Translation interview Kim Dotkom New Zealand TV
After the closure of the world's largest file sharing service megaupload.com and the arrest of its owner Kim Dotcom, almost two months have passed. On February 22, Dotcom was released on bail, and on March 1 he gave an exclusive interview to the New Zealand television channel 3news , told about the trial, the size of his company and the history of megaupload creation. I publish his translation.
Kim Dotcom: You know, it’s like a nightmare. An unexpected situation that frightened my family, my wife, who is pregnant with twins, had nightmares, she feels unhappy, that is, of course, I found myself in an interesting situation.
')
J. Campbell: Kim, you say it was unexpected. Absolutely, completely unexpectedly, you never imagined in your life that this could happen to someone in the world sometime?
Kim: Well, business is seven years old, and we only had legal proceedings once, and this was not, you know, the film company, a large media company, and we spent millions of dollars on legal advice over the past few years, and our advisers claimed that we were safe, being protected by the DMCA - a US law that protects online service providers from third-party actions, so that everything came out unexpectedly.
Campbell: What did your lawyers say about your business? As far as one can understand, Megaupload is, quite simply, a giant exchanger, right? You upload something there, someone else downloads from there, you and they share files - and this could be anything, right? How are you protected from copyright infringement by persons using Megaupload?
Kim: theoretically, and everyone really believed in it, we were protected by the law. We are not responsible for the actions of third parties, do you understand? While we are dealing with things that have been reported to us, which we have been doing all these years, we are protected by law and, you know, I find it amazing what happens because, as I said, we have received legal advice all these years, where it was said, that we are not responsible for the actions of third parties.
Campbell: How did the idea for Megaupload appear? That was your idea, right?
Kim: Once I sent a file to a friend via e-mail, and I received a message that the file is too large, the site refuses to send it, so I wondered how to solve such problems? So I created a server where I can upload the file, and send a friend a unique link to this file, that's how it all started, it was just a solution to the problem that exists to this day.
Campbell: How quickly things began to evolve, were you surprised?
Kim: Yes, it developed surprisingly quickly, because every time someone used the system to upload a file, the person who downloaded the mortgage also learned about Megaupload, and more and more people used it, because the mechanism is so useful ... and free.
Campbell: Kevin Soo, the senior vice president of the Content Protection and the Motion Picture Association called you, quoting: "The worst violator of copyright in the world." Is it so?
Kim: Not at all. I am not a copyright infringer. Estimate the size of Megaupload - a network that processes 1.5 terabytes ...
Campbell: Explain to me how much this is?
Kim: That's about 800 files sent per second. We are a relatively small company, one cannot expect that we will track all this traffic.
Campbell: So, 800 files per second.
Kim: Yes.
Campbell: 24 hours a day, all days of the year.
Kim: Yes.
Campbell: In a second.
Kim: Yes.
Campbell: And do you know what is in these files? Can you at any time look at these 800 files per second ...
Kim: Well, there are other laws protecting users, these are laws on piracy. For example, in the States, this is the Electronic Communication Privacy Act, which prohibits us from rummaging through user profiles or files. Like mail, it is private, we can not just take and check everything that users download. But for this reason, we have our own rules for using the service, where we tell users: “You cannot upload anything that violates someone’s rights to Megaupload, but only that which belongs to you,” and before download, each user clicks a button in the window: "I agree with the rules of service." So we had a legal agreement with users that they could not upload something that was not theirs.
Campbell: In general, it is somewhat idealistic to believe that only because we click on the clause confirming agreement with the rules of the service, we will behave according to these rules, right? That is, you should have known that people would do what they wanted, since soon they were able to slip through the front door. They exchanged all the files they wanted. Did you have the ability to control it?
Kim: Of course, everyone knows that the Internet is used for both legitimate and illegal purposes. I think that all owners of such resources had similar problems. YouTube, Google, all in the same boat. So, you should understand that we gave content owners the opportunity to remove links that violate their rights. That is, they not only had an online form where they could bring information about the violation of rights, but also direct access to our system in order to remove any link without our participation. Full access to 180 of our partners, including any large film studio, Microsoft and major content providers, and they constantly used the system, which the law by the way did not oblige us to introduce! We gave access voluntarily, and over 15 million links were removed.
Campbell: So, every member of the Motion Picture Association, any studio affiliated with the association, had direct access to Megaupload.com to remove any copyright threatening material - is that all?
Kim: Exactly.
Campbell: And at the same time, the FBI’s charges against you include, I quote: “Copyright infringements that caused losses of owners of rights in the amount of $ 500 million”?
Kim: This is complete rubbish. If you read the charges and listen to what the prosecutor said in court, this is at least $ 500 million in damages from music files for a two-week period. That is, they actually speak about $ 13 billion in damage per year due to downloading music. The entire US music industry is worth less than 20 billion. Thus, as one site may be responsible for such damage, it does not fit in the head and does not fit into the idea of ​​reality.
Campbell: So you think you are the kind of innocent lamb sacrificed?
Kim: I don’t find another explanation because I didn’t do anything wrong. I am not a criminal, my site was not planned as a pirate bay. If you read the comments, take a look at the online discussion, everyone understands this. This is madness.
Campbell: The FBI called your case unprecedented. That is, the scale of your piracy is unprecedented. There was nothing like this in the history of mankind, you are a pirate from pirates.
Kim: Yeah. It's like the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, you know. If you want to get someone, and you have political goals, you will say anything. This is a fabrication and a lie. There are hundreds of other companies like us, why is nothing happening to them?
Campbell: Could you name a couple?
Kim: A lot of sites. Mediafire. Located in the USA, they offer exactly the same service as us.
Campbell: File Sharing?
Kim: YES. Rapidshare, Fileserve, Filesonic. Microsoft has a service - Skydrive. Google starts the service Drive. Everything on this field, in one business, everyone has the same problems with piracy that we had. But we are not responsible for the problem itself, I think it is important to understand. Why does piracy exist? Because, for example, Europeans are not able to watch new films at the same time as they are released in the United States. This problem comes from the outdated business model and the license model on which Hollywood stands, they release something first in their own country, but show trailers around the world advertising the film, but the 14-year-old Frenchman or German will not see it for six months after the premiere do you understand If there were a model by which everyone would have simultaneous access to the content, there would be no pyro problem. So, IMHO, the United States government patronizes an outdated monopoly system that no longer works in the Internet era, and this is what boils down to. I'm not the king of pirates, I offered online content storage for users, that's all.
Kim: When you create something popular, you create a solution to a problem, you are an innovator, you solve many people's problems, they like what you offer, and of course you automatically make money. If you have a popular product, you make money. I had a very popular product.
Campbell: Why was he so popular?
Kim: Because people could overcome many limitations. It saved people money, you know, you don’t need to buy a place to store files, you can use our services. I'm talking about legitimate files. You can use our services to keep a backup of all your documents. There are so many legal ways to use Megaupload that the element of piracy really should not be considered before all others.
Campbell: in an article in CNET said, I quote: "Among the rights holders who accused Megaupload of piracy, including software and video game manufacturers, no one provided the FBI more evidence against Megaupload than MPAA." Have you ever received complaints from MPAA members like: “Kim, we are concerned about what is happening on Megaupload”?
Kim: Never. And, I will tell you more, if you were a company that suffers billions of dollars of such damage from us, would you sit and wait? You would call your lawyers, try to sue us, stop our activities.
Campbell: that is, no action in any form. Did you receive emails from MPAA like: “The latest James Bond movie is downloaded via Megaupload, stop it ...”? Did you get ...
Kim: Not at all. We have not received any official papers from any of these studios. The only thing we received was reports of violations and deletion of files on our site. Does it surprise you that I am the king of the pirates, causing all this damage, and no one is trying to sue for damages? Who will manage the business and lose millions of dollars because of me, and, besides, sit, do nothing. I want to say, the investigation lasted two years, the company has existed for seven years. The MPAA always called us different bad words, but never tried to bring us to court for the simple reason that there is a law in the United States protecting us - Digital Millenium Copyricht Act - protecting suppliers online services from responsibility for the actions of users, the same law that allows Google to exist, YouTube allows to exist. Viacom sued YouTube, they said that the DMCA protects them and won the case. And look at the case file, the correspondence during the trial - you will understand that we are innocent sheep compared to YouTube, but those guys managed to leave. They won the case, and I was in prison, my house was confiscated, my accounts were frozen without trial. This is total madness, that's what it is.
Campbell: Why do you think then?
Kim: I'm an easy target. My extravagance, my hacker past, and, you know, I'm not American, I live somewhere in New Zealand, near the hell out of there. I have funny numbers on the car, all that. I'm not google. I do not have 50 billion dollars in the account, in fact, now I have no penny in the account. And all my lawyers work without getting a penny, and still do their job, because they see that what is happening soma is not fair, unreasonable, unfair.
Campbell: What are you thinking about after spending a month in prison? A lot of time alone with you, isn't it? Do you have a single camera, or do you share it with someone?
Kim: Yes, I have a solitary camera, and I’m mostly worried about my family, this is what I think the most about. My wife is pregnant with twins, and this impossible situation does not let the anxiety subside, they made a pledge - and I don’t even know on what grounds. Some kind of nonsense.
Campbell: Are you a problem prisoner?
Kim: Absolutely not.
Campbell: Is there a helicopter waiting for you over the hill, literally or figuratively, that takes you to a place where you cannot be extradited?
Kim: Think for a minute yourself. Why should I run after everything is taken from me? A company worth maybe a billion dollars sentenced to death without a trial, why should I run away? The only thing that remains, and the only thing that makes sense, is to fight, which I am going to do. I am going to fight to the end, and I promise you and all who see it now that victory will be mine, because I am not a criminal and have not committed anything illegal.
Campbell: The FBI's accusations, written perhaps in the most emotional tone that I had to meet ...
Kim: This is a press release. The 72-page conclusion is so sloppy to only make the judge and grand jury in the States agree with such methods. Read the professional opinions of those who have seen this document. This is nothing more than a press release, with facts taken out of context, designed to make me a bad guy.
Campbell: Are you a bad guy, Kim? Maybe you are not a good person who has tried to cut as much money as possible for yourself at the expense of content providers who take risks, do work, a product - all so that you force people to participate in their machinations with the aim of enrichment?
Kim: Complete bullshit. I am an innovator, I am a software maker, I propose solutions, I create a website that is becoming popular and that they want to use, and many have used completely legitimate, and it is very strange that they put me on such a pedestal, declaring it to be the super pirate of the entire planet. This is madness. There is no excuse for this.
Campbell: Do you think you would be in this position if you didn’t ride a Mercedes in a mad rally in Europe with Dr. Evil behind the wheel, you didn’t act like a lifejacker? After all, you position yourself so as to attract attention, which distinguishes you from the guy who runs Google, who dresses like me and does not upload a video on Youtube that behaves like a psycho. Maybe because you are such an easy target, do you think?
Kim: Frankly speaking. Those videos and everything that you see on the net was not uploaded by me. This video is over ten years old and I love to have fun, OK? I enjoy life, I have a big child inside and I see no reason to walk in a suit and be squeezed. I earned my money, fulfilled my dreams, there is nothing wrong with that. These clips were made long before I had a wife, family, children, you know, my priorities have changed. I am a family man, I no longer do anything like this — it was children's fun, and then it was funny, I don’t regret it, but today I’m not like that. I want to save the future for my children, to provide my family with a decent home, why we actually moved to New Zealand, and are very surprised at how everything turned out.
Campbell: Is that why you are here? Moved to start life anew and become a family man or to get away from all the hype, the FBI?
Kim: No, I'm here for the family. I have small children, and we lived in Hong Kong. This is a type of concrete jungle. No grass, no trees, no birds. I want my children to live closer to nature, nature, happiness, peace, which is why we came to New Zealand. You do not have nuclear weapons, you are not in the list of opponents of any nuclear power. This is good. NZ is a beautiful country, we spent our holidays here, fell in love with this place and decided to move here for the sake of the children in order to give them a decent future.
Campbell: What future awaits you, Kim?
Kim: You know, I'm a fighter, and I'm going to fight. I feel confident and intend to win, because, in the end, my family and all my loved ones know that I am not a criminal and have not done anything wrong. So I will fight. This is all I can do.
PS
For the translation, thanks to Andrei Gorelikov .
Kim Dotcom: You know, it’s like a nightmare. An unexpected situation that frightened my family, my wife, who is pregnant with twins, had nightmares, she feels unhappy, that is, of course, I found myself in an interesting situation.
')
J. Campbell: Kim, you say it was unexpected. Absolutely, completely unexpectedly, you never imagined in your life that this could happen to someone in the world sometime?
Kim: Well, business is seven years old, and we only had legal proceedings once, and this was not, you know, the film company, a large media company, and we spent millions of dollars on legal advice over the past few years, and our advisers claimed that we were safe, being protected by the DMCA - a US law that protects online service providers from third-party actions, so that everything came out unexpectedly.
Campbell: What did your lawyers say about your business? As far as one can understand, Megaupload is, quite simply, a giant exchanger, right? You upload something there, someone else downloads from there, you and they share files - and this could be anything, right? How are you protected from copyright infringement by persons using Megaupload?
Kim: theoretically, and everyone really believed in it, we were protected by the law. We are not responsible for the actions of third parties, do you understand? While we are dealing with things that have been reported to us, which we have been doing all these years, we are protected by law and, you know, I find it amazing what happens because, as I said, we have received legal advice all these years, where it was said, that we are not responsible for the actions of third parties.
Campbell: How did the idea for Megaupload appear? That was your idea, right?
Kim: Once I sent a file to a friend via e-mail, and I received a message that the file is too large, the site refuses to send it, so I wondered how to solve such problems? So I created a server where I can upload the file, and send a friend a unique link to this file, that's how it all started, it was just a solution to the problem that exists to this day.
Campbell: How quickly things began to evolve, were you surprised?
Kim: Yes, it developed surprisingly quickly, because every time someone used the system to upload a file, the person who downloaded the mortgage also learned about Megaupload, and more and more people used it, because the mechanism is so useful ... and free.
Campbell: Kevin Soo, the senior vice president of the Content Protection and the Motion Picture Association called you, quoting: "The worst violator of copyright in the world." Is it so?
Kim: Not at all. I am not a copyright infringer. Estimate the size of Megaupload - a network that processes 1.5 terabytes ...
Campbell: Explain to me how much this is?
Kim: That's about 800 files sent per second. We are a relatively small company, one cannot expect that we will track all this traffic.
Campbell: So, 800 files per second.
Kim: Yes.
Campbell: 24 hours a day, all days of the year.
Kim: Yes.
Campbell: In a second.
Kim: Yes.
Campbell: And do you know what is in these files? Can you at any time look at these 800 files per second ...
Kim: Well, there are other laws protecting users, these are laws on piracy. For example, in the States, this is the Electronic Communication Privacy Act, which prohibits us from rummaging through user profiles or files. Like mail, it is private, we can not just take and check everything that users download. But for this reason, we have our own rules for using the service, where we tell users: “You cannot upload anything that violates someone’s rights to Megaupload, but only that which belongs to you,” and before download, each user clicks a button in the window: "I agree with the rules of service." So we had a legal agreement with users that they could not upload something that was not theirs.
Campbell: In general, it is somewhat idealistic to believe that only because we click on the clause confirming agreement with the rules of the service, we will behave according to these rules, right? That is, you should have known that people would do what they wanted, since soon they were able to slip through the front door. They exchanged all the files they wanted. Did you have the ability to control it?
Kim: Of course, everyone knows that the Internet is used for both legitimate and illegal purposes. I think that all owners of such resources had similar problems. YouTube, Google, all in the same boat. So, you should understand that we gave content owners the opportunity to remove links that violate their rights. That is, they not only had an online form where they could bring information about the violation of rights, but also direct access to our system in order to remove any link without our participation. Full access to 180 of our partners, including any large film studio, Microsoft and major content providers, and they constantly used the system, which the law by the way did not oblige us to introduce! We gave access voluntarily, and over 15 million links were removed.
Campbell: So, every member of the Motion Picture Association, any studio affiliated with the association, had direct access to Megaupload.com to remove any copyright threatening material - is that all?
Kim: Exactly.
Campbell: And at the same time, the FBI’s charges against you include, I quote: “Copyright infringements that caused losses of owners of rights in the amount of $ 500 million”?
Kim: This is complete rubbish. If you read the charges and listen to what the prosecutor said in court, this is at least $ 500 million in damages from music files for a two-week period. That is, they actually speak about $ 13 billion in damage per year due to downloading music. The entire US music industry is worth less than 20 billion. Thus, as one site may be responsible for such damage, it does not fit in the head and does not fit into the idea of ​​reality.
Campbell: So you think you are the kind of innocent lamb sacrificed?
Kim: I don’t find another explanation because I didn’t do anything wrong. I am not a criminal, my site was not planned as a pirate bay. If you read the comments, take a look at the online discussion, everyone understands this. This is madness.
Campbell: The FBI called your case unprecedented. That is, the scale of your piracy is unprecedented. There was nothing like this in the history of mankind, you are a pirate from pirates.
Kim: Yeah. It's like the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, you know. If you want to get someone, and you have political goals, you will say anything. This is a fabrication and a lie. There are hundreds of other companies like us, why is nothing happening to them?
Campbell: Could you name a couple?
Kim: A lot of sites. Mediafire. Located in the USA, they offer exactly the same service as us.
Campbell: File Sharing?
Kim: YES. Rapidshare, Fileserve, Filesonic. Microsoft has a service - Skydrive. Google starts the service Drive. Everything on this field, in one business, everyone has the same problems with piracy that we had. But we are not responsible for the problem itself, I think it is important to understand. Why does piracy exist? Because, for example, Europeans are not able to watch new films at the same time as they are released in the United States. This problem comes from the outdated business model and the license model on which Hollywood stands, they release something first in their own country, but show trailers around the world advertising the film, but the 14-year-old Frenchman or German will not see it for six months after the premiere do you understand If there were a model by which everyone would have simultaneous access to the content, there would be no pyro problem. So, IMHO, the United States government patronizes an outdated monopoly system that no longer works in the Internet era, and this is what boils down to. I'm not the king of pirates, I offered online content storage for users, that's all.
Kim: When you create something popular, you create a solution to a problem, you are an innovator, you solve many people's problems, they like what you offer, and of course you automatically make money. If you have a popular product, you make money. I had a very popular product.
Campbell: Why was he so popular?
Kim: Because people could overcome many limitations. It saved people money, you know, you don’t need to buy a place to store files, you can use our services. I'm talking about legitimate files. You can use our services to keep a backup of all your documents. There are so many legal ways to use Megaupload that the element of piracy really should not be considered before all others.
Campbell: in an article in CNET said, I quote: "Among the rights holders who accused Megaupload of piracy, including software and video game manufacturers, no one provided the FBI more evidence against Megaupload than MPAA." Have you ever received complaints from MPAA members like: “Kim, we are concerned about what is happening on Megaupload”?
Kim: Never. And, I will tell you more, if you were a company that suffers billions of dollars of such damage from us, would you sit and wait? You would call your lawyers, try to sue us, stop our activities.
Campbell: that is, no action in any form. Did you receive emails from MPAA like: “The latest James Bond movie is downloaded via Megaupload, stop it ...”? Did you get ...
Kim: Not at all. We have not received any official papers from any of these studios. The only thing we received was reports of violations and deletion of files on our site. Does it surprise you that I am the king of the pirates, causing all this damage, and no one is trying to sue for damages? Who will manage the business and lose millions of dollars because of me, and, besides, sit, do nothing. I want to say, the investigation lasted two years, the company has existed for seven years. The MPAA always called us different bad words, but never tried to bring us to court for the simple reason that there is a law in the United States protecting us - Digital Millenium Copyricht Act - protecting suppliers online services from responsibility for the actions of users, the same law that allows Google to exist, YouTube allows to exist. Viacom sued YouTube, they said that the DMCA protects them and won the case. And look at the case file, the correspondence during the trial - you will understand that we are innocent sheep compared to YouTube, but those guys managed to leave. They won the case, and I was in prison, my house was confiscated, my accounts were frozen without trial. This is total madness, that's what it is.
Campbell: Why do you think then?
Kim: I'm an easy target. My extravagance, my hacker past, and, you know, I'm not American, I live somewhere in New Zealand, near the hell out of there. I have funny numbers on the car, all that. I'm not google. I do not have 50 billion dollars in the account, in fact, now I have no penny in the account. And all my lawyers work without getting a penny, and still do their job, because they see that what is happening soma is not fair, unreasonable, unfair.
Campbell: What are you thinking about after spending a month in prison? A lot of time alone with you, isn't it? Do you have a single camera, or do you share it with someone?
Kim: Yes, I have a solitary camera, and I’m mostly worried about my family, this is what I think the most about. My wife is pregnant with twins, and this impossible situation does not let the anxiety subside, they made a pledge - and I don’t even know on what grounds. Some kind of nonsense.
Campbell: Are you a problem prisoner?
Kim: Absolutely not.
Campbell: Is there a helicopter waiting for you over the hill, literally or figuratively, that takes you to a place where you cannot be extradited?
Kim: Think for a minute yourself. Why should I run after everything is taken from me? A company worth maybe a billion dollars sentenced to death without a trial, why should I run away? The only thing that remains, and the only thing that makes sense, is to fight, which I am going to do. I am going to fight to the end, and I promise you and all who see it now that victory will be mine, because I am not a criminal and have not committed anything illegal.
Campbell: The FBI's accusations, written perhaps in the most emotional tone that I had to meet ...
Kim: This is a press release. The 72-page conclusion is so sloppy to only make the judge and grand jury in the States agree with such methods. Read the professional opinions of those who have seen this document. This is nothing more than a press release, with facts taken out of context, designed to make me a bad guy.
Campbell: Are you a bad guy, Kim? Maybe you are not a good person who has tried to cut as much money as possible for yourself at the expense of content providers who take risks, do work, a product - all so that you force people to participate in their machinations with the aim of enrichment?
Kim: Complete bullshit. I am an innovator, I am a software maker, I propose solutions, I create a website that is becoming popular and that they want to use, and many have used completely legitimate, and it is very strange that they put me on such a pedestal, declaring it to be the super pirate of the entire planet. This is madness. There is no excuse for this.
Campbell: Do you think you would be in this position if you didn’t ride a Mercedes in a mad rally in Europe with Dr. Evil behind the wheel, you didn’t act like a lifejacker? After all, you position yourself so as to attract attention, which distinguishes you from the guy who runs Google, who dresses like me and does not upload a video on Youtube that behaves like a psycho. Maybe because you are such an easy target, do you think?
Kim: Frankly speaking. Those videos and everything that you see on the net was not uploaded by me. This video is over ten years old and I love to have fun, OK? I enjoy life, I have a big child inside and I see no reason to walk in a suit and be squeezed. I earned my money, fulfilled my dreams, there is nothing wrong with that. These clips were made long before I had a wife, family, children, you know, my priorities have changed. I am a family man, I no longer do anything like this — it was children's fun, and then it was funny, I don’t regret it, but today I’m not like that. I want to save the future for my children, to provide my family with a decent home, why we actually moved to New Zealand, and are very surprised at how everything turned out.
Campbell: Is that why you are here? Moved to start life anew and become a family man or to get away from all the hype, the FBI?
Kim: No, I'm here for the family. I have small children, and we lived in Hong Kong. This is a type of concrete jungle. No grass, no trees, no birds. I want my children to live closer to nature, nature, happiness, peace, which is why we came to New Zealand. You do not have nuclear weapons, you are not in the list of opponents of any nuclear power. This is good. NZ is a beautiful country, we spent our holidays here, fell in love with this place and decided to move here for the sake of the children in order to give them a decent future.
Campbell: What future awaits you, Kim?
Kim: You know, I'm a fighter, and I'm going to fight. I feel confident and intend to win, because, in the end, my family and all my loved ones know that I am not a criminal and have not done anything wrong. So I will fight. This is all I can do.
PS
For the translation, thanks to Andrei Gorelikov .
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/284718/
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