Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom told the South by Southwest festival
Monday that "interesting facts" will emerge in his ongoing fight against
extradition to the United States over copyright violation.
Speaking
via Skype video link from New Zealand, Dotcom promised "a really cool
hearing" in April that is to focus on evidence surrounding the
commando-style raid on his home outside Auckland in January 2012.
"There
will be interesting facts revealed," added the German-born entrepreneur
and one-time teenage hacker who is wanted by the US Justice Department
for alleged copyright violation and racketeering.
Without
elaborating, Dotcom claimed it would be shown that the prime minister of
New Zealand, John Key, misled the country's parliament in relation to
his case, which has captivated the online world.
Dotcom reiterated
his belief that his case which shut down the Megaupload file storage
site, causing customers worldwide to lose data they had uploaded was
politically motivated.
"Get the popcorn ready," said Dotcom, 39,
appearing like a cheerful ghostly face against a pitch-black background
on a giant projection screen, "because you won't believe what these guys
did."
And he predicted victory in the end. "I will never be in a
prison in the United States," he said to applause from the audience of
several hundred. "I can guarantee you that."
US authorities allege
Dotcom's Megaupload and related file-sharing sites netted more than
US$175 million and cost copyright owners more than US$500 million by
offering pirated copies of movies, TV shows and other content.
Dotcom,
a German national who changed his name from Kim Schmitz, faces an
extradition hearing in August. Until then, his passport has been seized
and he cannot travel out of the country.
Last week an appeal court
in New Zealand upheld Dotcom's right to sue New Zealand's foreign
intelligence agency for illegally spying on him as part of a US probe
into alleged online piracy.
The Court of Appeal refused a
government request to overturn a High Court decision in December that
said he can seek damages from the Government Communications Security
Bureau (GCSB) over his treatment.
The ruling also meant the GCSB
would have to disclose to Dotcom's defence some details of
information-sharing arrangements it had with foreign agencies, including
US authorities, before the Internet tycoon's arrest in January 2012.
It
emerged last September that the GCSB spied on Dotcom before armed
police raided his Auckland mansion, even though he is a New Zealand
resident and should have been off-limits to the agency.
Following
the revelation, which prompted an apology from Prime Minister Key,
Dotcom applied to include the GCSB in a lawsuit he is planning against
New Zealand police alleging wrongful arrest.
Dotcom's lawyers have
not detailed how much compensation they want but opposition political
parties said the amount could be substantial.