Kim Dotcom's Next Venture: Free Broadband To New Zealand 279
First time accepted submitter damagedbits writes "So it turns out that Me.ga is only part of Kim Dotcom's resolution for 2013. Even though he's still facing extradition to the U.S. for alleged piracy, Dotcom has plans to resurrect Pacific Fibre's failed project to construct a fiber optic cable across the Pacific to the U.S. The new line will bring free high-speed broadband to New Zealanders and double the nation's Internet bandwidth, setting Dotcom back about $400m."
Some of that funding is based on optimism: "Dotcom plans on getting the majority of his funds by suing Hollywood studios and the US government for their 'unlawful and political destruction of [Megaupload].'"
This is actually cool... (Score:5, Interesting)
... It really seems to be a Robin Hood type thing....
The 'rich' taking the 'richer' to the cleaners to provide broadband to the masses for free...
Lately I can't seem to fault this guy....
Re:Best of luck to him. (Score:3, Interesting)
I'd say that regardless of your stance on intellectual property, if you dig below the surface then you can see there was some very grubby, nepotistic and borderline criminal politics at work
borderline? It was outright criminal...
in the obliteration of Megaupload and the persecution Dotcom.
...oh, you're just toting the party line.
Here's a deal: I'll agree with you if you get your head out of your ass and agree that the e-mails obtained during the prosecution also show very clearly that Kim and his gang actually were intentionally breaking the law on a large scale with the sole motivation of money, money, money.
Or does that not fit the self-made image of the glorious freedom fighter? Sorry, dude. The real heroes don't live in mansions.
Re:This is actually cool... (Score:5, Interesting)
Lately I can't seem to fault this guy....
His PR manager is doing a great job, isn't he? It's almost as if rich people could pay for a good image. As if there were companies available who troll social media sites, leave comments on newpaper and blog pages and generally improve your public perception. Oh, wait...
Re:Romney to take home the victory (Score:0, Interesting)
Mormons think they're Christians. Close enough!
Re:Free? Nonsense (Score:4, Interesting)
He is not so naive to think...
The guy might be of questionable intent, but he isn't stupid. Without having much knowledge of the subject matter, at a wild guess I'd say he plans to cover the costs by serving all me.ga data from NZ to the rest of the world, which effectively makes all peering arrangements hugely profitable since most traffic is outbound. In any case I'm sure he knows more about this than you or I, so there must be a workable business model there somewhere.
He knows he'll never have to back this up (Score:4, Interesting)
The original Pacific Fibre project failed technically because of lack of funding, but just as much from international politicking [interest.co.nz]. International infrastructure (intrastructure?) attracts these sorts of issues it would seem. The US didn't want China funding it and really didn't want them providing technology.
And of course theres's already speculation [tvnz.co.nz] the US would take the same attitude to Kim Dotcom's involvement given they are trying to prosecute him for teh internet crimez.
A cynic might see this as a cynical PR move on his part. He offers The People of NZ goodies and the US government takes them away. He gets to look like the good guy again and it ultimately costs him nothing.
Probably not (Score:3, Interesting)
Actually giving the apology probably means the government has effectively admitted that it is liable for any damages Kim Dotcom tries to claim
Re:I Like this guy... (Score:5, Interesting)
He's still a complete douche, right down to the bottom of his trolling little heart.
I am shocked that this cheap piece of character assassination got modded +4
If you want to criticize someone, please provide some arguments. Until then, the man did nothing bad. In fact, of the moderately rich people, he is one of the few that arrived to his riches with honest work. You disagree? Fine, provide some fucking arguments instead of just ad hominem insults.