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AUCKLAND, New Zealand, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom avoided jail Monday after the U.S. failed to make the case to get his bail revoked for contacting his former colleagues. The U.S. tried to make the case Dotcom was a flight risk and accused him of contacting other Megaupload designers in Europe.
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It did succeed in tightening his bail restrictions -- a success Dotcom called unfair as he has followed his bail requirements. He will have to check in with his bail officer twice a week instead of once and is banned from traveling on private aircraft or marine vessels.
"I think this is another case of harassment and bullying by the United States government in concert with the New Zealand government. I think this whole application was only made because my lawyers decided to resign because of a lack of funds on my part because Hollywood has seized the new family assets that have been made after the raid," said Dotcom in a statement.
BREAKING NEWS:
Court rules that I'm free to go home. Justice is alive in Auckland. Not so sure about Wellington.
— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) December 1, 2014Megaupload was shut down in 2012, but Dotcom has since launched a new service. He argues that he was not responsible for any uploads filed illegally shared by his website's users.
If he wins his case in Hong Kong, Dotcom said he will seek $2 billion in damages for the destruction of the site.
