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the United States on 25 November. Again Immigration NZ was brought into the fold, with checks revealing Bram van der Kolk and family were given residency on 2 December.

The pool of those aware was further expanded on 14 December, in a key meeting at which the GCSB were present, along with Lynn Murphy from the Ministry of Justice.

On 20 December, the US Office of the Trade Representative reported back with its annual list of Notorious Markets. For the first time, Megaupload was on the list. The list is placed online and circulated internationally. Megaupload, it said, was "one of the 70 most visited sites in the world" and "allows for the unauthorised distribution of protected content through subscriptions and reward schemes to popular uploaders". From a New Zealand perspective, it was a red flag from a trading partner with which increasing good relations were sought. The list urged action on the behalf of the US, warning:

Piracy and counterfeiting continue to present a serious challenge to the innovation and creativity that is essential to supporting American jobs and creating economic growth around the world.

Yet, by the time the Prime Minister was briefed on January 19 2011, he says nobody had told him anything about Dotcom. The briefing came from Solicitor General David Collins, the government's chief legal officer and head of the Crown Law Office, and Finlayson. As they briefed Key about the case, he recalled they warned: "Don't Google him — people will be looking."

People were looking. The GCSB had activated its international surveillance network to illegally spy on Dotcom. Key, the Minister of the GCSB, was not told of "operational issues", he later said.

At the time of the briefing, Key's Prime Ministerial office, his departmental office and his electorate office had all had dealings with Dotcom or issues related to Dotcom.

Yet he said he knew nothing.

KEY'S DENIAL HAS been met with an equally strong assertion from Dotcom he has the proof to back his claims.

"There are some things where I have to bite my tongue and not do anything or say anything until we actually have an extradition hearing,"

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