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Originally Posted by Avenger2099

Ehhh, that's not the entire reason. The Megaupload guys were extredited legally under NZ, AUS, and US treaties. Also NZ and AUS are members of this... thing can't remember the name now. Anyways, it's this accord... thingy that allows breakers of copyright to be tried by the nation of the copyright holder.

The reason why this can happen is because the U.S. always ties U.S. copyright laws into all of their trade agreements. If you're a small country like NZ or Aus, you have to give in to U.S. copyright laws taking precedence over your own sovereign laws if you want to trade with the largest economy in the world. Recently, a citizen of the U.K. was extradited to the U.S. for copyright violation despite the fact that what he had done was completely legal in the U.K. Could you imagine the stink that would be kicked up if a U.S. citizen was extradited to some foreign country for trial when what they did was perfectly legal in the U.S.? It just wouldn't happen, yet this is what is imposed on anyone who wants to trade with the U.S. If NZ, Aus & U.K. had the guts to stand up to the lobbyists in the U.S. and threaten to take their trade to China instead, then maybe all the politicians would suddenly find the motivation to end this ridiculous situation.