"In the Governments eyes, what Kim was doing illegal."
Actually, there's "illegal" and there's illegal.
New Zealand authorities sent a special anti-terrorism group, armed to the teeth, to arrest one fat Finnish programmer; that is disproportionate to the alleged crime. Was it just to impress their American friends with some random cowboy action, or were NZ authorities briefed that Dotcom was a dangerous terrorist?
Extradition treaties have clauses; we'll see if Dotcom's actions do actually fall under those clauses or not. The fact that he's been bailed (and his bail was later upheld against the wishes of US authorities) make me think that it won't be a walk in the park. It might even turn out that some overzealous officer or politician, anxious to appease US counterparts for one reason or another, overstepped his authority and launched an unjustified operation. It would be funny to see them with egg in their face, should the judge throw out the case.
Better to escalate the situation and dramatically increase the odds of a violent resolution?
In the US we routinely use SWAT teams to arrest nonviolent criminals because they "don't have anything better to do." The results are numerous preventable civilian casualties (not to mention scores of family pets killed).
Actually, there's "illegal" and there's illegal.
New Zealand authorities sent a special anti-terrorism group, armed to the teeth, to arrest one fat Finnish programmer; that is disproportionate to the alleged crime. Was it just to impress their American friends with some random cowboy action, or were NZ authorities briefed that Dotcom was a dangerous terrorist?
Extradition treaties have clauses; we'll see if Dotcom's actions do actually fall under those clauses or not. The fact that he's been bailed (and his bail was later upheld against the wishes of US authorities) make me think that it won't be a walk in the park. It might even turn out that some overzealous officer or politician, anxious to appease US counterparts for one reason or another, overstepped his authority and launched an unjustified operation. It would be funny to see them with egg in their face, should the judge throw out the case.