HN Explorer

Kim Dotcom Back Online, Prepares To Release Music Album (torrentfreak.com)

20 points by webandrew ↗ HN
A New Zealand court has granted Kim Dotcom some basic rights following a hearing today. The Megaupload founder will now be allowed to access the Internet and have a daily swim to help ease a back problem. Dotcom will also be allowed to finish a music album he’s been working on. TorrentFreak was given a sneak preview and we liked what we heard.

8 comments

[ 3.3 ms ] story [ 29.5 ms ] thread
rwmj
Someone who, even if found guilty, would be guilty of a victimless crime, denied access to the internet, cannot live in his own house, and needs permission from a judge even to go to a music studio.
Jach
> The prosecution naturally objected to Dotcom continuing his work and said that his album, a collaboration with several international artists, was unlikely to succeed.

What a strange objection. Can any HN lawyers comment on a legal reason why the prosecution would say that?

ktizo
My guess is they are trying to make a distinction between it being work or trade and a hobby, as if an action can constitute a livelihood, then it often has extra legal protections.

For instance, a sheep farmer who is supporting a family may have bail conditions that restrict travel, but those restrictions may allow for travel to go to look after the sheep as that is the farmer's livelihood, but the sheep farmer may not be able to get permission to travel across state to go play music with some mates.

[deleted]
(comment deleted)
maeon3
With a connection to fast internet my IQ increases by an order of magnitude(with high latency), I can answer almost any question in one minute, without internet, my IQ decreases back to average.

What happens when we start merging with technology so the internet is always with us 24/7? When I get charged of a crime, am I immediately unplugged and and reduced the mental capability of a child so that the prosecution can have an easier time of it?

nsns
A little OT: there's a great book called "The sound of two hands clapping", about an American who was trained as a Tibetan Buddhist monk. This requires immense memorization, and coming back to the West, the guy realized how much we rely on our information being easily (and physically) available to us, as opposed to retrieving some of it from our memory. It's a great read and offers an interesting perspective on how things might be different elsewhere.
middus
While I get the notion of your argument, I'd like to point out that neither intelligence, nor IQ do have anything to do with answering knowledge questions.
jmitcheson
Could you please start a technical recruiting company?