NZ judge: Our spies surveilled Kim Dotcom for 2 months longer than admitted

Enlarge / Kim Dotcom, founder of the Internet Party and founder of Megaupload Ltd., speaks during a 2014 news conference. (credit: Brendon O'Hagan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

According to the New Zealand Herald, a New Zealand High Court judge revealed on Friday that the country's signals intelligence agency, known as the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) illegally spied on Kim Dotcom for two months longer than previously admitted.

Then-Prime Minister John Key apologized to the Megaupload founder back in 2012 for the operation. Under the law at the time, permanent residents like Dotcom were not to be subjected to surveillance by the country's foreign-looking agency. If the revelation is borne out, it would mean that GCSB continued to spy on Dotcom even after the agency was made aware that the surveillance was illegal. Prime Minister Bill English has not responded to media requests for comment.

Shortly after NZ media reported the court's judgement, Dotcom tweeted:

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