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EPILOGUE

“This is the war for the internet,” says Dotcom.

During 2013, the fight shifted from the court into the arena of public opinion. The fight for the internet, which he forecast in a song aimed at Barack Obama, became a fight over privacy as well as copyright.

The court cases stagnated with appeals. New cases were laid — Dotcom is now suing the New Zealand police and the Government Communications Security Bureau for damages. He has said he doesn’t want to personally benefit, and will look at investing any returns into a new submarine internet cable connecting New Zealand.

There is currently only one and it fetches up in the United States. The company owning it used access to the data transported on it as a bargaining chip when negotiating with the United States. If the US raised fees, then cable companies would go to Mexico or Canada and cost the spies the chance to harvest people’s data.

It seems unlikely any new cable scheme backed or funded by Dotcom will transit the US.

Along with the launch of the business, the co-accused have watched their lives change. Ortmann’s family has been to visit. Van der Kolk’s parents have turned into online campaigners on behalf of their son. Batato has become a father — his son Leonardo was born to his New Zealand partner, Anastasia. Any citizenship prospects it might offer are dismissed angrily by Batato. His pride was deeply wounded, he says, by accusations of running a criminal organisation. He’ll take no advantage from falling in love with a Kiwi woman.

The extradition case is scheduled for April 2014. It is likely to be postponed again — the case against the GCSB comes just before then and is likely to result in the release of information embarrassing to the spies and damaging to the government. The new date for the extradition hearing is likely to be closer to the election, and is when Dotcom has promised to provide evidence which proves Key has misled the country.

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