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New Zealand's longest-running online daily news and commentary publication, now in its 18th year. The opinion pieces presented here are not purported to be fact but reasonable effort is made to ensure accuracy.

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Did Dotcom choose the wrong country?

29 January 2013

It's pretty easy to understand why Kim Dotcom chose NZ as his new home.

We have a relatively benign climate, no poisonous reptiles (politicians excepted), a slightly democratic political system, tolerable levels of graft/corruption and a country of stunning natural beauty.

Of course, as Kim has discovered, there are downsides though.

We have a government that, if you press your ear to the walls of the PM's office, can be heard to ask "how high?" and "I'm touching my toes, what now?" -- a situation that resulted in the dawn raid on his Coatesville mansion and the unlawful seizure of his assets little over a year ago.

So might there have been a better country for KD to base himself in?

Well, if this report is to be believed, it would seem that the Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda might have been a far better alternative.

It seems that this country is preparing to thumb its nose at the USA and its MAFIAA in a way that wimpy NZ would never even remotely consider.

What's more, they're doing it with the effective endorsement of the WTO.

What a wonderfully bizarre situation this is.

To think that an entire nation has been granted the right (by the WTO) to effectively ignore the copyright laws that have been KD's downfall in the past.

I'm pretty sure that Kim would find himself greeted with open arms and warm hugs if he decided to base himself in Antigua. What's more (at least by the laws of that land), he could re-open MegaUpload without the need to use encryption and other indemnifying strategies.

In fact, if I were KD, I'd seriously be considering relocating myself to the sunny shores of this Caribbean nation as soon as I was legally allowed -- or he could do a Julian Assange and secretly slip himself and his family off to Antigua while nobody's looking.

Of course there may be downsides to living in such a place...

I hear that the politicians are potentially corrupt and the police sometimes operate without authority -- oh, hang on, for Dotcom it'll be just like New Zealand!

Based on the comments on that story running on the Stuff website, it seems that there are already resounding cheers for the 70,000 people of Antigua and Barbuda.

Wouldn't you love to be a fly on the wall of the MAFIAA's board rooms right now :-)

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