UPDATED: Dotcom throws lifeline to US govt

Lawyers for Kim Dotcom have offered a compromise to the Crown, giving US authorities more time to hand over copies of the disclosure documents they have against the internet tycoon.

Chief High Court Judge Helen Winkelmann today ruled the FBI no longer has to hand over the documents now, but they must at least start making copies.

On May 29, Judge David Harvey ruled in the Auckland District Court that Mr Dotcom could have access to the disclosure documents.

However, Judge Harvey imposed a 21-day limit, which expires on Tuesday.

Mr Dotcom's defence says they need those documents so they can properly prepare for Mr Dotcom's upcoming extradition hearing on August 6.

The Crown, acting on behalf of the US government, said it was not long enough to produce all the information.

The issue of whether they are required to disclose the materials will be dealt with later.

The Crown says it could not comply with the 21-day timeframe because of the vast amount of material that would need to be copied.

This includes 10 million emails, and "voluminous financial records" obtained from several different countries.

The WolframAlpha computational engine calculates it would take 19 years and nine days to read that many emails continuously, at a speed of one per minute. 

In addition, FBI special agent Michael Postin says more than 150 terabytes of data have been seized in New Zealand alone, which would take at least two and a half months to copy.

Justice Winkelmann says the time taken to copy the documents is no excuse not to hand them over, as the US authorities have "ample means, and that the expense involved in copying must be dwarfed by the other costs of an investigative and prosecutorial operation of this size."

The Crown also says Mr Dotcom would not be disadvantaged if the 21-day time frame for the US to produce the documents is suspended, because the date of his extradition hearing of August 6 is unlikely to go ahead as planned.

The defence wants to stick to the August 6 date.

Justice Winkelmann says it has been seven months since Mr Dotcom and his three co-accused were arrested, two of which are effectively being "detained in a foreign country away from their families and ordinary places of residence."

She says the Crown must do all it can to maintain the August 6 date for the extradition hearing.

The Crown also argues the US should not be forced to hand over the disclosure documents because under US law, that obligation would not be triggered until Mr Dotcom makes his first appearance before a court in the US.

On that issue, Justice Winkelmann ruled it does not matter at this point because the court is not ordering them to hand over the material now, but rather prepare them for hand over later.

Also, if the extradition is successful, these documents will need to be disclosed anyway, says Justice Winkelmann.

She has ordered an "urgent" two-day judicial review into the disclosure obligations of the US authorities.