Four men were arrested yesterday and charged with internet piracy of movies and TV shows. Their website MegaUpload was a file-sharing website, with 50 million hits daily. It was based in Hong Kong. One of the founders of the website, a man who calls himself Kim Dotcom (his original name was Kim Schmitz) has been living a life of luxury in a mansion near Auckland. Police waited until people arrived for a party and then they arrested Dotcom and three others. Along with the New Zealand police were FBI agents. The arrested men will probably be extradited to the US where they will face charges of internet piracy. Makers of films which were uploaded say they have lost US$500 million because people did not pay for copyright. Kim Dotcom, however, is a multi-millionaire. He owns 18 luxury cars worth a total of $6m.
Three of the men arrested are from Germany and one from The Netherlands. Two of the men are New Zealand residents. There were some arrests in other countries also of people involved in MegaUpload.
The Labour Party spokesperson for Immigration is asking the Minister of Immigration how two of these men managed to get New Zealand residency.
Vocabulary
piracy: Although we think of pirates as sailors who steal from ships at sea, internet piracy is also stealing. Making an illegal copy of a movie and selling it is piracy.
founder – someone who first starts a company
original – the name he was first given as a child
luxury – expensive things or life style
mansion – an expensive house. Dotcom’s mansion is worth $30m.
extradited – New Zealand has an extradition treaty with the US which means we can send anyone suspected of breaking an American law to the US for trial. The verb is usually passive
copyright – the owner of a book or film holds the copyright. If anyone wants to copy a book or film, they must pay copyright fees to the owner. Usually no one is allowed to copy a book or film.
spokesperson – the official person who speaks for that department