I find it kind of hard to feel sorry for Dotcom. On one hand, I agree with his stance on the state of the copyright industry and their tactics, but on the other hand, this guy burns through cash faster than an inferno in a wood factory. Look at his lifestyle, he lives in a massive house, all of his assets (cars amongst other possessions) he has more than most people will ever have in their lives and he takes it all for granted.
I am not saying this makes Dotcom any less of a person or means he is guilty of the things he is accused of, but he has been so bullish about his innocence and wasted so much of his money on non-important things, ten million dollars in legal fees is probably still considerably less than the cost of his house, cars and other possessions combined.
I think Kim Dotcom is great at hiding the kind of person he really is. On the outside, he portrays this down-and-out image of: I am going broke, Hollywood is trying to put me in jail and make an example of me. Which is partially true. I mean the military style raid on his home was a pretty massive overreach of political and law enforcement power, I definitely agree it was wrong and over the top. But then you have this real image he desperately tries to hide: the extravagance, the arrogance and overestimation of his own abilities to change things. Are we forgetting the millions he sunk into his failed attempt of getting the New Zealand Internet Party into power, five million in New Zealand dollars? In 2011 he spent $500,000 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objecti... on a fireworks show because he apparently loves fireworks.
I seriously doubt his claims of being broke. He still has a home, he still has his material possessions. He might be seriously economically handicapped, but probably still has more money and assets than most of us here on HN do. Having said that, I find Dotcom entertaining and if he finds a way to come back from this, I am sure he will be even crazier than he was before which will make for a great Internet fireworks display, because as we all know, Dotcom loves fireworks.
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[ 4.1 ms ] story [ 10.1 ms ] threadI am not saying this makes Dotcom any less of a person or means he is guilty of the things he is accused of, but he has been so bullish about his innocence and wasted so much of his money on non-important things, ten million dollars in legal fees is probably still considerably less than the cost of his house, cars and other possessions combined.
I think Kim Dotcom is great at hiding the kind of person he really is. On the outside, he portrays this down-and-out image of: I am going broke, Hollywood is trying to put me in jail and make an example of me. Which is partially true. I mean the military style raid on his home was a pretty massive overreach of political and law enforcement power, I definitely agree it was wrong and over the top. But then you have this real image he desperately tries to hide: the extravagance, the arrogance and overestimation of his own abilities to change things. Are we forgetting the millions he sunk into his failed attempt of getting the New Zealand Internet Party into power, five million in New Zealand dollars? In 2011 he spent $500,000 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objecti... on a fireworks show because he apparently loves fireworks.
I seriously doubt his claims of being broke. He still has a home, he still has his material possessions. He might be seriously economically handicapped, but probably still has more money and assets than most of us here on HN do. Having said that, I find Dotcom entertaining and if he finds a way to come back from this, I am sure he will be even crazier than he was before which will make for a great Internet fireworks display, because as we all know, Dotcom loves fireworks.