Kim Dotcom: 'I'm not a pirate, I'm an innovator'

[Cupe]

The larger-than-life tycoon behind Megaupload.com, in New Zealand facing US piracy charges, has made a dance album to distract himself from his woes.

But how does he fit that in with playing Call of Duty all night?

Rush hour has begun on a sunny Friday afternoon but Kim Dotcom, internet entrepreneur and bete noire of the entertainment industry, is asleep. He keeps strange hours – working, eating and gaming all night, sleeping most of the day.

I'm not the only one waiting for him to wake in the shady outdoor dining area of the Dotcom mansion, a NZ$30m (£15m) pile half an hour's drive north of Auckland. James Kimmer, Dotcom's political adviser, whose other clients include the recently freed Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, is here to shoot a campaign ad for Dotcom's new political party, which will contest the next New Zealand general election, almost certain to be held at some point this year. Kimmer has to wait until the boss is done promoting his debut EDM album Good Times first.

Both these ventures launch next week – on 20 January, the day before Dotcom turns 40. That's also the second anniversary of what has come to be known as "the raid", his arrest on money laundering, racketeering and copyright infringement charges. It was conducted in a style straight from Dotcom's beloved video games, by 76 New Zealand police officers, some armed with MP5 machine guns, some arriving on helicopter. The charges stemmed from Megaupload, the file-sharing company he established in Hong Kong in 2005 which became a major piracy hub, at one stage accounting for 4% of all internet traffic, and with 180 million registered users. After intense lobbying by the movie and music industries, Megaupload was shut down by the US Department of Justice on 19 January 2012. Dotcom is currently on bail, fighting extradition to the US, with the next hearing set for April.

If the politics, the album, and the legal complications weren't enough, there's also mega.co.nz, a successor to Megaupload, and Baboom, a music distribution service that he has previously described as an "iTunes-Spotify hybrid". He also dabbles in theatre and recently reclaimed the #1 global ranking in the Xbox shooter Call of Duty ("I have a really good kill:death ratio"). He has five young children, too. All in all enough to keep anyone awake all night.

Full story: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2 ... -interview

[AlexJ]

this guy