There’s no such thing as equal.
Do you dare to dream of being successful?
Are you innovative?
Do you embrace new technologies and look for new ways of doing things?
Do you know anyone who is any of these things?
If so you or your acquaintance is quite possibly in the frame to become an enemy of the state. You are not safe. Nobody is. All you need to do is step on the wrong set of toes and you’re as good as banged to rights.
That couldn’t happen, could it? You do live in a “free country” right?
Well, there’s free and there’s free. To paraphrase an old line I knew free when it was real and buddy you ain’t free. Not. Even. Close.
If you’re not prepared to fight like a banshee on heat, you’re better off shovelling shit in whatever dead-end jobs are on offer locally then daring to raise your head and aspiring to be someone. You’d better know your place because if you dare to raise your head above your designated station someone is likely to want to chop it off. Not just any someone either, if you step on the right toes, the full force of the office of the President of the United States is likely to come crashing down on your head.
You don’t believe me, do you? OK, but before you switch your gaze away from this page and nestle your brain in some feel good banal video just take five minutes to consider the fate of Kim Dotcom.
You may have heard of Kim. He’s an entrepreneur with attitude. We’re meant to love entrepreneurs – the legacy media have a virtual catechism of them – Zuckerberg, Gates, Bezos, Branson and the rest. They’re virtual Gods that can do no wrong. But Kim’s a different kettle of fish.
Kim created a very successful business – Megaupload. It was very successful. As Kim succinctly puts it in a sworn affidavit, “the business became conspicuous for its innovation that challenged historic and outdated business practices of copyright owners who had failed to keep pace with the way in which the public consumed content.”
Ah ha, I can hear you say, it was a file sharing service sharing artist’s material. No, it wasn’t – no more than YouTube for example.
So- what was the problem?
Kim Dotcom’s sworn affidavit makes compelling reading and lays out a disturbing and frightening scenario.
It wasn’t what Kim Dotcom did it was who was “affected” by his business. Unfortunately for Kim, the toes he stood on belonged to some people who weren’t accustomed to such treatment and had access to some very powerful friends.
To make a long story short Hollywood screamed blue murder and they started to pull some serious strings. Let’s pluck several key points from Kim’s affidavit to make this clear.
Between 2008 and 2014 the American film and television industry forked out $156,927,006 in campaign contributions and $437,218,434 on “lobbying.” Now, I don’t know about you, but if I was spending a tiny fraction of that money, I’d like to see some return on my investment. At least 75% of those donations are made to the Democratic Party. That’s a lot of influence to hold over a sitting President seeking re-election.
Industry insiders made it clear in no uncertain terms that they were unhappy with the administration's copyright regime and that there was not enough being done to protect copyright holders. Legislative attempts to address this met stern resistance. The administration had to do something to appease a restless unhappy and powerful lobby.
Obama and his sidekick Joe Biden needed to make an example of someone and they needed to do it pretty quick because Hollywood was getting mighty restless.
Kim Dotcom was the fall guy.
Five Eyes vassal state New Zealand was the willing trigger puller.
Kim Dotcom’s meticulous affidavit chronicles how the trap was laid and sprung.
You can read it in its entirety here -:
https://www.scribd.com/document/374313640/Affidavit-of-Kim-Dotcom-Sworn-19-March-2018
You can see some of New Zealand’s finest raiding Kim’s home in this video. Talk about using sledgehammers to crack a nut!
What the video didn’t show was the extreme duress that Kim and his family were placed under during the raid. Kim has recently stated that the effects upon his children are still being felt today.
This is what happens when you dare to upset the apple cart.
They’ll come for you with total disregard for law or propriety. They are merely facades used to control the general population they do not constrain these people. If they want to put you away, they’ll invent a crime. Then they'll persecute you.
You are meant to bow before their might. You are meant to accept your fate.
Kim Dotcom refused to accept his. He has fought the good fight for over 6 years.
The battle is not yet won, but he is winning - step by excruciating step.
There's are still extradition proceedings to be negotiated but Kim is confident that he will win his case.
Pray that he succeeds. The future of independent disruptive entrepreneurs may depend upon it.
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My name is Mark Hodgetts. I’m a freelance writer, eking out a crust writing
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