Kim Dotcom launches New Zealand’s Internet Party ahead of national poll
Alleged copyright pirate says Internet Party will contest election in September
Kim Dotcom, accused by Washington of being one of the world's biggest internet pirates, plunged into politics yesterday with the launch of a party to contest New Zealand's general election in September.
The alleged copyright pirate, also known as Kim Schmitz, said the Internet Party's guiding principles included faster, cheaper internet, the creation of hi-tech jobs, and the protection of privacy.
It is a movement for people who … don’t like the political choices on offer
"It is a movement for people who haven't voted before, who have been disappointed by voting, or who don't like the political choices on offer," Dotcom said in a statement.
"It is a movement for people who care about a digital future, and who want a society that is open, free and fair."
The flashy internet mogul is fighting a bid by US authorities to extradite him from his lavish estate in New Zealand to face online piracy charges over the now closed file-sharing site Megaupload, which was once based in Hong Kong.
The attention has not fazed Dotcom, a large and ebullient German national with New Zealand residency.
On Tuesday, Dotcom gloated over a deal that will see a cloud storage firm he founded while on bail listing on the New Zealand stock exchange and valued on paper at NZ$210 million (HK$1.4 billion).