Quote:
Originally Posted by Robotech_Master
In 2012, the US filed criminal charges against Kim Dotcom of MegaUpload, despite MegaUpload having no physical presence in the USA...
...I'm sure there are plenty of other cases where legal action was filed in the USA against foreign copyright violators such as piracy sites. Whether the verdicts in those cases can be enforced may be an open question, but as the Wikipedia article I linked a couple of pages back shows, there are mechanisms for foreign judgments to be enforced against American entities via American courts...
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I can speak specifically with respect to the Kim Dotcom case. It is not as you say. It is so that an entity in any country can charge in their own courts someone in a second country but if the charged person is rightfully in the second country (so not subject to deportation) the law of the first country is largely irrelevant for good reason (another has given an action from North Korea as an example).
Kim Dotcom is a resident of New Zealand and court proceedings continue with him here regarding the USA actions. But that is nothing to do with enacting any verdicts of USA courts as you infer or taking any action against him for things he is accused of in another country; in fact at this time, as far as I am aware Dotcom only stands accused, not convicted of anything.
The now very lengthy court proceedings in New Zealand are in fact only associated with the extradition of Dotcom to face the charges against him in the USA. They are nothing to do with acting upon conviction or charges by a USA court. As far as New Zealand is concerned the USA has made a request for extradition, New Zealand (USA) claims that the request satisfies the requirements of New Zealand's Extradition Act and if successful in New Zealand's courts with that claim and a surrender order is issued then he will be extradited.
You will note, I hope, that in all that there is nothing relevant to acting upon any conviction or charges in the USA by New Zealand courts. It is all about extraditing an accused person to face charges in the country where those charges are laid. There is no assumption that the extradition will be successful. So your example is irrelevant, there is no copyright action against him here nor any assumption of innocence or guilt, all that is relevant is that he has been charged in another country which has asked New Zealand to surrender him. If the extradition request fails then as far as New Zealand is concerned that will likely be the end of the matter and not much the USA can do about it.
As an aside, should the USA courts decide to convict Dotcom in his absence, if that were to be possible, then he will as far as New Zealand is concerned be regarded as not having been convicted.