For those of you that do not know, or perhaps have forgotten the raid was one of the most invasive ever conducted on a New Zealand citizen and one that was accused of copyright infringement. It involved helicopters and armed men breaking into the house and seizing information. All of this was pushed for by the US Department of Justice and FBI. The warrants used for this were very broad and not really in keeping with the laws in New Zealand about searches. However a court did rule that they were legal in the end.

Still that does not mean that they can hold onto the data forever in the same way that the copyright industry wants to hold onto Dotcom’s assets. This is what is behind the ruling from the court of appeals. They have requested that all non-encrypted information be returned “as soon as reasonably practicable” The Encrypted information is to be returned after it is decrypted. On that matter the court is also very clear. They are stating that two members of the task force be given the means to decrypt the data. Those individuals have been given clear instructions not to share that with anyone and “in particular to any representative of the government of the United States of America.”

New Zealand is still a tad upset that the FBI took copies of the data back to the US without approval. All of this is just another small side show in the ongoing siege against Dotcom by the copyright industry. The group has yet to reveal any real evidence for their charges against Dotcom, but continue to ask to hold onto existing assets and to even have the right to confiscate assets that have been accumulated since the original MegaUpload was taken down.

We wonder what will happen in this circus of a court case next.

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