There's some good news today for two of the people arrested last week in the Megaupload case. Reuters reports that Bram van der Kolk, 29, of the Netherlands and Finn Batato, 38, of Germany have been granted bail in New Zealand. Both Megaupload team members have been accused of online piracy by US government officials and could be extradited to the US.
Judge David McNaughton said in a statement, "I am satisfied that the risk of flight here is minimal and such risk as remains can be met by the imposition of strict bail conditions including electronic monitoring."
As we have previously reported, the founder of the now shut down Megaupload file sharing web site, Kim Dotcom, was denied bail earlier this week and will remain in jail for at least the next few weeks. Prosecutors argued that Dotcom, formerly known as Kim Schmitz, was an extreme flight risk and could get access to both hidden funds as well as accessing other identities. Kim Dotcom's next court hearing will be held in late February.
Another Megaupload team member arrested in New Zealand last week, Mathias Ortman, will have his bail request heard in court on Friday. Yet another Megaupload team member, Andrus Nomm, was arrested in the Netherlands on Friday and will be placed in custody in that country for the next 60 days.
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