[9h1d9j809s]

It's a gamble no matter what he does.

Of all Western countries, this is probably the best choice he can make.

[contingencies]

New Zealand would have been a fair option, they have pretty anti-US sentiment historically and that has been recently fanned by the MAFIAA's raid on Mr. Dotcom's house.

[mainevent]

They also have a very cozy intelligence relationship with the US government and, along with the UK, Canada and Australia, are in fact classed as a "2nd party partner" by the United States. [1]

[1] http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/secret-documents-n...

[ra]

Agreed. NZ is one of the five eyes and relies quite heavily on the ANZUS treaty for defence.

In Snowdons case I'd avoid NZ - even if it was possible to get there without flying through psuedo-US controlled airspace.

[threeseed]

New Zealand doesn't have an anti-US sentiment. And seriously people need to stop with this "historically X" nonsense. Diplomatic relations between countries can and do change on a dime.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand–United_States_relat...

[contingencies]

I was talking more about the average sentiment of residents, not the government's posturing.

[flyinRyan]

But that's irrelevant. I'm sure most in the UK didn't like one of their own being extradited to the US for having a UK-legal link site.

[contingencies]

It's only irrelevant if you capitulate that democracy has failed and is non-representative (ie. protests and other public action would not alter the outcome). While I am somewhat inclined to that perspective myself, it's important not to be completely defeatist, and I think New Zealand is doing relatively well in that department.