This week I am here in New Zealand where we have announced my joining the legal team of Kim Dotcom, focusing on issues of international law and human rights.  On Jan. 20, I had the privilege of participating in the wild launch event for Mega, Dotcom’s newest encrypted cloud storage service.  The launch took place on the same day as an unlawful FBI-directed raid on his home and the seizure of his former company, Megaupload, one year earlier.

For those of you who haven’t followed the case, the raid on Kim’s home, his subsequent detention, seizure of assets, and destruction of his business by prosecutors from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has represented one of the most flagrant abuses of power in recent memory.  The case is quickly becoming one of the textbook examples of excessive over-reaching by governments to control the Internet through copyright extremism.