You say, "It’s a distraction, and not necessarily a helpful distraction in the long run." A distraction to whom? Kim? If he is innocent, we will find out soon enough, and all this PR will mean that he goes on to do bigger and better things for himself and our collective freedom. Also, I think he is playing to a bigger, global audience and not just those in NZ. But he is also playing to the average kiwi, and I can't speak to that myself.

Don't underestimate the effect that public opinion has on a judge (in NZ or in the US). Although judges fancy themselves independent and impartial, they are human and we are all like underdogs and hate apparent injustice. There is a saying in the law that "hard cases make bad law." In other words, judges will bend over backwards (i.e., make bad law) to achieve the outcome they want (i.e., to favor the sympathetic party).

Personally, I think Kim should open his mansion and pool to more #SwimAtKims (not just at a public pool) because there is nothing more endearing than opening up your home to others. Periodic parties, with some lucky average folk, at the Dotcom mansion would be great PR. Maybe I would fly to NZ to to go swimming myself.

Correction: I mean to say that "we all like underdogs and hate apparent injustice." And a "hard case" is a case that a judge finds difficult to decide because letter of the law may contradict the decision he wants to make, so he makes up new (bad) law.

An additional note: If the MPAA/RIAA pull the same PR moves in the Dotcom case as they did with SOPA/PIPA in the US and ACTA in Europe, they will start to hire shills to post comments on articles such as this one. These shills will become easy to spot in some cases (just wait, you'll see them). They will also start a "grass roots" campaign against Kim (see CreativeAmerica.org).

And then you have people like me, who care so much about Internet freedom ("freetards") that we spend time commenting on articles instead of doing work. And then the pirates will start commenting.....

Mr Edwards summation was a comforting read as it explained exactly my own stance from the moment I read of the helicopters and storm trooper tactics by plod and all against a guy who was hardly hiding in the scrub chucking incendiaries nor submarining weed to Tasmania. How different it might have been if a few had breathed through their noses and sent the local community constable up the drive and invite those in attendance to a cup of tea and chat at the local station.
I also commend Mr Edwards for some sound PR advice albeit I take some delight in hearing of his recent antics we have to be aware that amongst those who struggle to understand a TV remote there are those who would hang the man.

Mr Edwards shows his years in the media have not gone to waste, well done. Perhaps he can answer a question no one else seems to be able to, its called Twitter, and when your send a message its call a “tweet”, why is it not called a “twit” as it seems most of the published comments seen on twitter are made by twits

As for Dotcom gloating.......you ain't seen nothin' yet!!!

Watch this space

Look, Americans buy the law they want, then dash around like crazed cowboys or lynch mobs to enforce it. This range war over cloud computing is to be expected as the ground shifts under the feet of the music and film industry. Remember, these were the same guys who tried to block radio in the 1920s from playing records and have fought for 90 years to extract royalties that rarely reach writers or performers. This is a nasty range war being played out from the White House on downwards. Bush had his oily VP, Obama has his 'for hire' VP as well.

Now you're talking, these geeks/freeloaders produce absolutely nothing to replace what they consume. .

I don't care how many kiwis we have to arrest to protect our intellectual property. Arrest one or all of them. We need to protect and save American jobs. We need to save and protect the culture we provide the rest of the world and ask for nothing in return but your money.

We need to make Dotcom and Richard O'Dwyer examples so that everyone will stop the sharing of our property once and for all.

I agree. I need to take a step back & chill. But I'm no PR guru. This is just raw, unfiltered, transparent & honest me.

Also big guy remember that if you sue the NZ Government for millions for wrongful seizure of your property and compensation for loss of earnings and win (whcih you probably will) it's the NZ taxpayers that will end up footing that bill. Don't expect to have those same taxpayers as your supporters/followers. I expect you know that.

Yeah, JM, when you are poor, it is time to hate the super rich, eh?

Brian, Strong but well said. Kim DotCom needs to not over cook what he has going. Most in this country like to see anyone dealt with badly. But Kim needs to keep his security men behind him, not in front pushing people away. He should take a lead from the Guy family from Feilding, if he wants additional guidance on how to handle the media in difficult situations.

If successful in extracting compensation, Dotcom would likely give a substantial amount to charity as is his usual style.