PYX Resources: Achieving volume and diversification milestones. Watch the video here.
Tuesday, 06 March 2012 10:07 Everything launches together There have been a lot of rumors that Windows 8 for ARM will be delayed for Q2 2013, but our industry sources are telling us loud and clear that everything launches together in Q4 2012. This means that x86 32-bit, 64-bit, as well as ARM edition of Windows 8 will launch at the same time. The reason is quite simple. Microsoft wants to take at least a bit of the emerging tablet market from Apple and Google. Currently the adoption rate of Windows 7 for tablets is quite low, and Microsoft has played with the metro interface and made some radical changes mainly to please the tablet users that might have Windows 8 on their future devices. Microsoft entered the app store game quite late, and it is also late with a tablet-oriented operating system that supports ARM, but better late than never. If we were to speculate, we would predict that both Apple and Microsoft will try to merge its mobile and desktop operating systems in one that would give them a lot of leverage against Google, as it lacks doesn’t have a decent notebook / desktop operating system. It all starts in Q4 2012, at least from Microsoft side. http://www.fudzilla.com/home/item/26178-windows-8-arm-comes-in-q4-12
Tuesday 06 March 2012 09:20 Dialog Semiconductor has licensed the ARM Cortex-M0 processor which it will use as the controller in a range of power management ICs (PMICs). According to Tudor Brown, president of ARM, this opens "a brand new application area for ARM processors in a smartphone or tablet design". "I am convinced that the availability of sophisticated ARM processor-based PMICs will make a real impact on the user experience delivered by next generation devices,” said Brown. The company will use the prcoessor to provide power control and battery management functions for portable devices based on multicore application processor-based platforms. “By embedding an efficient 32-bit processor core into a PMIC we push the boundaries of system power design and bring sophisticated digital control to the world of smartphone design,” said Jalal Bagherli, CEO at Dialog. The Cortex-M0 is ARM's smallest and lowest power processor core. The stripped-down 32bit core, with only 12,000 gates, is aimed at replacing 8-bit and 16-bit processors. "It has enabled us to secure design wins in new market areas, including mixed signal, touch-screen control, flash card, system-on-chip control and finite state-machine replacement," said ARM. While 32 bits is overkill for many applications, it inherently removes the hassle of byte manipulation when handling words longer than 8bits on 8bit cores - ADC outputs and protocol stacks for example. http://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/06/03/2012/53142/dialog-licenses-arm-cortex-m0-for-power-controller-chips.htm
March 6, 2012, 2:28 a.m. EST KIRCHHEIM & TECK, Germany, Mar 06, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Dialog Semiconductor plc (fwb:DLG), a provider of highly integrated innovative power management, audio and short range wireless technologies, today announced that it has licensed the ARM(R) Cortex(TM)-M0 processor for use in future generations of its power management ICs (PMICs). This is the first time a standard 32-bit processor has been integrated into a mixed signal PMIC. The combination delivers superior digital processing capabilities, enabling Dialog system-level PMICs to provide extensive power control and precision battery management functions for portable devices. These PMICs are aimed at high-end multicore application processor-based platforms and deliver industry leading performance and efficiency, significantly increasing battery life. Jalal Bagherli, CEO at Dialog said: 'By embedding an efficient 32-bit processor core into a PMIC we push the boundaries of system power design and bring sophisticated digital control to the world of smartphone design.' Tudor Brown, President of ARM said: 'Through partnering with Dialog we have opened a brand new application area for ARM processors in a smartphone or tablet design. Dialog is at the forefront of highly integrated power management systems. I am convinced that the availability of sophisticated ARM processor-based PMICs will make a real impact on the user experience delivered by next generation devices.' Dialog PMICs enable manufacturers to quickly and easily bring power-optimised smartphones and tablets to market. The highly integrated and configurable single chip devices deliver extended battery life, a reduced bill of materials and increased system reliability. The ARM Cortex-M0 processor is the smallest and lowest power ARM core available. Its exceptionally low power, small silicon area and memory footprint make it ideal for ultra low power MCU and mixed-signal applications. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dialog-semiconductor-pioneers-integration-of-arm-processor-in-power-management-ics-for-next-generation-smartphones-2012-03-06
Published 06 March 2012 The new edition delivers improved system visibility and decreased time-to-market, says the company Microprocessor Intellectual Property firm ARM has released the latest edition of the ARM Development Studio 5 (DS-5 v5.9) toolchain with additional support for graphics analysis on ARM Mali Graphics Processing Units (GPUs). The ARM DS-5 v5.9 toolchain provides semiconductor suppliers and OEMs, as well as mobile application and game developers with improved system visibility and decreased time-to-market. ARM Streamline Performance Analyzer, within the DS-5 toolchain, allows developers to design interactive interfaces and game play for end users whilst extending battery life. Using the ARM DS-5 v5.9 toolchain, developers can locate system performance bottlenecks across the Cortex processors, Mali GPUs and System IP, enabling the creation of enhanced applications and accelerating the software development cycle, the company said. ARM Marketing executive vice-president Lance Howarth said whether consumers are engaging in more immersive game play, using advanced user interfaces or more interactive AR applications, developers must optimise software across the entire system. "A single tool chain for processor and GPU performance analysis helps achieve this and provides significant benefits in terms of increased productivity and reduced time-to-market," said Howarth. http://microelectronics.cbronline.com/news/arm-releases-latest-version-of-development-studio-5-toolchain-050312
lol.. "should be much higher" ... to what level do you want it?
ARM P/E RATIO = 47 (ARM HISRICAL P/E SIMILAR) ARMH P/E RATIO = 62 (ARMH HISRICAL P/E SIMILAR) INTEL P/E RATIO = 11 (INTEL HISRICAL P/E SIMILAR) AMD P/E RATIO = 15 (AMD HISRICAL P/E SIMILAR) AMD P/E RATIO = 15 (AMD HISRICAL P/E SIMILAR) Source: http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/prices/stocks/summary/fundamentals.html?fourWayKey=GB0000595859GBGBXSET1 http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/armh/pe-ratio http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/intc/pe-ratio http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/amd/pe-ratio Price-Earnings Ratio The price of a security per share at a given time divided by its annual earnings per share. Often, the earnings used are trailing 12 month earnings, but some analysts use other forms. The P/E ratio is a way to help determine a security's stock valuation, that is, the fair value of a stock in a perfect market. It is also a measure of expected, but not realized, growth. Companies expected to announce higher earnings usually have a higher P/E ratio, while companies expected to announce lower earnings usually have a lower P/E ratio. In general, a high P/E suggests that investors are expecting higher earnings growth in the future compared with companies with a lower P/E. However, the P/E ratio does not tell the whole story. It is more helpful to compare the P/E ratios of companies in the same industry, the overall market, or the company's own historical P/E. It would not be useful for investors to compare the P/E of a technology company (high P/E) to that of an electric utility company (low P/E) as each industry has a much different growth potential. The P/E sometimes is referred to as the multiple, because it shows how much investors are willing to pay per dollar of earnings. If a company trades at a multiple (P/E) of 20, this means that investors are willing to pay $20 for $1 of current earnings. Note: The earnings number in the denominator (earnings) is susceptible to manipulation, making the quality of the P/E only as good as the quality of the underlying earnings number. http://financial-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Price-Earnings+Ratio Forecast: ARMH http://screening.nasdaq.com/charts/ARMH_per.jpeg Forecast: INTEL http://screening.nasdaq.com/charts/INTC_per.jpeg Forecast: AMD http://screening.nasdaq.com/charts/AMD_per.jpeg
05 March 2012 14:10 Cambridge superchip designer ARM Holdings has created a new suite of graphics tools to significantly enhance the video games experiences for millions of new generation users. The capability will spread across an unprecedented array of devices and is delivered courtesy ARM’s new DS-5™ v5.9 toolchain. It is the latest edition of the ARM Development Studio 5 toolchain with additional support for graphics analysis on ARM Mali Graphics Processing Units. The ARM Streamline™ Performance Analyzer, within the DS-5 toolchain, allows developers to design more interactive interfaces and immersive game play for end users whilst extending battery life. This will enable next generation user experiences for use on smartphones, tablets, smart-TVs and set-top boxes. By using the toolchain, developers can quickly and easily locate system performance bottlenecks across the Cortex processors, Mali GPUs and System IP, enabling the creation of faster applications and accelerating the software development cycle. Lance Howarth, executive vice president of marketing, ARM said: “Whether consumers are engaging in more immersive game play, using advanced user interfaces or more interactive AR applications, developers must optimise software across the entire system. “A single tool chain for processor and GPU performance analysis helps achieve this and provides significant benefits in terms of increased productivity and reduced time-to-market.” The toolchain can be downloaded by developers today: ARM says the toolchain provides significant benefits to semiconductor suppliers and OEMs, as well as mobile application and game developers, by enabling improved system visibility and decreased time-to-market. Howarth said the launch of the updated toolchain addressed the increasing demand for high-performance graphics development. Such advanced visual computing capabilities will deliver next generation smartphone and tablet applications where console-like gaming graphics, 3D User Interfaces (UI) and Augmented Reality (AR) will be the norm. Multicore systems, such as these, benefit from optimization of intensive tasks where integrated applications processor, GPU and memory subsystem designs can be configured to achieve the highest levels of performance and energy-efficiency. Graphics developers using the ARM DS-5 toolchain can count on the support of the Mali Ecosystem - a comprehensive community of graphics industry players, helping developers to achieve shorter time-to-market. Additional support can be found at the Mali Developer Center - an online portal providing support and resources such as tools downloads, sample code, drivers, demos, boards, forums and documentation. The ARM Solution Center for Android (SCA) also offers a centralised resource for the wide range of companies and individuals innovating with the Google Android™ Operating System on the ARM architecture. http://www.businessweekly.co.uk
iPad 3 March 7 Release: How Does the Toshiba Excite 10 LE Stack up to the All New iPad? Toshiba will launch the Excite 10 LE tablet on March 6 for $530, one day before the March 7 release of the new iPad 3. Here's how they stack up. Toshiba announced the Excite X10 tablet at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, and when the device appeared again at the Mobile World Congress, it was the Excite 10 LE. It's going to be one of the iPad's top competitors along with the Asus Transformer Pad Infinity. Toshiba already has the Thrive tablet out there, and it's been available for a year now. Many people had been snapping up the Thrive because it is one of the only tablets featuring a full-size USB port. That makes it easy to transfer files from a flash drive or connect a wireless keyboard or mouse. However, the Thrive's physical design may have held it back from being a true iPad contender. It's much thicker than the iPad because of the USB ports, but it also doesn't have an all metal exterior, so it didn't feel as premium in the hand. Toshiba has fixed that with the Excite 10 LE, and it's launching with a super-thin 7.7mm body having done away with the full-size USB ports. It's also very light, nearly 75 grams lighter than the iPad 2. Start the slideshow to see how close the Excite can come to knocking off the reigning tablet king. Tell us in the comments if you've tried the Thrive or if you think Toshiba is kidding themselves in thinking they can take on Apple. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/309369/20120305/ipad-3-march-7-release-toshiba-excite.htm
As popular as smart phones and cloud computing have gotten, coupled with the proliferation of free apps and the supposed imminent "death of the PC," I continue to think that the idea that Microsoft will not be able to compete is a bit of an exaggeration. But with all of this noise being thrown around, it seems that many have forgotten that Microsoft is still very much a relevant factor in PCs, servers, enterprise software, as well as many other markets - a notion that is heavily supported by its partners in PC manufacturers such as Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and Dell (DELL). The company still plans to make headway in the mobile race by virtue of its recent partnership with Nokia (NOK). To that end, it has also partnered with ARM Holdings (ARMH) to license its chip technology, which is a different architecture than what it has been comfortable with from Intel. All of this is on top of its Windows 8 launch, as well as its position for the cloud - something for which I feel the company is not sufficiently credited in the same breath as database giant Oracle (ORCL), IBM (IBM) nor as well as Google (GOOG). There are indeed plenty of catalysts for investors to get excited about. But I also think that the company should continue to do exactly what it is doing which is focusing on its own operations and less about external factors that it is unable to control. http://seekingalpha.com/article/411901-why-microsoft-s-heading-to-52
Given that the past two decades the company has traded on an average price-to-diluted-earnings ratio of 26.70, multiplying those averages with the earnings per share each year, the company is undervalued by at least over 50 percent - this is also taken into account its low P/E of the last five years as well as some conservative assumptions. I will concede that my model is not perfect and highly biased, but the company should be trading right around $52 per share if the market made any sense at all. But you don't have to take my word for it as the company more than demonstrated its worth during its most recent earnings announcement. Proving the Doubters Wrong Microsoft reported better than expected numbers, much to the surprise of many. In addition to topping analysts' estimates, the company reported revenue that met forecasts despite its previous warnings of slower PC growth - a warning that followed an analyst downgrade of Intel (INTC) due to similar concerns. But in spite of that, the company posted fiscal second quarter earnings, excluding items, of 78 cents per share, up from 77 cents in the year-earlier period. Net income was $6.62 billion, down slightly from the $6.63 billion a year ago. Revenue was $20.9 billion, a 5% increase from $19.95 billion a year ago, helped by its Office, server software as well as Xbox businesses. The figure was also boosted by the first inclusion of revenue from Skype, the online phone firm that the company acquired last year, and a one-time gain of $225 million from favorable foreign currency rates. Investors loved this report and sent shares higher in after-hours trading. This affirms what I have been saying for quite some time, which is, although the company is no longer growing to the extent of the late '90s, it still clearly remains a technology force. Looking Into the Future It seems there are very few analysts who share my optimistic view in terms of the company's long term prospects. There is growing evidence that Wall Street does not give Microsoft enough credit for being able to transition itself with time accordingly. But I think this is where a mistake is being made. The company understands and appreciates this reality and has been working to adequately adjust - particularly with its efforts to make a more workable platform for mobile devices. In that regard, it's a pretty safe bet to think that the gap that separates Microsoft with those that are currently leading the mobile race will only continue to widen.
There's a famous saying in the market that reminds investors "don't try to catch a falling knife." In other words, there is a reason why stocks are falling, and in trying to determine its value or "catch its bottom" you're more likely going to see it only fall further - hence cut yourself. Then there is the recent rise of tech giant Microsoft (MSFT), which has climbed almost 30 percent so far on the year and yet still looks incredibly cheap at a price of $32 while still maintaining a relatively low P/E of 11. I can't help but interpret this low P/E as a sign of gross disrespect by Wall Street. The company faces a daunting task of trying to battle how it is perceived by analysts as well as its own investors. But I think the best way to assess Microsoft and its value is on its own performance rather than on what the competition is doing. And for the most part, the competition specifically from Apple is the source of Microsoft's less than favorable appeal by the investment community. I get it that Wall Street analysts are not huge fans of the company's management team - its CEO in particular. However, it's now time to give credit to the company where credit is due. And as the company's share price continues its ascent, I want to argue that investors should try to catch its rise before it gets too high. $20 More Microsoft continues to be undervalued, and is worth at least $20 more than its current share price. I feel that investors should expect it to get there within the next 12 to 24 months. Now before you start shifting in your seat, this is purely from some fundamental analysis done with respect to its recent earnings announcement. First, the basis of my argument starts with the fact that Microsoft has had earnings per share that have consistently climbed for the past two decades while also making some conservative assumptions. With the company currently trading at $32 per share, I continue to think that its share price has not grown commensurate to its earnings. This is in contrast to its pre-tech bubble valuation where the argument can be made that it was then overvalued because it simply rose too much and too quickly. The stagnation in the share price since then has had a lot to do with the fact that it has not been able to fully recover from that drop by virtue of its (then) inflated valuation back in the late '90s. But clearly investors can now see evidence that its uptrend is primed for resurgence - one that started at the beginning of this year.
Saturday, March 3, 2012 There you have it, ladies and gentlemen: a confirmed date. Rumours have been swirling for the past few months on when Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) would take the wraps off its latest iPad, with speculation ranging from Steve Jobs’ birthday of Feb. 24 or potentially March 7 as the date to circle on the calendar. Apple has now sent out official invitations to the media for the event, which is slated for March 7 in downtown San Francisco at one of its standard venues. The invite’s tagline makes no mistake about it: “We have something you really have to see. And touch.” In the image below, you’ll notice that Apple has effectively confirmed that the device will boast a high-resolution Retina Display, which is much sharper than the standard display on existing iPads. The tablet is expected to see each screen dimension doubled to 2048 x 1536, quadrupling the number of pixels in the display. At 264 pixels per inch, though, it wouldn’t be quite as sharp as the 326-pixel Retina Display found on the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. The camera should see a major upgrade to 8 megapixels from the iPad 2's lacklustre shooters, and I’m hoping that OmniVision Technologies (Nasdaq: OVTI) scored the win, contrary to earlier reports. The image-sensor specialist just reported strong guidance, with some of that optimism attributed to its entertainment division, which includes tablet sales. Chances are that it will be super-speedy, with 4G capabilities. The custom ARM Holdings (Nasdaq: ARMH) -based chip inside should either be a rumoured upgraded A5X or more likely a next-generation quad-core A6. Siri should also be included in the device, and I’m on record expecting it to be in every Apple mobile device going forward. The outer body may have minor changes, if any, considering Apple’s unofficial adaptation of Intel‘s (Nasdaq: INTC) famous “tick-tock” strategy — alternating between major redesigns and incremental internal upgrades between years. With the rumours now reaching a crescendo, there’s not a lot left up in the air other than its official moniker. iPad 3? iPad 2S? iPad LTE? iPad HD? Your guess is as good as mine. http://finance.ninemsn.com.au/newsbusiness/motley/8429276/mark-your-calendar-march-7-is-ipad-3-day
ARM Holdings (ARMH - 26.40) saw a rare surge in put volume on Thursday, as more than 2,900 of these options crossed the tape, which was almost double the equity's average daily volume. Over 1,200 puts were exchanged at the near-the-money March 27 strike -- most of them at the bid price, suggesting they were sold. Meanwhile, open interest on this option rose by 950 contracts overnight, pointing to an influx of new positions. This put is now home to open interest of 2,069 contracts. By selling these puts to open, traders are counting on the stock to rise above $27 by front-month expiration. However, this uptick in put activity goes against ARMH's bullish grain. The Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) checks in at 0.51, confirming that calls nearly double puts among options slated to expire within three months. In fact, this ratio is just two percentage points above a yearly nadir, which means that near-term options traders have rarely been more bullishly aligned toward the stock over the last 12 months. What's more, the tech concern sports a 10-day International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) call/put volume ratio of 1.65, indicating that calls bought to open have comfortably outnumbered puts during the past two weeks. This ratio ranks in the 64th percentile of its annual range, conveying that investors have been scooping up bullish bets over bearish at an accelerated clip. On the technical front, ARMH has shed close to 5% of its value year-to-date, and has underperformed the broader S&P 500 Index (SPX) by over 11% during the past 60 sessions. A look at the charts shows that the stock remains pinned beneath resistance at its 10-month moving average, a trendline it has surmounted only once, on a monthly closing basis, since last August. In the first hour of the session, the equity is down about 2% to trade at $26.40. http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/marketcenters/optionscenter/content/traders+bet+bullishly+with+arm+holdings+front-month+puts/default.aspx?ID=110200
One of the clearest lessons illustrated by championship teams is that you can't be a one-trick pony. Defense is crucial, but it's hard to win titles without scoring. Raining down 3-pointers is great, but rebounding can be just as vital. And then there's the importance of depth and teamwork to ensure that you don't live and die on the performance of one superstar. Those same guidelines are useful to investors. In this challenging market, it's important to build a balanced portfolio that both protects you from downside risks and allows you room to run. Some investors pick role players for their portfolio -- say, a hot, small-cap, momentum stock to tap into growth and A-rated bonds for slow and steady returns. But with a little scouting, you can find some superstar blue chips that have it all. Here are three such "triple threat" blue chips to consider adding to your investing team that have stability via a great dividend and strong cash hoard, momentum based on both short-term and long-term performance, and growth that signals future gains: Intel Don't think Intel INTC -0.04% is just inside desktop computers. The company has been making a big move into mobile, including a recent announcement that a new European telecom partner will begin offering a smartphone designed and powered by Intel chips . The company admittedly has some catching up to do compared with companies like ARM Holdings. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/3-triple-threat-stocks-to-buy-now-2012-03-01?dist=countdown
Dell Starts to Test ARM Microprocessors in Servers. Dell: If Customers Want ARM, We Will Provide! [02/29/2012 11:11 PM] by Anton Shilov Dell, major PC company that exclusively used Intel Corp.'s microprocessors just six years ago, now not only utilizes both AMD's and Intel's chips, but is working on servers which can be powered by various ARM-architecture microprocessors. Dell claims that if consumers want, it will offer appropriate products. "We have had ARM systems in our lab for over a year. If that is what our customers demand that’s what we will offer," said Forrest Norrod, general manager for Dell’s server solutions group, in an interview with Forbes. Hewlett-Packard and some other manufacturers are also experimenting with ARM-based servers and startups like Calxeda are working on ARM chips with special server capabilities. ARM itself is also developing v8 32/64-bit architecture with servers in mind. Dell did not elaborate which ARM chips it uses for testing of the architecture. Dell believes that switching from x86 to ARM will not bring too drastic changes to servers in general: all the industry standards as well as proprietary technologies will work with ARM system-on-chips. “Our [server] management [software] is independent of the processor powering the server. If we wanted to incorporate ARM into our server lineup, to any management tool it just looks like a PowerEdge server," claimed Mr. Norrod. The most important advantage of ARM over x86 is its ultra low power consumption and therefore potentially better performance scalability. Still, before there are commercially available ARMv8-based SoCs with server-specific features, it does not make sense to utilize ARM chips inside machines used to host web-sites or run critical applications. Such 64-bit chips are projected to emerge in late 2013 at the earliest. "ARM has some interesting advancements around power density. [...] I don’t believe customer are going to want to port their applications back to 32 bits from 64 bits," concluded Mr. Norrod. http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/other/display/20120229231202_Dell_Starts_to_Test_ARM_Microprocessors_in_Servers.html
The dot-com bubble (also referred to as the Internet bubble and the Information Technology Bubble[1]) was a speculative bubble covering roughly 1995–2000 (with a climax on March 10, 2000, with the NASDAQ peaking at 5132.52 in intraday trading before closing at 5048.62) during which stock markets in industrialized nations saw their equity value rise rapidly from growth in the more recent Internet sector and related fields. While the latter part was a boom and bust cycle, the Internet boom is sometimes meant to refer to the steady commercial growth of the Internet with the advent of the world wide web, as exemplified by the first release of the Mosaic web browser in 1993, and continuing through the 1990s. The period was marked by the founding (and, in many cases, spectacular failure) of a group of new Internet-based companies commonly referred to as dot-coms. Companies were seeing their stock prices shoot up if they simply added an "e-" prefix to their name and/or a ".com" to the end, which one author called "prefix investing".[2] A combination of rapidly increasing stock prices, market confidence that the companies would turn future profits, individual speculation in stocks, and widely available venture capital created an environment in which many investors were willing to overlook traditional metrics such as P/E ratio in favor of confidence in technological advancements. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dot-com_bubble
“I'm not Google. I don't have 50 billion dollars in my account and right now I've not a penny on my account. All my lawyers currently are basically working without a penny and they are all still on board and all still doing their job because what they see here is unfair, is unreasonable and is not justice.” Not justice indeed, and Kim Dotcom says he plans to let America know that what he does business, he means business — and all of that is done by the books. After spending years to make sure Megaupload was operating according to applicable laws, he vows that this won’t be a fight he’ll lose. “If you read the indictment and if you hear what the Prosecution has said in court, at least $500 million of damage were just music files and just within a two-week time period. So they are actually talking about $13 billion US damage within a year just for music downloads. The entire US music industry is less than $20 billion,” explains Dotcom. “So it's really, in my opinion, the government of the United States protecting an outdated monopolistic business model that doesn't work anymore in the age of the Internet and that's what it all boils down to,” he adds. Commenting to The New Zealand Herald over the weekend, he added, "For me, sitting in my cell, I'm thinking, 'Why are they doing this? They can't win it'.” "We're going for this and we're confident we're going to win," added to the website TorrentFreak.com recently. "We feel that the action taken against us was political." Dotcom is expected to go before a court again this August to face extradition to America. He insists he will fight the charges and hopes to win. http://rt.com/usa/news/kim-dotcom-itnerview-political-645/
Kim Dotcom slams US government for protecting monopolies Kim Dotcom hasn’t said much since his arrest in January over allegations of copyright infringement, but in one of his first sit-downs since making bail, the Megaupload mastermind is outspoken about one thing for sure — that his arrest was political. For his involvement with the file-sharing storage site Megaupload, international authorities held Dotcom for five weeks without bail. Now finally out and able to enjoy life alongside his expecting wife as he awaits his next hearing, Dotcom is quick to condemn the entertainment industry and the politicians they’ve purchased for a legal proceeding that he explains to New Zealand’s 3news as simply crazy. During the seven years that Dotcom operated Megaupload, the German-born founder says they’ve managed to acquire a top-notch legal team that made sure that what they were doing was by the books. Sure, people could upload and share material — even copyrighted ones — to Megaupload, but the company was operating under a policy akin to what YouTube has. When copyright holders complained, Megaupload would make a move and delete the questionable content. It was a policy that the entertainment industry supported and proved successful — until this January when Dotcom’s New Zealand mansion was raided by authorities during an international crackdown that was coordinated in conjunction with the seizure of millions of dollars worth of assets and the shutting down of Megaupload.com. “[YouTube] won their lawsuit and I'm sitting in jail, my house is being raided, all my assets are frozen without a trial, without a hearing. This is completely insane, is what it is,” Dotcom explains. Of course YouTube was sued over similar charges, but the company, owned by the billion-dollar giant Google (who, coincidently, lobby Washington substantially each year), was indeed allowed to walk free. Dotcom, on the other hand, was left to sit behind jail bars for five weeks. He was denied bail twice before a New Zealand Judge finally decided last week that having no money, no assets and no travel documents, the odds of Dotcom being a downright flight risk were indeed slim-to-none. Dotcom adds, in his defense, that his caricature-like appearance only makes him that much more identifiable. Dotcom stands 6-and-a-half feet tall and comes close to crushing the scales at 300-lbs. To put it lightly, when Dotcom sits around his $30-million fortified New Zealand mansion, he sits around his $30-million fortified New Zealand mansion. And for now, as he awaits his next court date, he pretty much has to — Dotcom, who was born Kim Schmitz in Kiel, Germany, is under house arrest essentially and is allocated no Internet access. “I'm an easy target. My flamboyance, my history as a hacker, you know, I'm not American, I'm living somewhere in New Zealand around the world. I have funny number plates on my cars, you kno
Dotcom was released on bail on 22 February: the court has ordered him to wear an electronic tag and he is banned from using the internet. Speaking , he said the episode had been "a little bit like a nightmare". He accepted that he may have attracted attention owing to the "flamboyance" of his lifestyle. "I'm a fun-loving guy. I enjoy my life. I have a big kid inside me," he said. However, his priorities had changed, he said. "That was childish stuff, it was fun at the time and I don't regret it, but that is not me today, I am a different guy. I just want to have a safe future for my kids and, you know, provide my family with a great home and that's why we moved to New Zealand and we're really surprised what is going on here." Dotcom's extradition hearing is scheduled to begin in Auckland in August. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/mar/01/kim-dotcom-no-piracy-king
Guardian Thursday 1 March 2012 10.14 GMT King Dotcom has compared the US department of justice charges against him and his Megaupload website to the claims about weapons of mass destruction in the lead-up to the war against Iraq. He accused US prosecutors of doing the bidding of the American film industry to prop up its "outdated monopolistic business model". In his first substantial interview since his arrest at his mansion north of Auckland, New Zealand, on 20 January, Dotcom denied that he was a "piracy king". He said the US attempt to extradite him to face charges of copyright and racketeering rested on "fabrications and lies". "It's kind of like weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, you know? If you want to go after someone and you have a political goal you will say whatever it takes," said the 38-year-old German online entrepreneur, who was granted bail last week after a month in custody. He said "a hundred other companies" offer similar cloud-based filesharing services, but he had been singled out as the "over-pirate of the planet". The 72-page indictment against him was a "maliciously designed ... press release", he told the TV3 television station. The seizure of his assets and shutdown of Megaupload, which would have been worth about $1bn (£627m) amounted to "a death sentence without trial", said Dotcom, vowing to "fight this all the way". Under US law, Megaupload could not be held responsible for the actions of third parties, said Dotcom. He said that, despite its angry rhetoric, the Movie Picture Association of America had never pursued a legal action against his company. Megaupload had always removed content that breached copyright, he said . Users were obliged to agree to terms of service that expressly prohibited uploading copyright material, while 180 partners, "including every major movie studio, including Microsoft", had been given special access to the Megaupload system to allow the direct removal of links to illegitimate material. "Where does piracy come from?" he asked. "Piracy comes from, you know, people, let's say, in Europe who do not have access to movies at the same time that they are released in the US." . "If the business model would be one where everyone has access to this content at the same time, you know, you wouldn't have a piracy problem. So it's really, in my opinion, the government of the United States protecting an outdated monopolistic business model that doesn't work in the age of the internet and that's what it all boils down to. "I'm no piracy king, I offered online storage and bandwidth to users and that's it." Dotcom was released on bail on 22 February: the court has ordered him to wear an electronic tag and he is banned from using the internet. Speaking , he said the episode had been "a little bit like a nightmare".