From December 2011 to January 2012 the spies of GCSB monitored Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom and his associate Bram van der Kolk. Both have New Zealand residency which rendered the surveillance illegal. Last month a High Court judge gave Dotcom permission to sue the government for damages over the incident.

Now, in documents obtained by the Labour opposition and handed to 3News, there is yet more embarrassment for officials tied up in the controversy.

Dotcom – who the papers reveal was given the codename of “Billy Big Steps” – was first subjected to monitoring on December 16 2011. The documents reveal that on this date the police were already in possession of papers which showed that Dotcom was a New Zealand resident and therefore exempt from GCSB spying.

By January 11 2012, just days before the huge raid on Dotcom’s mansion, the whole detailed immigration file was in police possession and by February 22nd GCSB knew that they had carried out illegal spying. Even so, it took until September 2012 for them to admit that to Prime Minister John Key.

Making matters worse and despite the catalog of errors, the papers show a GCSB operative stating that “..people here have been very relaxed about it all.” Perhaps unsurprisingly, high-profile heads are now beginning to roll.

The first casualty is Hugh Wolfensohn. He joined the agency back in 1988 as a legal advisor and was later promoted to Deputy Director of Strategic Policy and Corporate Services. From there he became Deputy Director of Mission Enablement, finally going on to become overall GCSB Deputy Director.

During the month-long monitoring of Dotcom and Bram van der Kolk, Wolfensohn was acting GCSB Director meaning that he was the person with overall responsibility for the illegal surveillance. After 25 years with GCSB Wolfensohn has now stepped down. When Prime Minister John Key was asked whether Wolfensohn was paid off he laughed and said that was something for the former spy to answer.

The news comes in advance of the findings of a high level inquiry ordered by Key into the spying fiasco and set to be published in a few weeks time. When pressed, Key admitted that there are still “big changes” to come at GCSB, which can only be good news for Dotcom.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

Two months later in August it came to light that a Kiwi spy agency, the Government Communications Security Bureau, had been spying on both Kim Dotcom and co-defendant Bram Van der Kolk. GCSB is not allowed to spy on New Zealand residents and was later forced to concede that it had unlawfully intercepted communications.

In December 2012 Justice Helen Winklemann ordered GCSB to be joined as a defendant to
Dotcom’s lawsuit against New Zealand’s Attorney-General over the illegal January raid and ordered GCSB to reveal details of their secret surveillance.

This High Court ruling was subsequently challenged by the Attorney-General and this morning the result of the appeal was made public. It’s a mixed bag, but with Dotcom and friends coming out on top.

The Court of Appeal said that although it is not usually appropriate for judicial reviews to include compensation claims, it would rubber stamp the request for GCSB to be added to the case. This means that Dotcom will be able to pursue compensation claims against the state during an upcoming hearing in April.

Going some way to balancing the success on both sides, the Court handed a win to the Attorney-General in respect of the earlier discovery ruling.

Previously the High Court said that GCSB must hand over all of the documents related to the secret surveillance operation carried out against Kim Dotcom and co-defendant Bram Van der Kolk. But the Court of Appeal ruled that discovery will now only stretch as far as revealing that information exists and where it was sent. Access to the actual content of the documents will not be permitted.

“We look forward to holding GCSB spy org accountable,” said Dotcom’s lawyer Ira Rothken this morning. “Doing so will not only protect @KimDotcom’s rights but the rights of all NZ residents.”

Following the Court of Appeal ruling, Kim Dotcom pondered whether the Kiwi government will continue to press the case against him.

“How much longer will the New Zealand government hurt its reputation on a global scale by supporting a malicious U.S. contract prosecution?” he said.

In closing the Court of Appeal urged all parties to “co-operate to ensure that the pleadings are brought into proper order and that the issues before the High Court are determined as expeditiously as possible,” but considering the complexity of the case, that won’t be anytime soon.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.