirty delay tactics by the US. They destroyed my business. Took all my assets. Time does the rest."

He also found time to conduct an extensive and exclusive Skype interview with the movie industry trade bible, The Hollywood Reporter, in which he claimed that he wanted the hearing to go on as planned August 6 in order to allow his legal team to move forward with the case.

"The actions by the [United States Department of Justice] clearly demonstrate that they don't have a case and that this ... was about killing Megaupload and creating a chilling effect to freeze the whole file-hosting sector. They achieved that," he told HR.

Dotcom described the raid on his home by 72 “heavily armed police arriving in helicopters” as an ”Osama bin Laden-style operation”.

He also claims that the Department Of Justice knows that it doesn't have a case against him and his company.

During his last court appearance earlier in the month, Dotcom’s legal team had argued for full disclosure of the evidence that the US authorities had against him.

Crown lawyers argued that there was no requirement for Dotcom to see the information because he is not being tried in New Zealand. "If they are forced to provide discovery, then there will be no extradition. That's why they don't want to provide discovery. If they had a case, they would not need to hide what they have," Dotcom said in the interview.

Dotcom is making the most of his 87,000 strong Twitter audience, railing against authorities, the US government and the entire motion picture industry in recent weeks.

"The internet is uniting behind me. Everyone can see what's going on. Hollywood is in control of politics and has imported their action-filled movie scripts into the real world," he told The Hollywood Reporter. ®