In this May 2012 photo released by Kim Dotcom, Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak, right, and Kim Dotcom, founder of file-sharing site Megaupload, stand together in Auckland, New Zealand. Wozniak said the U.S. piracy case against Dotcom is “hokey” and a threat to Internet innovation. Wozniak and Dotcom spoke out against the federal case in separate interviews on Wednesday, June 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Kim Dotcom)NICK PERRY
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) – Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak says the U.S. piracy case against Kim Dotcom is “hokey” and a threat to Internet innovation.
Wozniak and Dotcom spoke out against the federal case in separate interviews with The Associated Press Wednesday. Dotcom, the flamboyant founder of file-sharing site Megaupload, is accused by federal authorities of facilitating Internet piracy on a massive scale. Charged with racketeering and money laundering, he’s fighting U.S. attempts to extradite him from New Zealand.
Wozniak said he was visiting New Zealand last month to give a speech when he learned Dotcom couldn’t come to see him because he was under house arrest. So Wozniak said he visited Dotcom and the two have kept in touch by email since.
“It’s just kind of ridiculous what they did to his life,” Wozniak said in a telephone interview. “An awful lot of Kiwis support him. The U.S. government is on thin ground.”