Kim Dotcom Offers $5 Million Bounty To Whistleblowers
Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom is offering a $5 Million bounty for information proving “unlawful or corrupt conduct” by the United States government in his case, The Guardian reports.
Dotcom faces multiple legal battles stemming from the shutdown of his website, Megaupload, in January of 2012. The “cloud-storage” site, as Dotcom calls it, was widely used to to transfer pirated and bootleg material. Dotcom, a German national, is currently fighting extradition from New Zealand, as The Inquisitr has previously reported. If brought to the United States, he will face one of the biggest copyright infringement cases ever. The MPAA and the RIAA have both filed civil actions against Dotcom, whom the Justice Department alleges cost copyright owners over $500 million with his file-sharing site.
Dotcom is offering the $5 Million bounty for information that can aid in his case, taking to twitter to explain his reasons for offering the bounty:
My case is unfair: I was declined discovery I didn’t get my own data back I need Whistleblowers I am offering USD $5M http://t.co/OhE7k3KlUL
— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) June 8, 2014
Speaking to TorrentFreak, Dotcom reiterated a long standing allegation that the charges leveled against him are the result of a “corrupt contract prosecution” between the White House and Hollywood. Dotcom believes that the shutdown of Megaupload and related sites was undertaken by the White House specifically to gain Hollywood’s support for President Obama’s re-election campaign, and has previously stated that he believes Joe Biden ordered the take-down.
The 10 most powerful entertainment companies + the US & NZ Government joined forces to destroy me, a guy who builds websites. #MakingHistory — Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) June 9, 2014
Dotcom is seeking information that proves corrupt action on the part of the “US government, the New Zealand government, spy agencies, law enforcement and Hollywood,” and says he is in talks with his legal team about how to properly handle such a large bounty:
“We will probably setup a trust account to deposit the bounty and provide terms and conditions for anyone who will provide information. I will not just offer a bounty for the piece of ‘case winning’ information but for anything useful.”
Dotcom recommends that any whistleblowers who have the appropriate information approach a reputable newspaper with a proven track record of handling leaks. Citing a new secure system revealed by The Guardian earlier this month, Dotcom also suggests that a potential leaker could use a public computer, or even go to the extreme step of buying a cheap computer to use in leaking information and then destroy it.
Time will tell if Kim Dotcom’s $5 Million bounty provides the answers he is seeking.
[Image via Wired]
