www.crimejusticejournal.com )JCJ&SD ʹͲͳ͵ 2ȋ͵Ȍ: ͳͲͷ‐ͳͳͻ )SSN ʹʹͲʹ–ͺͲͲͷ © The AuthorȋsȌ ʹͲͳ͵ Global Policing and the Case of Kim Dotcom Darren Palmer Deakin University, Australia Ian J Warren Deakin University, Australia Abstract )n early ʹͲͳʹ, ͹͸ heavily armed police conducted a raid on a house in Auckland, New Zealand. The targets were Kim Dotcom, a German national with a NZ residency visa, and several colleagues affiliated with Megaupload, an online subscription‐based peer‐to‐peer ȋPʹPȌ file sharing facility. The alleged offences involved facilitating unlawful file sharing and United States federal criminal copyright violations. Following the raid, several court cases provide valuable insights into emerging Ǯglobal policingǯ practices ȋBowling and Sheptycki ʹͲͳʹȌ based on communications between sovereign enforcement agencies. This article uses these cases to explore the growth of Ǯextraterritorialǯ police powers that operate Ǯacross bordersǯ ȋNadelmann ͳͻͻ͵Ȍ as part of several broader transformations of global policing in the digital age. Keywords Global policing, extra territoriality, sovereignty, piracy, file sharing, surveillance. Introduction On ʹͲ January ʹͲͳʹ, New Zealand ȋNZȌ Police conducted a Ǯdramaticǯ raid dubbed ǮOperation Debutǯ ȋAmsterdam and Rothken ʹͲͳ͵: ͹, ͳͶȌ on a $͵Ͳ million mansion in the Auckland suburb of Coatesville. Their target was the eponymously named Kim Dotcom, owner and developer of file sharing site Megaupload. Activities on this site were subject to extensive surveillance by United States ȋUSȌ Federal Bureau of )nvestigation ȋFB)Ȍ officials, as well as NZ Police and the NZ Government Communications Security Bureau ȋGCSBȌ. The raid involved ͹͸ NZ Police officers, including members of the Armed Offenderǯs Squad and Special Tactics Group equipped with rifles and semi‐automatic weapons, several police dogs and two helicopters ȋEditorial ʹͲͳʹȌ. Dotcom, Finn Batato, Bram van der Kolk and Mathias Ortmann were arrested at the house and imprisoned pending extradition to the US. Simultaneous raids were also conducted in Australia, the Philippines, (ong Kong, Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, Britain and the US. A NZ Police liaison officer in Washington indicated ǮȋfȌeedback on the New Zealand operation has