U.S. Judge Denies Megaupload's Motion to Dismiss Copyright Case

Megaupload might be based overseas, but a judge doesn't believe that failure to immediately deliver a summons domestically is a sufficient reason to let the corporation evade U.S. prosecution.

Attorneys for Megaupload argued that the company was foreign-based and that the U.S. government was unable to satisfy the correct procedures to properly serve a summons.

In January, federal prosecutors brought criminal action against seven Megaupload employees, including founder Kim Dotcom. Along with charging specific individuals with crimes including criminal copyright infringement, racketeering, money laundering and fraud, prosecutors are also attempting to hold criminally liable Megaupload as a corporation.

In asking for a dismissal, the company's lawyers pointed to Rule 4 of Criminal Procedure, which indicates that a summons be mailed to the company's "last known address within the district or to its principal place of business elsewhere in the United States."

The judge goes onto to make his own interpretation of Rule 4, saying that mailing a summons to the address of corporation's alter ego is the same as mailing the summons to the corporation itself. Often, that means mailing it to the domestic subsidiary of the foreign company; here, it could mean Kim Dotcom if he's ordered to be extradited at a later point.

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