This May they\u00a0announced that a deal<\/a>\u00a0had been struck with the New Zealand Government and the United States under which they had agreed to be charged in New Zealand for offenses similar to those they would\u2019ve faced in the US. This meant that they would not have to be extradited to the US and if convicted, any sentence would be served in New Zealand.<\/p>\n Just over a week later, a planned hearing at the Auckland District Court was transferred to the High Court where 50-year-old Ortmann and 39-year-old van der Kolk would later stand\u00a0accused of conspiring<\/a>\u00a0as part of an \u201corganized criminal group\u201d to unlawfully profit from copyright-infringing material.<\/p>\n The existence of a deal suggested that the men would plead guilty and at the High Court this morning, that was confirmed. Both pleaded guilty to being involved in an organized crime group, conspiring with Kim Dotcom and others to cause loss by deception to copyright holders by hosting and distributing infringing content via Megaupload and its associated websites, for financial gain.<\/p>\n The summary of charging facts states that Ortmann was a 25% shareholder of Megaupload Limited and made around US$19 million from Megaupload. Colleague van der Kolk had a 2.5% share of the company and received approximately US$3 million.<\/p>\n \u201cThe defendants\u2019 technical knowledge was indispensable to the creation and growth of Megaupload. Mr Dotcom ultimately determined matters of policy and direction but lacked the practical expertise to carry his wishes into effect,\u201d the statement of facts reads.<\/p>\n \u201cHe relied on the defendants to set up and run the technical infrastructure of Megaupload. The offending would not have been possible without their involvement.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ortmann and van der Kolk were convicted based on their guilty plea by Justice Sally Fitzgerald. The men will remain on bail and a sentencing date will be decided in October.<\/p>\n In a video interview outside the High Court, the men said that accepting the charges represented another step towards putting the ordeal behind them and moving on with their lives.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s another step towards putting Megaupload behind us,\u201d Ortmann told\u00a0Stuff<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s been 10 years, we are now living in the future with Mega. We have founded a new cloud storage business so there is absolutely no point in dwelling on these proceedings any longer and we are putting it behind us.\u201d<\/p>\n After a decade of fighting attempts by the United States to remove them from New Zealand, the men say they are now firmly rooted in New Zealand and want to build a future in the country. Ortmann said the pair want to contribute to New Zealand as good citizens, a sentiment echoed by van der Kolk.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve worked incredibly hard on Mega and we strongly feel that our rehabilitation process has started a long time ago. We are very proud of what we have built and we are very much looking forward to being able to continue to build, because we still have a lot of work to do,\u201d van der Kolk said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to focus on productive things and do great things for society \u2013 and learn from our mistakes.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Kim Dotcom is not part of the deal struck by Ortmann and van der Kolk. For 10 years he has repeatedly insisted that he will never give in, never accept guilt, and will fight the New Zealand and US governments to the bitter end.<\/p>\n With that being the case, pleading guilty was always off the table but this morning Dotcom\u2019s lawyer Ron Mansfield alluded to preferential treatment of Ortmann and van der Kolk to the detriment of his client.<\/p>\n \u201cThe real question is why Mr Dotcom has not been offered a prosecution here and why our system of justice has become so preferential to a select few and only when it serves the government\u2019s interest,\u201d Mansfield told Stuff.<\/p>\n As for Dotcom, his attitude towards Ortmann and van der Kolk has shifted markedly in the space of a month. When their plea deal was announced in May, the Megaupload founder said he didn\u2019t blame the men for \u201cgiving up.\u201d In a series of Tweets this morning he accused them of\u00a0stealing<\/a>\u00a0a company from him\u2026..<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u2026. and facilitating spying at their new company Mega, via the creation of backdoors, to the benefit of the Chinese government.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The allegations regarding Mega were made in response to a\u00a0detailed report<\/a>\u00a0that alleges that Mega was vulnerable to five attacks that together allow for a \u201cfull compromise of the confidentiality of user files.\u201d<\/p>\n Mega was reportedly\u00a0informed privately<\/a>\u00a0of the issues in March and according to a\u00a0security notification<\/a>\u00a0penned by Mathias Ortmann, Mega has now released software updates that fix a critical vulnerability.<\/p>\n Source: \u00a0Ortmann and van der Kolk Plead Guilty Today<\/h2>\n
![\"Ortmann-van](\"https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/images\/Ortmann-van-der-Kolk-summary-of-facts.png\")
<\/a><\/center> <\/p>\nMen Want to Contribute to New Zealand\u2019s Future<\/h2>\n
Kim Dotcom Turns His Anger on \u2018Former Friends\u2019<\/h2>\n
![\"Kim](\"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/kim-dotcom.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"dotcom-dealanger1\"](\"https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/images\/dotcom-deal-anger1.png\")
<\/a><\/center> <\/p>\n![\"dotcom-deal-anger2\"](\"https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/images\/dotcom-deal-anger2.png\")
<\/a><\/center> <\/p>\n![\"TorrentFreak\"](\"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/torrentfreak.png\")
<\/a> TorrentFreak.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"