THE BUZZ: Megaupload Founder Kim Dotcom has denied piracy and money laundering charges brought against him, claiming that he is being made an example of.

He is currently being held in custody with a New Zealand court set to make a decision on his bail request by Wednesday at the latest. The prosecution at the bail hearing called Dotcom a ”flight risk at the extreme end of the scale.” The prosecution added: ”The FBI believes the sums located are unlikely to represent all the overseas bank accounts owned by Mr Dotcom.”

The defense have argued that Dotcom has no passport documentation after being forced to hand it all over to authorities and his large frame would make him easy to spot in airports.”He is not the sort of person who will pass unnoticed through our customs and immigration lines and controls,” said the defense.

EGM’s TAKE: The destruction of Megaupload has been the big story over the past few days. The file sharing site was one of the biggest in the world with millions of members, however it was also a breeding ground for pirated content. The site ran quite a strict anti-piracy rule, and most copyright content was removed if discovered. But this wasn’t enough for authorities, who moved to close down the whole operation and detain the man in charge of it all. While many see this is a rash decision taking into consideration that everything on the site is uploaded by users and not the site itself, it’s also wise to remember the other charge brought against Mr Dotcom, that of money laundering. It’s hard to say which charge will end up being more serious, especially if Dotcom is extradited to the U.S. as that country is seeking. It’.

Was it right to shut down the site? Leave your thoughts below.

Source: Reuters