So the New Zealand high court has ruled that the raid on Megaupload was illegal because the warrant was too broad. Good news, I suppose.

What‘s strange about the case, however, is the argument used by the prosecutors to justify the FBI’s seizure of the Megaupload data:

However, Crown lawyer John Pike, for the attorney-general, said the material stored on the hard drives could be shipped overseas for the FBI to examine because it did not constitute “physical” material.

The relevant legislation applied only to physical possessions rather than information, Mr Pike said. “[Information] may be the most valuable thing we have, but it is not scooped up by the act”.

So… their whole basis is that they can seize the information and transport it to the US, because the original information isn’t lost in the process. Because it’s, y’know, just information.

But if that’s their interpretation of the legal status of digital information… why are they even attempting to prosecute Megaupload?