Last month the file sharing site Megaupload was taken down by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the founder, Kim Dotcom, along with other Megaupload employees, were taken into custody.

Though it seems like the media covered all the angles of Dotcom’s arrest, including Dotcom’s claims of excessive force during his arrest, his body guard Wayne Tempero painted a more vivid picture of what went down that day.  In a video interview with New Zealand’s 3Newz at Dotcom’s residence, Tempero told his side of the story.

According to Temepero, he woke at 6:45 AM when he heard assault helicopters approach the property.  He went out to see what the commotion was all about, and was faced with a police officer wearing a bullet-proof vest.  Without any weapons on him, and barely understanding what the policeman was saying because of the noise coming from the helicopters, he surrendered when he was asked to.  But what surprised him was the presence of the Special Tactics Group (STG), New Zealand’s elite counter-terrorist force, armed with M4A3 automatic weapons, Glock pistols, dogs, sledgehammers and even a circular chainsaw, as if expecting a full-fledged war.

As Tempero recounted the events that unfolded, one of his statements struck me. According to the body guard, the assault group asked one of Dotcom’s Filipino nannies if she had any bombs with her then added, “Maybe that’s the kind of thing that Filipino nannies do.”  Seriously?  Racist much?

Tempero continued stating that he, along with two security guards and the Filipino staff, were placed in a van with barking dogs as the authorities continue to search the mansion for Dotcom.  The police were breaking down doors to get to Dotcom’s hiding place, even though Dotcom’s wife offered them the security code.  When Tempero was allowed back inside the mansion, he found the police breaking down what they thought was Dotcom’s hiding place with sledgehammers, but it was actually a broken dumb waiter.

Dotcom was hiding in the “Red Room,” a panic room, following a contingency plan by Tempero.  That was where Dotcom was arrested.

“He would have complied with everything, we would have sat at the large table, he would’ve probably offered them breakfast and he would have complied with everything,” Tempero said.

The 3News reporter asked Tempero some important questions regarding the arrest, which the body guard answered as best as he can.

3NewZ: Would he have done anything to destroy the hard drive, to take down Megaupload? Tempero: Certainly not, why would he? He would be destroying his defense..
3Newz: If Kim had a Doomsday setup where he could delete his harddrive or takedown Megaupload, would there have been sufficient time for him to do that had that been his intention?
Tempero: He could’ve done that within seconds.

The 3Newz reporter seemed baffled as to why the STG was sent to arrest Dotcom in a house where his wife and kids were also in.  According to some, the authorities just want to make a point, that they are serious in dealing with piracy and they would do anything to stop it.  But personally, I think they are just biased to an extreme.

Megaupload affects entire file-sharing industry

On a Megaupload related note, since it was shutdown, other file sharing sites like RapidShare stated that they experienced increase in users as well as having trouble keeping up with the amount of files uploaded on their site.

RapidShare has a three-strike policy with regards to uploading pirated files.  If you do not comply, your account would be deleted.  They do not tolerate piracy.

BTjunkie, a site that hosts pirated content, shut their site of their own accord.  The founder of BTjunkie told TorrentFreak that what happened to Megaupload greatly disturbed them. Though they weren’t targeted by the authorities, they didn’t want to take that risk.

If you’re already missing BTjunkie, you could always go to The Pirate Bay, Torrentz, isoHunt, KAT, Extratorrent or other popular torrent sites to get your fix.