Dotcom and NZ PM face off over spy bill

Kim Dotcom addressed the NZ parliament’s intelligence and security committee on Wednesday, as its government considers allowing the normally foreign-focused Government Communications Security Bureau to spy on citizens.

In a sometimes testy submission, Dotcom told the five-member committee expanding the government’s spying powers was “morally indefensible”.

Dotcom said he had the misfortune of being spied upon by the GCSB before his arrest last year. That was later revealed to be illegal as he is a New Zealand citizen.

“This abuse should never happen again,” he said.

The United States is trying to extradite him to face charges over his Megaupload website, saying he made millions of dollars from pirated copies of films and television productions.

Mr Key, the committee chairman, last year apologised to Dotcom, but on Wednesday Dotcom asked whether that could be considered a real apology if the prime minister now wanted to legalise an illegality.

SOURCE: zdnet.com