The cooperation (called "mutual assistance") between U.S. law enforcement and New Zealand is not just one sided. While New Zealand has been doing the bidding of the FBI in the MegaUplad case, it's been a two way street.

New Zealand has a murder case it's been working on for a while(despite the fact that the suspect was killed by a train hours afters after being released from custodial questioning.) It thought the suspect and the dead man may have shared information with "friends" on Facebook. So it asked the U.S. to file court orders getting access to the Facebook messages of the dead man and "suspects" (plural) and "people of interest" in his death.

"Through the assistance of the American Government we went to Facebook and, through their legal processes, we got access to all the Facebook information – which is what helped us. It was of great assistance."

The U.S. did the same for Microsoft hotmail accounts so New Zealand could track down individuals who had contacted the dead man on internet dating sites. [More...]

Mohammed Zazi, father of Najibullah Zazi, the Colorado resident convicted in New York of planning a subway terror attack, was sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison today for obstruction of justice (lying to the FBI), conspiring to destroy his son's chemicals, goggles and paper masks (stored at his brother-in-law's house) and visa fraud. The visa fraud pertained to his falsely stating on on a visa application for his nephew that his nephew was his son. (Zazi came to the U.S. in 1990 and in 2007 became a naturalized U.S. Citizen.)

Prosecutors asked for 30 years, seeking to have him sentenced as a terrorist under the Sentencing Guidelines. The probation department agreed and concluded his guidelines were 360 months to life. Zazi asked for probation.

The judge rejected the request to sentence him as a terrorist. While he told Zazi his lies could have cost a lot of lives, he concluded "He wanted to keep his kid out of jail." [More...]

What do prosecutors do when they realize they've charged a crime they can't prove? Come up with a new charge.

Wayne Tempero, Chief Security Officer for Kim DotCom, was charged with illegal possession of a firearm after the raid on Kim DotCom's compound. The prosecutors said the gun was unlicensed. Tempero has insisted he had a license for the shotgun, as well as for another firearm found on the premises.

Tempero appeared in court today on the unlawful possession of firearms charge and prosecutors dismissed it. But they proceeded to file two new charges, each charging possession of a firearm for unlawful purposes.

When they want you, if they can't get you one way, they just try another. [More...]

Sledgehammers, motorized saws, assault weapons and more were used in the raid of MegaUpload founder Kim DotCom's compound. TV 3 in New Zealand has new details of the raid in an interview with a police official who attempts to justify the excessive force.

Seventy-six police officers, many armed with automatic weapons and pistols, including members of the elite Special Tactics Group, arrived at Kim Dotcom’s Coatesville property on January 20, to arrest him on charges relating to copyright offences.

In a related new article, Kim DotCom's security chief, Wayne Tempero, who took TV3 on a tour of the mansion, says:[More..]

Megaupload's Kim DotCom may be in jail, but he's not giving up. The New Zealand Herald reports he has filed papers in the New Zealand High Court seeking the return of his seized funds and assets.

Papers have been filed with the High Court at Auckland which claim freezing orders used to seize his fortune have gone too far and money should be returned.

There are also more details of the commando-style arrest raid which according to past statements of New Zealand police, involved 76 officers.

Detective Inspector Grant Wormald [Organised & Financial Crime Agency} would not reveal why police carried out the surprise assault. However, he confirmed the Special Tactics Group - the most highly trained armed officers in the force - were involved.

Bump and Update: Kim DotCom has lost his appeal for bail. The High Court decided last night. Justice Raynor Asher of the High Court found he was a flight risk, lacked ties to New Zealand and it was possible he had other assets besides those seized by the U.S.

His lawyer reacts here.

He has made a home for himself and his family here in New Zealand...He has absolutely no intention of doing other than remaining here and fighting extradition and the suggestion that he is a risk and that he would take some extraordinary steps to leave New Zealand is a flight of fancy and has no evidential basis so far as my client is concerned.

They are considering their next options which could include an appeal to New Zealand's Supreme Court or a new application for bail. [More...]

Update: Megaupload's U.S. attorney, Ira Rothken, has tweeted that the two hosting companies, Carpathia and Cogent Communications, have agreed not to destroy the data on the Megaupload servers for at least two weeks while Megaupload works on a solution with the Government.

It sounds like they are working to get funds unfrozen to pay the hosting companies. Which would make Carpathia's statement that it doesn't have the ability to allow users to access the data a little suspect. Either they have the ability to provide access or they don't. Before the takedown, Megaupload users could log on to upload and download, so why can't they now if the Government doesn't object? If some special password is needed, wouldn't Megaupload's lawyers obtain it from their jailed clients and provide it to Carpathia?

[More...]

The New Zealand Herald has an editorial today criticizing the U.S. and FBI's co-opting of NZ police to launch the over-the-top raid at Kim DotCom's rented mansion in the MegaUpload takedown.

Some 76 officers, six times as many as took out Osama bin Laden, swooped - a lot more than are deployed against allegedly desperate homegrown criminals, except perhaps for terrorists in Te Urewera.

The paper, which says it has no reason to support DotCom, given that it tangled with him in the past over an unpleasant and expensive defamation claim, concludes with:

In short, a legal resident here, which Dotcom is, is entitled to our protection against unreasonable harassment by foreign jurisdictions. It is rooted in a notion, unknown in our law books but familiar to every one of us: a fair shake. There needs to be a good deal of official disclosure about the background to this case if it is to lose the stench that hangs around it.

New Zealand Judge David McNaughton, who denied bail yesterday for Kim DotCom, has granted bail to two of his three co-defendants, neither of whom are New Zealand citizens.

Bram van der Kolk and Finn Batato will be released on bail. Van der Kolk is from the Netherlands but has been residing in New Zealand since April, 2011. Batato (like Ortmann) is from Germany and just flew in for Kim DotCom's birthday party. Germany does not extradite German nationals to the U.S.

Here are Batato's ruling and Van der Kolk's ruling. (Thanks to ComputerWorld NZ for posting the decisions.)

No decision has been reached yet on Mathias Ortmann. [More...]

Update: You can read the 20 page bail decision in two parts, Part 1 and Part 2. The other three defendants had their bail hearing this afternoon. The judge will rule tomorrow.

The judge has denied bail for Kim Dotcom. The MegaUpload defendant will remain in custody until Feb. 22. That's the day an extradition hearing is expected to be held.

According to the New Zealand Herald, although everyone was assembled in court, the Judge did not release his reasons, just his decision. I guess there will be a separate written ruling released later.

Update: The ruling has been released and Kim DotCom will appeal. [More...]

Bump and Update: Bail decision reserved until Wednesday. Kim DotCom will stay in custody until then. The Judge is preparing a written ruling. Reuters reports the judge said, "Given the breadth of issues covered in this bail application and the seriousness of the issues, I am going to reserve my decision," said Judge David McNaughton." Sounds like he wants to dot all his "i's for the appeals court.

The other defendants were also remanded. Tbe Judge indicated that his ruling as to Kim Dotcom would also apply to them. Recap of hearing below: [More...]

A bail hearing is about to get started in New Zealand for Kim DotCom and the other Megaupload defendants. While we're waiting, here's some other news: Reuters reports Bob Bennett won't be representing Megaupload because his firm, Hogan Lovell, has a conflict due to representation of another client.

Bennett was working for Megaupload before the website's executives were indicted, said Ira Rothken, one of Megaupload's lawyers. Rothken said Bennett was handling matters other then criminal defense...."Who is or isn't on the criminal defense team is still being decided," Rothken said.