Closed captioning of: Meet the world’s most wanted Web pirate
>>
now the alleged mastermind behind one of the internet's biggest and most lucrative schemes.
kim
.com appeared in court as new details emerged about his life lifestyle. stephanie gosk is in london with details on this. good morning.
>> reporter:
good morning. with controversial legislation that hopes to cut down on
internet piracy
, supported by
nbc universal
, the fbi is cracking down.
federal prosecutors
have arrested one of the
information superhighway
's biggest criminals.
kim
schmidt, a computer
master mind
best known by one of his other names,
kim
dot com
. the
world wide web
made
kim
dot com
a wealthy man. addicted to cars and everything else in the
fast lane
the 37-year-old likes to call himself dr. evil.
>>
if you're happy --
>> reporter:
he founded the most popular
file sharing
website
mega upload
. but the
u.s. government
says most of what was shared on the
hong kong
-based site -- movies, music and books -- was pirated. even though the company was promoted by music superstars who were among those it was allegedly stealing from.
>>
this is kanye. i like
mega upload
. it's the fastest, safest way to send files.
>> reporter:
thickering a legal battle with the
music group
which represents west. the fbi shut down mega uploads and asked new zealand authorities to arrest
dot com
who was living lavishly in a sprawling mansion. police say it wasn't easy.
>>
they found him huddling in a
panic room
clutching a sawed off shotgun. they had to cut him out of the room.
>> reporter:
prosecutors believe he has illegally earned $175 million and caused a half a billion dollars in damages to copy right owners. a charge that the defendants vigorously deny saying most of the content uploaded was legitimate. this isn't the hacker's first run-in with the law. he was found guilty of
insider trading
and embezzlement in his native germany. far from a
low profile
the married father of three had in your face decadence with yachts,
fast cars
and women.
>>
the photos on his website are ridiculous. crazy photos of him doing things.
>> reporter:
over the weekend the
bank accounts
were froze and cars seized including a
pink cadillac
and a $400,000
rolls royce phantom
. now the man who likes to boast he's smarter than
bill gates
faces extradition to the u.s. in one of the biggest criminal copy right cases of all time. the defendants were in court today for a bail hearing in auckland. defense lawyers say he doesn't pose a flight risk. one of their arguments at 6'7" weighing over 280 pounds how could he flee undetected? matt?
>>
stephanie, thank you. just ahead,
“ ”