Kim Dot Com, the controversial founder of cloud storage site Mega, has formed a political party in New Zealand.
The newly formed ‘Internet Party’ manifesto focuses heavily on copyright reform, privacy rights, clean tech, and a national digital currency.
New Zealand’s next general election will be held in September, and the Internet Party needs 500 members to become a registered party—a number it claimed to have reached within seven hours of launch.
Dotcom can’t stand for Parliament himself—he was born in Germany and isn’t technically a New Zealand citizen—but will be the main funding backer for the party.
Its website describes it as “A party that will give you faster, cheaper Internet, create high-tech jobs, protect your privacy, and safeguard our independence.”
Specific policy points mentioned include cheaper and faster internet with “an end to the bandwidth monopoly,” a jobs boost in the tech sector, a bill of digital rights to combat mass surveillance, and new copyright laws.
Dotcom himself is currently fighting extradition to the US on piracy charges over the now-defunct Megaupload.